Gobble

Ugh.

I currently feel like a weighed down bloated piece of crap. Been eating way too much bad food lately and it shows!

However I did have a nice thanksgiving and I am enjoying my days off. My husband had to work on thanksgiving so we had a big breakfast together instead. I still made a little thanksgiving dinner too - turkey breast, mac and cheese, and a spinach/cranberry salad. And of course dessert because I am such a sugar fiend. I got about half my christmas shopping done online this morning too. Yay!

I still did my thursday 2 miles yesterday! I didn't have anything better to do. Went out to the creek near my house around 4pm. It was chilly but I warmed up eventually and it ended up being a beautiful day for a thanksgiving run. I even stopped to snap a few pictures

Most of the pretty fall leaves are on the ground now because we had a bunch of rain and wind come through here a few days back.

Something kind of funny happened too. You see, I was expecting to be the only person out on that trail at 4pm on thanksgiving. But actually there were quite a few walkers (there's a neighborhood right next to it) and there were even a couple bikers - no other runners though. Anyway, so I ran past these 2 girls who were walking. And one of them just looked at me and gave me the biggest open mouth stare ever. She looked at me like I was crazy. Am I? Crazy for running in short sleeves in 45 degrees at 4pm on thanksgiving? Maybe... but here's how I see it. I am lucky to be able to run. I am lucky to have a body which is in good condition, no physical or mental defects, no diseases. I have my aches and pains, but I have no injuries which cripple me. Many people cannot walk just like this girl was doing, let alone run. My husband is one of them. I know how much it frustrates him. So to pay tribute to the gifts I have been blessed with, I am out there running on thanksgiving. It is what I love to do, and I'd sure as hell rather do something active instead of sleep or sit around the house twiddling my thumbs. Running is how I give thanks for running. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Today I attempted to do my strength exercise and some stretching. It was pretty pathetic. I just feel so sluggish from all the food! Ugh! At least I did SOMEthing though. And I have not missed a day of my 30 burpees!

Tomorrow I am going on base to run 4 miles. They have a great dirt track that is perfectly flat, good for a person like myself who is just getting back into distance running. In fact I am going on base tonight too, my husband wants me to bring him some food - and I shall!

I may or may not be doing the Spartan Workout next weekend. My husband was planning to take that day off. Since we hardly see each other and I didn't pay anything to sign up for the workout, I think I'm gonna bail and spend the time with him if he does indeed have that day off. I can work out later - when you live the Army life, time together is precious

That's all for now... peace out yall!

Spartan pictures and Yurbuds

I'm super sleepy!

Went out for my 3.5 miles this morning. Saturdays are going to once again become my long run days, but since today's "long" run was only 3.5 I decided to go for speed as well. I'm freakin tired. It was hard. For some reason I felt like I had no energy but I still tried to push myself as hard as I could. I did it in 33-something minutes. I wish I was faster - I know I'm capable of faster speeds and I do realize it's going to take some time for me to get there, but I really am a speed demon. I have a hard time turning that off, lol. But with next saturday's 4 miles I will not be going for speed. 

It was a pretty morning, kinda grey and damp but it was really pretty with the autumn leaves. Now I'm really sleepy but I still need to clean house and do a bunch of other stuff - including burpees for day 6!

Also - I have new headphones! My old ones did the whole.. one ear dies and there's only this one precise angle where you can hold the cord and hear both ears. So I ditched them and got myself a pair of Yurbuds. I had heard good things about these and that they're supposedly made for runners. Found a pair on Amazon for $25 bucks, got them last monday and tried them out. 

They look really weird, kinda like alien pods or something. Basically it's a tunnel that goes into your ear which prevents the buds from falling out. I had to read the instructions thoroughly to get an understanding of how to position the tunnels and how to put them into my ears. I was worried because I have a tragus (the little nub of skin attached to your face, right in front of your ear hole) piercing in my left ear.. and even though it's over a year old and fully healed I'm still careful with it. But I don't get any problems or discomfort with these headphones. The sound is good and they don't fall out of my ears. The feel of them is kind of weird and I'm still getting used to it, but for $25 bucks they have been a huge upgrade from my previous ones which were always falling out of my ears. I think I'm gonna love these things

Also I saw that Spartan Race has this new photo gallery. Out of curiosity I looked through it to see if I had any more pictures, and I found some! Yay!

The faces of pain and exhaustion! 

 This just looks like I'm trying to hide from all the mud... lol

Now I just want to do another Spartan Race... 4 more months!

30 burpees, 30 days

Sup!

I'm here on a wednesday night, feeling quite sore

I started the 30 burpees, 30 days challenge ...put on by who? Spartan Race of course!

Burpees and I aren't friends. I did many of them in the weeks leading up to my Spartan sprint back in march. But it was never enough!! At my Spartan sprint I failed 4 obstacles, so that's 120 burpees. I did every damn one of those burpees. Can't do 30 in a row... I can do maybe 15 before I have to take a break. On that day I took many many breaks.. but I did every single burpee, unlike some who cheat. However, my goal is to be able to do more of them and take breaks less often. One day I'd like to be able to do 30 in a row. And with a trifecta in my dreams for 2014, being able to do 30 in a row would really help me out. Or at least being able to do more without tiring so quickly would suffice.

So the deal is pretty simple - you do 30 burpees a day for 30 days. EVERY DAY! I'm on day 3 and on top of the 90 burpees, I've also run 2 miles and completed a pretty killer full body workout. Today I didn't do anything because I did all my grocery shopping and didn't get home until 7:30. The plan for this week is run 2 tomorrow, strength friday, run 3.5 saturday, and yoga on sunday. And do burpees.

I'm noticing some slight body definition changes in the 2 months that I've been active again. My PCOS has also been better and I'm really hoping it stays that way. It's amazing what exercise can do for you. And if it's one of those days where I just don't feel like it, I just make myself get off my ass and do it anyway. The one thing I tell myself is - who has ever completed a workout and said "Man, I really regret doing that!" NOBODY! Because you feel GREAT afterwards!

Great Santa Chase 5k

Last night I ran the 2nd annual Great Santa Chase. I ran the 1st annual last year - my first 5k race for time. This race takes place at Lights of the South, it's a place right near my house where you can take a hayride through christmas light displays. Except last night we were running through them!

This is the infamous castle. It's the finish point of the race. This year instead of looping the trail 3 times they had us go off into the parking lot for part of it. Which I'm actually thankful for and I'll explain why in a minute.

My goal for this year was to finish in under 30 minutes. Since my return to running 2 months ago I've been averaging around 10 minutes a mile, but I have not been doing speedwork at this point. It's really just been about getting back into it. Last year's time was 36:51 - it was a run filled with many walk breaks and water stops. So this year I was curious to see how much I've improved, even after 6 months off

There was a 1 mile fun run for the kids which was cute to watch. They had to try and catch Santa, but he was in a golf car so it wasn't exactly an easy task. 

Then our run began at sundown. I did a good job of pacing myself, and I did not stop to walk for even one second which is pretty awesome. But holy hell... the gravel!!! Yes, this is a gravel trail. Last year it wasn't a huge deal because I had my old shoes - minimal, but not completely barefoot. Well my trail shoes now are baaarrre-foot!!! There really isn't much protecting me from the huge rocks. It hurt like hell. And I think it definitely affected my speed. But I just did my best to grin and bare it. The run through the dirt parking lot was definitely welcome, even if I didn't get to look at any pretty lights during that part. Running through the lights was really fun and the weather was damn near perfect for shorts and a shortsleeve shirt. My finish time was 30:18, did not quite make my goal but that's ok because I beat the pants off of my previous time! I think that despite the gravel I did my best and paced myself really well to avoid burning out early. 

Me after the run, and the fire pit which kept me warm - by the time I finished it was a bit chilly!

Unfortunately my husband had to work so it was just me all by my lonesome, but I am thankful for the ability to be out there racing, even if I am by myself.

They had some pretty tasty free baked goods which were provided by a local bakery. I had a tiny piece of each - cinnamon bagel, some type of frosted scone, and sourdough bread

I'm not sure if I like my trail shoes, after my last 3 trail runs all of which involved gravel at some point during the race. Gravel freaking hurts in barefoot shoes. I'm not new to barefoot running, I just don't run on anything besides woodland trails and asphalt. Not sure if I want to tough it out and condition my feet for rough terrain, or just go for a more cushioned yet still minimal trail shoe. I guess I'll keep running in them for now and make a decision after I've had more time in them

Next saturday's run will be 3.5, as I slowly begin to build mileage for the Augusta Half in february!

The good side of weird schedules

My husband went back to work today for the first time since his foot surgery. He works a late afternoon/night shift and we don't really get weekends together. So for about 5 days, the only time we will see each other is when one of us is asleep. Sucks for me cause I feel like I never get to see him, but there are benefits to it. See, on nights when he is home I just want to hang out with him... which sometimes leads to rushing through my exercise time and not doing chores as often as I should. At least this way I can get more stuff done around the house and not feel like I have to rush through my workouts.

So tonight I did my strength training and had a date with my foam roller. I had a bunch of energy because we had a Thanksgiving lunch at work... carbs, yay!

Lately I've had a bit of heel pain in my left foot. I think maybe I've been favoring my left foot a bit during these several months of dealing with hip pain on my right side. Took a break from running for a week to see if it would do anything. It didn't really help initially, but the last 2 days have been a little better even though I ran yesterday. I'm not that worried about it. This week I realized I'm always going to have little nagging aches and pains. As long as they never become anything more than that, why let them stop me? These days I am stretching, massaging, icing, and foam rolling everything to minimize any possible issues. The truth is, if I stop everything each time I get aches and pains, then I'm never going to get anything done. Would I rather go back to my life of inactivity and never accomplish any challenges or have any cool stories to tell? Hell no! I'd rather do something awesome and be in pain sometimes than not even use the body I was given. 

So yes, I'm just going to take care of this as best I can and hope it doesn't turn into something serious like PF


This weekend I'm doing the Great Santa Chase 5k. It's here near my house at Lights of the South, a big Christmas light display here in East GA. They did this for the first time last year and it was my first REAL 5k where I ran for time. That time was 36:51, which I will surely beat the pants off this year. Will I meet my PR of 27:17? Probably not - since my return to running I've been averaging around 10min/mile. So I'll try to get a sub 30 minute run here.


Oh, one more thing. I found this and it's pretty great. Perfectly describes a hypoglycemic runner like myself...

10 Things HANGRY People Do  !!

Nip it in the bud

Grrrr.

I've been noticing some heel pain lately - the past 2 weeks or so, usually hurting the most the day after I run. Today I realized that it keeps coming back and that I really should do something about it before it gets any worse. Talked it over with my husband and his opinion is that it's a heel bruise. He's had alot of experience with foot pains and running injuries so I have a fair amount of trust in his theory. Google seems to support it. I don't think it's plantar because the pain doesn't extend into my arch, it's really just on the ball of my heel. It hurts when I put my foot down or stand on it but not when the tendon of my arch is in motion. The pain isn't really that bad. It would seem I just need to rest/ice/elevate for a few days until the pain subsides. So until I feel like the pain is better I'm going to hold off on running for awhile. I'd rather do that than have it develop into something worse.

Sucks that I'm dealing with another injury now. But at this point it's pretty early in the game so I'm trying to remain optimistic that this will be something that heals within a week or so. I probably just hit something wrong. I don't heel strike but maybe I accidentally did while running down a hill, because hills are everywhere in east Georgia

The plan is going to be to strength train in place of running for the time being

Good news, weighed in at 160 this morning! It will probably fluctuate a bit but at least it's not the same freakin number as day one :)

162

So I've been gradually increasing my activity over the past few weeks and it's been pretty successful. I'm running anywhere from 5-8 miles a week, practicing yoga again, and now I'm back to strength training too. Still working on my tight right hip - but I'm no longer in constant pain and it doesn't hurt to do everyday things like pushing a shopping cart or vacuuming. Progress is good.

And now that we're through with all the birthdays and halloweens, I'm officially on a quest to lose some weight. Unfortunately I've put on about 1 pound per month of inactivity (so that's 6 pounds) but now that I'm active again it's time to lose all that!

Starting weight - 162

Goal weight - 155. Then we'll see where I go from there

I think my BMI is still normal for 5'8" but I haven't measured it yet

Here's what's gonna happen...

• Tracking calories daily
• Exercise 5-6 days a week
• Making myself meet a deadline - weigh ins on wednesdays

I allow myself some exceptions on weekends but other than that I'll be sticking to this pretty tight. If I don't then it's never gonna happen

Weight loss isn't fun... sometimes it feels like I'm starving and I start craving everything in sight. But it should only be for a few weeks. After that I can eat for maintenance, just as long as I stay active, which I have every intention of doing

The Spartan Workout

Ok. I ate entirely too much halloween candy. Man I love sugar way too much!

Ran 5k yesterday morning at the creek. We had a ton of rain the night before so there were wet leaves plastered all over the trail. Part of the trail is on a long wooden bridge. Wet leaves on wood = very bad. Had to slow down to avoid slipping. The run took me about 32 minutes. Now that I've been running regularly for about a month I'm going to start challenging myself to do better each time. Increased speed, intervals, and limiting walk breaks. The stupid abdominal cramp still shows up but it's getting better. I can run through it most days.

Now it's sunday and I just finished my yoga. Something about right angle pose absolutely kills my right hip. I'm trying my best to hold these poses as long as possible in order to get the maximum benefit from the stretches. No pain at the moment!

Tomorrow will be a strength training session

Some cool news - I signed up for the Spartan Workout! Not sure what that is? It's a 2 hour long workout put on by the founders of Spartan Race. Here is a snippet taken from the website

The Spartan Race Fitness Team is focused on BUILDING BETTER HUMANS by developing:

• Stamina - the ability to endure
• Power - strength and speed
• Athleticism - complete integrated functional fitness, using the body in a way that it was intended to move
• Readiness - take on any challenge, any time!
• Tenacity - mental
• Attitude - a positive disposition even in the face of adversity

Sounds pretty awesome. It's completely free AND you get a free shirt! Mine is on 12/7 and it's in Macon which is about 2 hours away. Funny thing is, I am actually going to TRAIN for this. Think about that for a second. I am going to train for one single workout. But - it's 2 hours and it's Spartan. I'll be doing stuff I have probably never done before. So I need to make sure I ramp up my training over the next month so I don't die during this beast of a workout.