Proof of Run

May 8, 2012 by

Oh hey!

Untitled

I actually followed through with (the first day of) a workout plan for once, whaddya know? Yesterday evening, I met up with my lovely friend Joy for a nice 3-mile jaunt on the bike trail. My ankle was giving me some grief after a while, so it ended up being more like 2.5 miles ran, .5 mile walked or so, but still! We maintained a really good pace (er, for me) while running too, which was quite novel. The weather conditions were pretty perfect, too — breezy with the sun still peeking out as it set.

Untitled
FEED ME.

My legs do admittedly feel a little heavy today though (so pathetic, haha), so I’m actually kind of glad that I have Zumba tonight to work ‘em out a little bit. All the jumping and bouncing we do in those classes really works my hamstrings… which is a very good thing as it turns out. Due to a little last-minute race leg change-up, I’m now the first runner in the relay. While I’m totally STOKED to kick-off the relay and absorb all that awesome starting-line energy (one of the things I love most about racing), it also means that my first leg is going to be straight uphill for an entire mile. I know. I KNOW. Just thinking about it makes me want to do this:

IMG_6771.jpg
Just bury me under these pillows and go on without me, team.

But alas! I’m going to rock it out, and the (literal) mountain shall indeed be conquered! I intend on switching up the 3.5-mile treadmill run I had originally planned for tomorrow and replacing it with a 1- or 1.5-mile incline run instead, along with some weight-work perhaps. I’m just going to crank the tready’s incline up to 5 and see how long I can last, hahaha…ha…ha.

In other news, look at Daxter’s hilarious face!

IMG_6776.jpgIMG_6781.jpgIMG_6783.jpg

And that, as they say, is that. Random? Maybe. But I really couldn’t think of a smoother transition, and I felt the need to share his adorable mug with you all today. Don’t even try to say you don’t love it just a little bit. :)

Have a great tolerable Tuesday! (Since Tuesday is by far the absolute worst day of the week, I feel it would be wildly presumptuous to think that anyone could have a “great” day today, hahaha.)

PS: I’ve got a Daily Eats post coming your way in a few, too! SHOCK! Who am I?!

read more

Related Posts

Tags

Share This

12 Comments

11 Days

May 7, 2012 by

That’s right, friends. 11 days until 12 bloggers will be piling into 2 vans for a 200-mile, 24-hour relay race in Massachusetts. Whew, that’s a lot of numbers. Reach the Beach, the countdown has (more than) begun!

I’m so, so excited for this experience… and so, so scared. I’ve been reading recaps on blogs of similar relay-style races (Ragnar, Hood to Coast) and am getting simultaneously pumped up and petrified. It’s an odd feeling, haha. On the one hand, I feel honored just to get to be a part of this whole experience. I mean, it’s going to be awesome, New Balance is generously sponsoring our team, some of my favorite people in the world will be running with me, and I’m going to get to meet a whole slew of new friends, too!

And yet, at the same time, I’m still feeling pretty self-conscious going in because I’m the least runner-y runner in the entire group. It’s hard not to get down on myself for being slower or heavier or less in love with the sport of running than the rest of my super-accomplished teammates, y’know? I’ve definitely had my fair share of moments where I’ve second-guessed the fact that I agreed to be part of the relay team in the first place. I’ll admit, the most powerful driving force behind keeping my doubts at bay has been wrapped up in the fact that I hate being left out of awesome stuff. This relay definitely qualifies as awesome stuff. And I know that if I had said no to this, I would have REALLY regretted it once I started reading the other ladies’ recaps, haha.


Team Off Balance

I mean, let’s be honest: My legs for the race are totally fair (2.8, 4.78, and 3.37 miles), so I really can’t be that worried about running the actual distances. And we’re not running to win (obviously), so I should be able to focus the having fun part, right? Well, that said, I’ve also never had to run more than once a day before, let alone on little to no sleep. Heh.

Despite my best intentions to at least practice a two-a-day run before now, I haven’t done so yet. So this weekend I will DEFINITELY be testing one out — once in the morning and once in the afternoon or evening — just to get an idea of how my body will react. Cognitively, I know that the excitement, adrenaline, and general kick-assery of the relay is going to go a long way in terms of helping me get through the physical part of the race. Still though, you know me. I’m a worrier. So regardless of how prepared I am, I’m sure I’ll be in freak-out mode pretty much from now until my plane lands back in DC nonetheless. (Aren’t my teammates so lucky? Hahaha.)

I don’t usually post a lot of specific information about my workout/training schedules here (since I find it boring to read on other blogs, hahaha), but I figure that it’ll be good for me to line everything up officially (you know, so I actually DO it). So here’s the plan for the next 11 days to get me fully prepared for my cumulative 11.51 miles!

Monday (5/7): 3 mile outdoor run
Tuesday (5/8): Crosstrain – Zumba
Wednesday (5/9): 3.5 mile treadmill run
Thursday (5/10): Crosstrain – Cardio Dance Class
Friday (5/11): Rest
Saturday (5/12: 3 mile AM run, 2 mile PM run
Sunday (5/13): Rest
Monday (5/14): 4 mile outdoor run
Tuesday (5/15): Crosstrain – Zumba
Wednesday (5/16): 2.5 mile outdoor run
Thursday (5/17): Rest/Fly to Boston!

And then Friday (5/18), Reach the Beach begins!

11 days. Here we go!

read more

Related Posts

Tags

Share This

13 Comments

Wednesday Weigh-in

May 2, 2012 by

No bells, no frills, no whistles today, friends. Just a good old-fashioned weigh-in post, harking back to the posts of yesteryear. Here’s hoping that the bucketloads of sweat that dripped out of me at last night’s Zumba class were well worth it…!

Starting Weight: 246 lbs
Last Weigh-in: 191.0 lbs
This Weigh-in: 189.4 lbs
Difference: -1.6 lbs

Woot! And the trend continues! Since my declaration of real, TRUE recommitting to my weight loss last week (y’know, as opposed to all those faux-commitment declarations in all the weeks before, haha), I’ve been doing okay in terms of sticking to my “rules” — a term I use VERY loosely, because as you already know, I don’t really do too well with rules. They’re really more like “guidelines”, anyway.

In case you don’t feel like going back to read through the drivel from last week, here’s a general summary of what I’m trying to stick with:

5 – 6 small meals / all-day grazing rather than 3 squares a day Check! I’m doing pretty well with this, if you don’t count yesterday, haha.

Eat breakfast. Check! I’m back on the breakfast train, and it feels good. It is admittedly a readjustment for me with how much hungrier it makes me throughout the day though. Though counter-intuitive, I suppose that’s actually a good sign? My metabolism is getting kicked into gear and all that? Maybe?

Limit coffee intake. Check! I’ve switched to tea for the most part, and only had one actual coffee beverage last week.

Hydrate better. Check! I’ve been doing really well about upping my water intake during the week, I just need to be better about it on the weekends too.

Cut out dairy. Not check. I’m being better about it, for sure, but I still haven’t kicked the dairy habit completely. I’m back off milk though, which has helped me out a lot (you know… digestively. Heh, gross.) Cheese hasn’t been giving me too hard a time lately, so I think I’m okay with still having that in my diet, but I really need to be more stringent about frozen yogurt and sour cream, at least for now.

Calorie count. Not check. I’ve been doing this haphazardly, although it’s still better than I was doing before. I even managed to get in a couple days of Daily Eats posts, so there! I know I need to get back on the calorie-counting train, it’s just going to take me some time to readjust. It’s just… you know… I hate it! Hahaha.

Starting juicing again. Fail. I haven’t juiced once since making that declaration. I have, however, partaken in the new green veggie smoothie being offered at the froyo place in L’Enfant Plaza. It’s delicious and veggie-tastic (though it doesn’t taste like it), the only downside is that it has yogurt in it. Soooo, it kind of defeats the point prior to this. I swear I shall begin juicing again! It would probably help if I actually went grocery shopping, eh?

Hokay! So. There you have it… again! Here’s hoping that these habits continue to lead me down this good path, eh? Downward, that is! ;)

Sidenote: as I’m reminded of the aforementioned Zumba class last night, I want to give a shout-out to my new UnderArmour Armour Bra. Since Daxter ATE my last sports bra (grrrr…), my sister recommended UA’s new bra to me and this was my first time really testing it out. It was an especially, er, bouncy class, and this bra REALLY strapped me in, haha. It’s pretty cute too, as far as sports bras go, with each cup size having it’s own color and closure system.

Oh, and I can’t forget the obligatory, totally-unrelated-to-this-post picture purely for the purpose of my own visual gratification:

IMG_7908.jpg
I can’t decide if he looks really cute or really evil here. #blackeyesofdeath

IMG_7932.jpg
Well, I think that answers that.

Have a great Wednesday!

read more

Related Posts

Tags

Share This

20 Comments