Stormy Wednesday Night

I am slowly bouncing back to where I should be. Had a decent 4.5 mile run on the treadmill yesterday, and looking forward to doing it again. Kinda.

I think part of my problem is that I’m having to run more and more on the treadmill with my weekday runs now that they are becoming longer distance/time wise. I really, really don’t like running on the treadmill for more than 2 miles at a time. It’s become a necessary evil and I’m starting to become bitter towards it. I will work on refocusing that energy elsewhere, though, as I’ve got 5 more weeks of it.

I really wish I would have taken a picture of the star of tonight’s supper while I was making it, but I missed it. Yesterday I roasted a bunch of sweet potatoes and a large butternut squash in the oven. The potatoes transfer quickly into easy meals with a few additions, but I really didn’t know what to do about the squash until I found this recipe today.

This picture is from the blog in the above link-

I made a few adjustments to the recipe. No butter, just olive oil, and only about 1/2 cup cheese instead of 2 (that’s all I had, reduced fat Cabot cheddar).

THIS WAS SOOOOO GOOD!

I’m excited about tomorrow’s lunch already…LEFTOVERS 🙂

Banging my head against a WALL.

There is a good reason I haven’t blogged much this week —– IT SUCKED.

Tuesday’s treadmill 4 was the only time this week I felt like I had it, everything else has been completely off. From schedule to just the way my body feels. Off. I’m having that week. The week where you feel like you hit a wall and can’t get anything done. That’s where I’m at. So far, all my workouts have been fairly smooth and my progress has been steady. Not this week….

WALL.

Thursday’s 4 was rescheduled to Friday so The Man and I could go on a date. I don’t know if that was the reason, but after 10 minutes on the treadmill I was headed out the door back to the house. I wasn’t feeling it AT ALL. I figured it was just a bad day and looked forward to getting back into the rhythm on Sunday’s long run.

Well, today is Sunday, and my funk is still here. I went to Lincoln Parish Park to have new scenery to run to, but it didn’t help. I was aching all over and felt like I was carrying fifty more pounds on my body than usual. Every step was heavy and long. I took a little break after 2 miles to get some water and stretch, but I called it quits after 3. It just wasn’t working. I felt like I was going to injure myself if I pushed any further. I was defeated. Disappointed. Sad.

Resorting to my old ways, when I got home I drowned my sorrows in milk and chocolate no-bake cookies I had made for the girls yesterday. It was easy for me not to eat them yesterday, but today they were fair game. Now I feel terrible in more ways than one.

I really don’t know what is going on here. I don’t know if it is the weather front that has come through? The lack of sunshine and my self-diagnosed seasonal affective disorder? Boredom? Stress?

Or maybe just a funk?

I don’t really know what it is, but I am just going to declare this an off week ending on a bad day and start over again tomorrow. I’ve still got 6 weeks left till the race, and I know I will get out of whatever this is and bounce back stronger soon.

It’s 8pm, and I’m going to bed. The best way to end a bad day is to really just end it. Goodnight.

Whirlwind weekend

I told The Man tonight that I felt pretty proud of myself. The best way for me to feel good about myself is to be very productive. If I get something done, something substantial, I can finally relax and not feel like a lazy slob.

Relax before work = Lazy Slob

Relax after work = Awesome Super Woman Who DESERVES Rest!!!

That being said, if you could take a picture of me right now this is what you’d see…

Or, rather, something like her…

With brown hair.

And pajamas pants, tshirt, and zippered hoodie.

And a little cellulite here and there.

Reclined on a red leather chair in a messy house somewhere in Louisiana.

….

….

Okay, nevermind, where was I?

Productive. Yes. This week and weekend I was a factory that produces production in a very productive way, if you get my drift. Busy busy with band related work stuff and such. Friday I was at the school from 7am till 1am the following day (except for a quick trip to drop the girls off at my mother’s house) and Saturday I was at a different school for another 10 hours or so. Sunday, which is today, well I didn’t feel like doing anything. Sleeping, really, is all that I wanted.

I did NOT want to run. Period.

My legs/knees/ankles have been tight and sore since last Sunday’s 7 miler and combined with the crazy schedule I had this week I was juuust about to talk myself into resting today.

But I didn’t rest.

Around 3:30 I saw that the sun was on it’s way down and it was now or never. I was scared that if I missed my long run today, it would just be an excuse for me to tumble down into laziness and start missing all kinds of workouts. I knew I had to get out there and just get something done.

I forced myself out of my comfy nobody-better-knock-on-the-door-and-see-me-like-this clothes and got into my running gear. After loading up my ipod with a Jillian Michael’s podcast, I was out the door and immediately feeling better. All fatigue and soreness was forgotten and it was just me and the road and freezing temperatures. I put myself on cruise control and knew that I could go for more than the minimum 3 miles I was planning to do, I could actually go ahead and do a long run.

And a long run I did…

That right there says 7 miles in 1:26 minutes. Whew, that’s a long time to run! And nevermind the pace it has on that picture. That’s my pace while standing in my kitchen taking a picture. My average pace for this run was 12:29 per mile. Yes, I’m still a turtle. At least for long runs, short runs average around 10:50 per mile. And no, it wasn’t the 8 miles that I had wished to do, but my training plan only has me scheduled to do 6, so I am still ahead as far as that goes. I’ll save the 8 for next Sunday when I shouldn’t be near worn out.

So that’s all I have for this week. Not much, but like I said, other things have filled my plate these last few days. I am proud of myself for once again making my run a priority in my day. 5 weeks down, 7 weeks to go!!!

Just, you know, bleh.

Yeah for another season of Biggest Loser! Watching it now as I make a little update. It’s a great motivator every week to stay on course, but I’m super glad I put it on the dvr  so I can forward through all the crap that’s in it. This show does NOT need to be two hours long every week! If you watch it every week you should record it so you can fast forward and gain another HOUR for the day to workout 🙂

I kinda had a downer of a workout today. I was scheduled to do a 4 miler, but things are just not working out for me today.  I guess it all started when I stepped in dog crap first thing this morning. Yep. One of those days.

And we are having very, very cold weather.

And my band room’s heater is not working too well.

So I’m cold ALL DAY LONG.

Which makes me TIRED.

But I got up and headed to the gym this evening to get my stuff done. I was confident. I was pumped.

And then I got to the gym and saw that it was completely packed and all the treadmills were taken. I admit, I fumed a little bit because I was angry at all the new “new years” people that were there taking my equipment! I turned around and got back in my car. The old me would have just given up and went home, but since I have this whole training program I’m working on, I drove across town to the other gym. Small win for me.

As soon as I started to run I knew that I wasn’t going to make it for 4 miles. My whole body started protesting and it was all I could do to get two finished. I walked with an incline for another mile, ran another fast quarter mile, then called in quits for the day. A slow 3.25 instead of 4. I don’t want to push my body to do something that it doesn’t want to do. That’s how injuries happen. So I’ll be satisfied, call it a day, and push forward tomorrow.

Seven mile Sundays

Holy Freaking Crap! I made it!

7 miles checked off the training to-do list to close out a great week. I really can’t believe how far I’ve come in such a short time. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this all comes out in February. It’s taking a huge commitment, but I’m getting huge benefits from it.

I told you I was never doing a long run on the roads by my house again (due to the crazy hills I have around here), so I headed to the flatland known as Monroe this morning. I started at the local park and then ran the rest of the route through hoity-toityville. It was a really great run, as most of it was quiet and had little traffic. I stayed mostly on divided roads that had medians and wide shoulders. It was nice to not feel like I was about to get smooshed by someone.

About a mile of the trip was running by this Bayou. It was really calming.

Sorry about my finger alien flying around the bottom there. Hey, I was running 🙂

When I started my run is was about 8:45 and around 34 degrees. And windy. Cold and windy. My favorites! I buckled down into it, though, and sure enough, soon I was good and sweaty and thanking the wind when I turned a corner and it cooled me off. Here’s how I remember it..

• Mile 1 – Started on top of the river levee. Fun view. Running is easy. My thumbs are cold. Should have brought gloves, but I left them in the car.
• Mile 2 – Beautiful view of the bayou. I’m liking this run. I’m gonna breeze through this whole thing. First signs of life are older lady in santa-red nighty running out to get her newspaper. See three runners and a walker. Third runner’s pace is so fast it makes me look like a sloth. I have to remind myself that speed doesn’t matter to me. I’m faster than I was on the couch.
• Mile 3 – Just cruising. Watching priviledged society wake up and start to stir on a lazy Sunday.
• Mile 4 – Bored. And starting to get hungry. I only had coffee and a Zbar this morning.
• Mile 5 – Longest mile of the day. Seemed like I was on mile 5 FOREVER. I’m bored and I want to be done.
• Mile 6 – My hips and butt are starting to fatigue. I’m tired.
• Mile 7 – I’m tired and sore and painfully slow. I try to perk up my pace to finish strong but I’m afraid of dragging my feet. I’m gonna get this done. I’m gonna do this because I have to. I’m gonna do this because I want to.

As soon as I started walking again, I was painfully cold again. I feel like I need to do plenty of runs while it is super cold, though, with my race day being in late February.

Yeah for big accomplishments! I am proud of myself and am actually looking forward to pushing myself even more on next weekends long run.

After doing a little grocery shopping (rocking my sweaty running clothes, yeah), I headed home and had a late brunch/lunch.

Can’t tell what it is, can you?

Well. Ladies and Gentlemen. Let me introduce you to the best, and yes, I said BEST, peanut butter and banana sandwich that has EVER been made!

Except it’s not peanut butter.

It’s PECAN butter. Remember? I made it only a few days ago. I’ve been wondering how to use it, and today I got a major idea lightbulb. I cut two slices out of my homemade sourdough loaf, spread each side with pecan butter, sliced up a banana, drizzled a slight amount of honey, and grilled it with butter in a cast iron skillet.

Oh. My. God.

This was one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten, much less made. The Man hovered over me when he saw what I was making. I gave him a bite and he immediately went to work making his own.

Now, I’m not gonna say that this was a low calorie “diet” food. But I’ve just about decided that I don’t want to live that way. I want to eat food. Enjoy food. Exercise. Be healthy. And I’m gonna see if I can lose a little weight at the same time. It’s not about deprivation, it’s about being smart. Being balanced. And, most of all I think..  Being happy.

And this sandwich made me very, very happy 🙂

Whew, I made it… kinda.

It’s been a pretty tough week for training, I just have to say. Christmas was beautiful and wonderful and happy. And full of cookies.

And deliciously chewy soft yeast rolls.

And peanut butter candy.

And cold, windy, shortened days that are not inviting AT ALL to someone who hates being cold.

My only workouts this week were Tuesday’s 3.5 miles (that I hated) and today’s long run of 6 miles (that I hated even more). I won’t run my long runs on the same road as I did today ever again, I will tell you that. Too many hills! I was dying and wanting to quit only halfway through. I think I would have if I wasn’t 3 miles away from my house. In order for to be able (physically and mentally) to run 7 miles next Sunday, I am going to have to find a better route. That’ll be my homework this week 🙂

Knowing that I can’t wear my stretchy sweatpants when I go back to work in 8 days, I have cleaned up my eating since Christmas wrapped up (pun intended). Juli’s little vacation from reality on Lazy Sugar Island is over. Hopefully for good. No temptations in the way for months and months and months. I’m excited and ready to rock n’ roll.

Speaking of Rock n’ Roll…  it’s 3 weeks down, 9 to go till the Rock n’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans. Egads!

just.keep.going.

I probably picked the worst time ever to start training for a half mary. These first two weeks have been full with Christmas concerts, family visits, Christmas parties, football games, house cleaning, and shopping. And then there is special school faculty breakfasts, lunches, and big family suppers. Ahhh! My willpower when it comes to food is not strong enough for all of that. I confess, I’ve been horrible with my food choices. I’ve eaten anything and everything that I wanted to and then went back for seconds.

And it makes me feel like crap.

Terrible.

Eat horrible = Feel horrible. Period.

So if nothing else, this holiday season will remind me of what I’m trying to do here. Improve. Not just get stuck in the same ‘ole rut that I’ve been stuck in for so long. I function better when I eat better. I feel better about myself… and, as the end bonus, I fit better into my jeans (which are painfully tight right now, I’m regretful to say).

Even though I have lost on the eating front these last two weeks, Christmas is still around the corner, and that gives me another opportunity to make a change. I was pretty smug when I said in an earlier post that I wasn’t going to pay attention to what I ate.. and am now feeling remorse for that. So here I go into the week of Christmas snapped out of my fog of delusion. What I eat matters everyday, even Christmas, and  I plan on making myself accountable for every single bite.

Other the other side of this is my running plan. All I can say is that it is still alive…

I’ve missed Tuesday’s 3 mile runs for the first two weeks. The first one was the night of my concert, and the second was the last day of my family visit. Couldn’t do much about either of those. The other missed workouts are cross-training days.  The circled days are the days I missed. As you can see, I didn’t have a very good week, but that is OKAY. I still did 3 miles on Thursday and 5 miles today. 8 miles for a week is not bad, and it’s a whole lot better than quitting or postponing. I’m keeping my training alive during the Christmas season. That’s a pretty big feat in itself.

Onward.

Today’s run was held off until the last possible time before sundown. It was a lazy day full of staying in bed till eleven (can’t remember the last time I did that!), taking the girls to see Santa, and a little shopping. I knew I had to get these 5 miles out of the way though, especially since I did so poor this week. I can’t say that I was very motivated to go all day, but as soon as I got dressed and out the door, all was well. The Man told me I would feel better once I did it, and I knew that he was right. There is nothing like the feeling I get after I trudge through a long run. Major sense of accomplishment. I think it’s one of the bigger reason why I run.

As soon as I got back to the house I took a quick shower and started my new old lady routine. I downed 2 ibuprofen with some water, grabbed a book and 3 ice packs, and “chilled” for 20 minutes or so.

A little one for my left foot. I’ve got weird joint things happening there since I started running. A big one for my knees, just preventative there, and an unseen one on my lower back for my bad discs. Yes, I am 31. Sometimes going on 74.

I look forward to having a much better week this week. I am going to try to blog as much as possible about it. I am already finding that is a great tool for me concerning accountability. I have a post that has been brewing in my brain for a while now about my history with running that I’m wanting to share as well.

Night y’all. And comments are welcome, you know 🙂

A Sunday for the Dogs

Today marks the completion of my first week of half-marathon training and the day of my long run. It was “only” a 4 miler today, and I say “only” because I was up to 6 miles a couple of weeks ago, not because it was easy. I went a different route today and found out that I chose a road with mega hills on it. My butt was aching the entire time. But that’s good I guess, as my butt needs some major work 🙂

I was about .75 miles into the run when I turned a corner and found three dogs staring at me as I approached. Yes, three. A gang. All heads and ears perked up as I got closer and I began to have visions of me being chewed into ground beef on the side of the road. As I got closer, I could definitely see that they were interested in me. I was nervous.

I was almost scared.

And then….

And then….

They all wagged their tails, sniffed me politely as I went by, and proceeded to run the next 3 miles with me.

I couldn’t shake ’em. I thought I did when I turned back and headed the other way. But sure enough, they caught up with me. It was fun. They kept me entertained.

And I know you are wondering how/why I have a video of this??!! My Man bought me an updated ipod nano with the video player for my birthday in September. I was thinking that this was a pointless feature for me on my runs up until today, when I just slid it out and took a little video of my new friends. Thanks, babe. Came in handy after all 🙂

And I’m not telling you what I’ve been eating because, well, goshdarnit, it’s the holidays and I’m eating whatever I want to. Just trying to not completely pig out every day. Running plan is the focus right now, diet will probably be postponed until Dec. 26th. 😉

A Cold Run

Have I said that it is winter now? Well, it is.

Like, cold.

But I still have to run.  Today was a rest day. Yesterday I ran 3 miles in 30-something degree weather.

I was warmer than the car.

But I was still pretty cold.

It takes at least a mile to warm up. But by the time I was through I was unzipping my jacket. 30-something degree runs aren’t so bad. Maybe I can make it through the winter training?!

the penultimate run

Although limping around like a kicked dog the last couple of days with a stiff back, I loosened up a bit today and was ready to make my last training run before Saturday’s race. I have to say that it was the only thing I was looking forward to today. I’m a burned out teacher right now, and Thanksgiving break can’t get here fast enough.

I was shooting for 4-5 miles today, and I’m proud to say I made it for a full 5. I’m starting to think I’m getting the hang of this running stuff. My knees and feet were close to giving out on me and the end, though, so I wouldn’t say it was all that easy. I do enjoy being alone with my thoughts and my ipod for an hour, though. Today I entertained myself with thoughts of the wonderful massage I’m planning on getting in Hot Springs after I get done on Saturday. And probably a pedicure for my tired out feet. Yeah!

Speaking of my ipod, I thought I’d share my playlist that I’m usually listening to when I’m out. I have it on shuffle so it doesn’t get predictable. Needs some beefing up, so fresh music ideas are welcome.

What’s your favorite workout song? Clean the house song? Mad at the world song?