Ugh

I've just been trudging along, in regards to my running and everything else in my life. What a drag.

Last week I only got out for one run, and it was on Monday (3 mi, 32:30), so it's been quite a while since I've hit the pavement. I've gotta prevent myself from losing momentum. I didn't run for the sake of running on Sunday, but I played some ultimate for and hour and a half, and I can't even begin to tell you how sore it made me. Moving at all, in any direction, requires the use of muscles which are currently recovering. I didn't run yesterday (I though it best to let my body catch up to me). It's kind of funny, you think you're in fairly good shape, then you change it up for one workout and your body ends up besting you.

In any case, I woke up this morning intending to run, still felt really sore, and decided not to run. Then I changed my mind and decided I was looking for excuses, laced up, and hit the streets. It hurt, but it was a good hurt, not an I'm-going-to-regret-this hurt. Phew. I feel much better now. I ran 2.25 miles at an 11:19 pace (25:24 total) in gorgeous 58 degree weather - so warm for November in New England!

A bit better

Today I'm in a much better mood than I was yesterday. My adviser never sent back edits for the abstract I had due yesterday, so I ended up doing it on my own. I don't think it's very high quality, but I think just forcing myself to get it done and not relying on someone else really helped.

I woke up this morning and did a weigh-in (usually it's on Saturdays, but I am partaking in a New Year's Eve challenge and they weigh-in on Thursdays). Here are the results:

SW: 214.6

LW: 208.6

CW: 204.6

I'm feeling good! I don't know if it's my scale that's weird or my body, but something seems to prefer the .6 increment. Anyway! I did a nice 3 miler this morning at 33:45. It took me a WHILE to get warmed up, but I got there eventually and had a decent run because I willed myself to get past that first 1.5 miles. Also, my new Under Armor is AWESOME. Absolutely no chaffing, whereas is used to start at about mile 2. Woot!

PS - This is OFFICIALLY the lightest I've weighed in... what is it? About 8 years. At least 8 years.

Womp

I seem to be in an emotional/intellectual funk that I cannot get myself out of. I just don't care about school anymore. No matter what I try to accomplish, I end up on the verge of tears begging for the end.

Yesterday was a particularly bad day - it seemed like everything in the world was pitted against me. I bet you're thinking, "But then this really awesome thing happened, right?!" Nope. It was just an awful day, and it didn't help that I was unable to get a run in. I ate poorly (not necessarily junk, but I ate sporadically and didn't get enough nutrition), didn't get enough water, and just generally wanted to cry about every five minutes.

I got myself moving this morning and all I could muster was 2.25 miles before I was internally screaming mercy. Coupled with my foul mood, I was a bit dehydrated and I didn't eat anything before I went out. It was just no good. It wasn't the worst run ever, but it's the worst run I've had in a while. On the plus side: no chaffing!

I have an abstract due today for an academic conference in April - there's still a lot of work to be done, so here's to hoping I can bang it out and get over my moping.

Getting faster, running longer!

Today I set out thinking that I would do a solid 1.5 miles, jog slowly for a few minutes, and then pick it back up and run one more mile, for a total of ~2.5 miles. I got on the treadmill and thought to myself, "This is a dreadmill day." I don't run with music and I don't cover up the display in front of me. Running may be a physical activity, but I think that it's equally mental. Every time I run, I try my hardest to best the display, and pay less and less attention to it. I say that it was a dreadmill day because I looked at the display after about 20 seconds. This was going to be a tough one.

The first mile was tough - and it often is for me. After running only a couple of minutes, 25 more just seems so impossible. It's not, and I know it's not, sometimes it just feels that way. In any case, I made it to one mile, and then I told myself that after 1.5 miles at 5.5, I could bring it down. Then I thought, "Bring it down? You mean let this machine beat me? Ain't gonna happen!" I ran to 2 miles. Just 2 miles? I did that yesterday, easy-peasy. How about 3? And how about I run it a little faster than I did last time? Sure. After 2 miles, I did ease it down to 5.4, then 5.3, then 5.1, and I ran until I hit the 3.0 marker at 33:19. That's the fastest I've ever run 3 miles!

Mile 1: 11:03

Mile 2: 10:53

Mile 3: 11:23

I obviously slowed down a bit in the end, but overall this is the fastest I've accomplished 3 miles, and I feel AWESOME! I am 26 seconds faster than I was on Saturday, and 1:41 faster than I was on Friday!

My goal a few weeks ago was to reach 202 lbs by November 2nd, which is a week from today. That's not going to happen, because I seemed to have hit a little snag at 208. That's quite alright with me, though, at least for now. Chaffing is getting pretty bad, though. I definitely need to invest in some better shorts.

Lazy Sunday

I've accomplished very little on this beautiful autumn Sunday. I managed to motivate myself to get outside to run (something I haven't done in weeks). My body has acclimated to the easy-faux terrain of a treadmill, so it was nice to give my body a little bit of work, even in a recovery run, which today (finally) was. I ran a mile-long out-and-back.

Mile 1: 12:09

Mile 2: 12:26

Not bad considering I've only missed one day of running in the past 9 days, yesterday I ran 4 miles, I ran outside in week, and I somehow managed to pull a muscle in my lower left back. It was nice to be outside for a change, and I think my body appreciated it. The slower splits are likely a result of my relentless running this week, as well as variegated ground. I like it, it made me happy to get some sun. I also thought the run would help loosen up my back a bit. It did while I was running, but now I'm all tight again.

After my run, I showered quickly and went over to have brunch (their breakfast, my lunch) with a group of friends that I haven't had a chance to spend time with so far this semester. It was really nice, and we had a huge array of food (mostly unhealthy), but I rationed myself well. Even so, I'm still full.

Besides by run and brunch fun, I've literally done nothing today. I slept in (until 9!), lazed, ran, and spent too much time doing nothing with friends. It was so nice to see them though, so I don't care much about how my work will kick my ass this week. ALSO, one of my friends told me how great I looked! Hell yeah.

Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse

According to the film Zombieland, the number one key to surviving is cardio. Screw losing weight and getting healthy, I don't want to be torn to shreds by a flesh eating semblence of a human!

For this reason, and this reason alone (okay, not really), I pushed myself during my run today. I pushed hard. I set out wanting to get in a solid mile. Just one. After already running 10 this week when my goal was 7, I just wanted to keep momentum going but give my muscles a little rest. Psssh. Why not run 4? That's what I did instead. Something that I've only achieved twice before, today I did it in style.

Yesterday's 3 mile run took me 35:00. Today I got to the 3 mile marker at 33:45. I shaved off 1:15! Heck yeah, I say. Nay, I scream! At the 5k marker I was at 36:10, and I finished 4 miles in 45:10. That's awesome, especially since I only aimed to complete 1.

After the first mile I was just feeling so great that I kept going. Mile 2 was a little tough, but I got through it. Should I stop here? Nah, go for 3, I thought. Maybe you can finish a little bit faster. And I did. Then I thought, you still have some energy, might as well just try for 4. At this point, my fat thighs had chaffed to the point that the skin broke, and I was considerably irritated. Had it not been for that, I think I could have gone for 5. Oh well! It was a great run, of which I am particularly proud. I think I should invest in some longer spandex - my current pair rides up quite a bit.

Take THAT scale. I bested you in the best way possible.

Weigh-in bummer? Not really.

So I woke up this morning, my weigh-in day, so excited to see that all my runs this week had payed off! I raked in a good and solid 10 miles this week, which is huge for me! In addition to my daily runs, I got in upper body, lower body, and core strength training sessions. I also managed to stay around the 1400-1500 calorie range, and most days stayed within other nutrition ranges (fiber, protein, fat, and carbohydrates). Lo and behold, the scale wishes to try and demoralize me!

Last week: 208

This week: 208.6

I won't fall for his tricks this time: the scale is a damned fool! I won't be listening too much to what he has to say. I know I've made progress this week. On Sunday, I was only able to get in my 2 miles by taking a walking break. By Wednesday, I tackled the 2 miles full on. Yesterday, I said to hell with 2 and kept going until I hit 3.

I feel good this week, regardless of what the scale says.