Ah well
Best intentions, or something, right? I posted a big fat goose egg during all of May. So what have I been up to?
Work. Mostly this. I'm coming off a month+ period where I was pulling ~60 hour weeks (including a fair amount of weekend time too). And I know you lawyer-types are rolling your eyes at those paltry hours, but I found it tough. I think a lot of it was the high-intensity nature of the work--constantly go-go-go, finish the next thing. barking orders, etc. Too stressful. Things are still fairly busy, but feeling a lot more manageable and at a less frenetic pace. I'm glad to be back to normal with my <50 hour weeks (funny what a difference 10 hours feels like!).
Working out. I kept up what felt like a reasonable amount of physical activity during the crazy work period. Sometimes this looked like only two short runs and a yoga session all week. Others it was three runs, two strength sessions, and two shorter, at-home yoga sessions (five days total--combined strength + run on two days). The latter was more typical. It wasn't quite what I had planned, but it gets the job done. A week ago I did my longest run to date since the 10-miler--8.3 miles. I averaged a 10:33 min/mi pace, which is pretty good for me! So I don't feel like I'm losing too much running fitness with this pared down schedule. I've also starting making a concerted effort to workout in the morning. I'm only doing it a couple times a week, but it really helps--both heat-wise and work-wise. I'm hoping to keep this habit up!
I struggled during this phase with vacillating between two minds: 1) Work is hard! Don't make life harder by making yourself workout more. You've had a rough week; sitting on the couch all day is totally appropriate. 2) MUST DO ALL THE WORKOUTS. Because if you miss one workout, you know how you are--all or nothing. Slippery slope back to non-runner-dom and gaining the weight back.
Ultimately, I tried to force my mind to settle on option 3): do what you can, but don't kill yourself. Working out is a great stress reliever, and you know you feel better if you do it--but don't hesitate to give yourself a break. It was harder than I thought to actually achieve this mindset, but I think I was able to act in a moderately even if I still think in extremes.
Eats. More of the same. Proud of myself for not relying too much on eating out/frozen foods/etc. during the time. I relied on lots of repetition--cook one big meal on Sunday night, eat it for dinner through Wednesday. Breakfast and lunch were mostly the same (oatmeal and salad, respectively). Though I definitely accrued more Starbucks stars than usual!
Life. Lots of good stuff here. Family time, Dan time, friends time. Made some progress on cleaning/cleaning out/fixing my wardrobe holes. And some apartment decor improvements assisted by my mom. Made some life decisions (we are going to stay in our apartment for a while longer, got a new phone!), put off some others. But things feel pretty good.
Showing posts with label conquering my natural state. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conquering my natural state. Show all posts
Monday, June 3, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
My non-training-plan plan
After my question on whether or not to do a half-marathon, Anne Taite gave a very helpful metric: if it is less than 6 weeks away, go ahead and train for it. If not, don’t do it, because you’ll probably get burnt out. I loved the specificity of it! And it turned out the races I had been looking at were about two months after the 10-miler, which is maybe why I was balking at them in the first place. It seemed like so much longer to be training.
Additionally, my “big work thing” is finally happening, yikes! It is already digging into my personal time--I was at work for six hours yesterday (a Saturday)--so that further confirmed that maybe right now isn’t the best time to train for a big race.
So, I’m going to forgo the half-marathon this spring. I think it is the right call for life right now--though I am already starting to plan out which fall half I’ll want to do!
Even though I won’t be doing a formal training plan for the next several months, I’m still going to keep working on my running/fitness--getting faster and getting stronger!
I'm also constantly fighting my natural state of laziness...having a (publicly-articulated) plan should hopefully help with that. So I’ve created some general guidelines to take me through these “no plan” months. It basically amounts to a non-plan plan--oh well, there are worse things in the world than being a little neurotic. Here’s my non-plan plan that will take me from April until early August:
Run 4 times a week. I do like my current habit of running 4 times a week. It keeps my endurance up and ensures that running remains a habit. I figure this will be one longer run, one speed work day, and two easy, junk-mileage type of days. I’ll probably average 15-20 miles per week.
...But don’t stress if I miss a run. An important part of this non-plan plan is to allow myself flexibility and to choose living life over exercise! So if going out to dinner with Dan on a random Tuesday sounds better than getting my run in, that’s what I’ll do (within reason, obviously). Not that I didn’t do this while training for the 10-miler--but I won’t feel guilty or like I need to make up the run later in the week.
Do one 8+ mile run a month. For the most part, I’m envisioning weekly long runs to be around 6-7 miles. That seems to be a happy, maintaining-my-endurance/feel-like-I’m-getting-a-real-run place without being so exhausting that it knocks me out for the rest of the day. But! Once a month, I’d like to get out there for a slightly longer run--something 8 miles or longer. They’ll probably be slow and terrible because I’m not doing them consistently, but I know I’ll feel more confident come fall if I sprinkle a few longer runs over the summer.
Strength train twice a week. No excuses! I’ll do them on run days--I’ll probably be running on the treadmill more frequently anyway (DC summer heat, ugh), so I’ll already be at the gym. Just need to make myself do them!
Yoga at least once a week (probably twice). This shouldn’t be hard to keep--I’m loving yoga lately. It is so good for my body and a nice break from high intensity running.
Run a couple local races! I don’t want to do anything too big, but I think running a couple 5ks could be fun and could be a good test of my speed.
Additionally, my “big work thing” is finally happening, yikes! It is already digging into my personal time--I was at work for six hours yesterday (a Saturday)--so that further confirmed that maybe right now isn’t the best time to train for a big race.
So, I’m going to forgo the half-marathon this spring. I think it is the right call for life right now--though I am already starting to plan out which fall half I’ll want to do!
Even though I won’t be doing a formal training plan for the next several months, I’m still going to keep working on my running/fitness--getting faster and getting stronger!
I'm also constantly fighting my natural state of laziness...having a (publicly-articulated) plan should hopefully help with that. So I’ve created some general guidelines to take me through these “no plan” months. It basically amounts to a non-plan plan--oh well, there are worse things in the world than being a little neurotic. Here’s my non-plan plan that will take me from April until early August:
Run 4 times a week. I do like my current habit of running 4 times a week. It keeps my endurance up and ensures that running remains a habit. I figure this will be one longer run, one speed work day, and two easy, junk-mileage type of days. I’ll probably average 15-20 miles per week.
...But don’t stress if I miss a run. An important part of this non-plan plan is to allow myself flexibility and to choose living life over exercise! So if going out to dinner with Dan on a random Tuesday sounds better than getting my run in, that’s what I’ll do (within reason, obviously). Not that I didn’t do this while training for the 10-miler--but I won’t feel guilty or like I need to make up the run later in the week.
Do one 8+ mile run a month. For the most part, I’m envisioning weekly long runs to be around 6-7 miles. That seems to be a happy, maintaining-my-endurance/feel-like-I’m-getting-a-real-run place without being so exhausting that it knocks me out for the rest of the day. But! Once a month, I’d like to get out there for a slightly longer run--something 8 miles or longer. They’ll probably be slow and terrible because I’m not doing them consistently, but I know I’ll feel more confident come fall if I sprinkle a few longer runs over the summer.
Strength train twice a week. No excuses! I’ll do them on run days--I’ll probably be running on the treadmill more frequently anyway (DC summer heat, ugh), so I’ll already be at the gym. Just need to make myself do them!
Yoga at least once a week (probably twice). This shouldn’t be hard to keep--I’m loving yoga lately. It is so good for my body and a nice break from high intensity running.
Run a couple local races! I don’t want to do anything too big, but I think running a couple 5ks could be fun and could be a good test of my speed.
Monday, February 11, 2013
A Simple Solution to the Internet Problem?
I've only been doing it for a little bit...
But I think I’ve found a super basic way to help myself not stay on the internet all night long: I’ve been keeping my laptop/laptop charger at my desk. This seems so stupid, I know. But it is really working!
My desk is in our “den” aka office, which usually is just where Dan hangs out when we are doing separate activities (he has a whole big computer set-up in there and likes to play games/tinker on it). I usually take over the living room, with my laptop plugged in there, where our big comfy couch and TV are. Well this usually results in a lot of inertia--it feels difficult to get off the couch and why would I, when I have everything I want to do within arms reach (TV and internet). If I’m watching a TV show, my laptop is right in front of me when I finish, so I just naturally go on to internet reading as the next activity.
My desk in the office, on the other hand, is separate from the TV and features a quasi-uncomfortable chair (or at least a chair that doesn’t invite me to sink into it for long periods of time like our couch!). When I go in there, it feels very “work” mode--sitting up straight, cleared off desk, etc. It definitely doesn’t feel as relaxing as the couch and living room, and the chair is uncomfortable enough that I don’t really want to stay in it for too long. Luckily, Dan doesn’t seem to mind too much that I’m crashing his party in the office. :)
I’m not saying I don’t move the laptop in to the living room to settle in for an hour of internet-reading occasionally. But when I do, I’m making the conscious choice to do that, instead of just doing it because my computer is sitting in front of me and I finished up my previous activity. It is no longer my rest state--it requires effort! So it is easier to choose to do something else that requires effort (reading a book, cleaning, etc.) because I’m choosing between effort vs. effort, not effort vs. rest.
Plus, by keeping the charger in the office, I’m self-limiting my time that I can spend on the computer because my laptop is super old and dies in 90 minutes, tops. Eventually, when I want to computer-game for an extended period of time (yes, I’m a nerd!), I’ll move the charger to the living room. But I’ll be sure to move it back when I’m done!
I’ve only been keeping at it for a little over a week, so we will see how it works in the long-run. But for now, this is a great solution. Creating self-imposed barriers to doing things I don’t want to do is maybe an odd way to go about building a habit, but it is working!
Weekend Wrap-Up
I failed on the pictures front, so this will be short. On Friday night, I went with my friend to Oyamel for DC Restaurant Week. It was really delicious, and I actually liked going for Restaurant Week, despite hearing negative things in the past about the whole experience. It was definitely crowded, but the service was on point (they knew they had to perform!) and the fixed style menu encouraged me to try things I wouldn't have normally ordered.
On Saturday, after my long run (details below!), Dan and I headed up to visit his sister, brother-in-law, and their NEW BABY in Balitmore. I hadn't seen the baby since the day he was born! He had grown so much and is just as a really cute age. Really enjoyed spending time with him!
We didn't get back from B-more until dinnertime on Sunday, so the weekend felt a little short/full. But full of fun and people I love, so no complaints!
Weekly Workout Summary: February 4 - February 10, 2013
Monday: 5 miles at 11:12. Pretty standard run! Crazy to me that 5 miles is now seeming not-super-daunting and do-able after work.
Tuesday: 20 min yoga at home. Ugh. I really wanted to go to yoga in the studio that night, but ended up getting held up at work. Bummer. I tried a new Yoga Download 20 min routine that I was just not feeling, so I didn't do a second one. Lamesauce.
Wednesday: 4 miles at 10:55. I only decided half-way through that this would be a "pace" run, so it probably should have been a little faster. Also notable was that I had originally intended this to be a morning workout, but failed miserably and reset my alarm when I woke up before it and felt terrible--and then ended up not falling back asleep. Don't you hate that? Lesson learned.
Thursday: REST. I'm trying out switching my rest day from Friday to Thursday, and so far I'm liking it. It gives Dan and I some extra time on a weeknight, and Fridays are actually kind of nice days to work out--not so bad to do so in the morning (the promise of sleeping in the next day), or at night, no rush to get home.
Friday: 3 miles on the treadmill, with 4x400 at 6.0-6.2 mph. This was in the morning! For whatever reason, the treadmill is seeming much more appealing in the morning (whereas at night I'll always prefer outside). Who knows, but if it gets me up, I'm fine with 1-2 treadmill sessions a week.
Saturday: 8.5 mile long run at 11:10. Woot! New PDR. I was running into the wind for the first half, so instead of doing a loop like I normally would, I turned around at half way to enjoy the wind on my back. Haha, that was definitely the way to go. I felt good on the run and even at the end (maybe all that wind?)--like if you really wanted me to, I could probably go another 1.5 miles for 10. Which means training is paying off!
Sunday: Unintentional rest day (Baltimore visit!).
Total mileage: 20.5 miles.
Happy with my running this week, but I really need to be better about getting to yoga and doing strength training. I know they ultimately help my running and help my body recover faster!
But I think I’ve found a super basic way to help myself not stay on the internet all night long: I’ve been keeping my laptop/laptop charger at my desk. This seems so stupid, I know. But it is really working!
My desk is in our “den” aka office, which usually is just where Dan hangs out when we are doing separate activities (he has a whole big computer set-up in there and likes to play games/tinker on it). I usually take over the living room, with my laptop plugged in there, where our big comfy couch and TV are. Well this usually results in a lot of inertia--it feels difficult to get off the couch and why would I, when I have everything I want to do within arms reach (TV and internet). If I’m watching a TV show, my laptop is right in front of me when I finish, so I just naturally go on to internet reading as the next activity.
My desk in the office, on the other hand, is separate from the TV and features a quasi-uncomfortable chair (or at least a chair that doesn’t invite me to sink into it for long periods of time like our couch!). When I go in there, it feels very “work” mode--sitting up straight, cleared off desk, etc. It definitely doesn’t feel as relaxing as the couch and living room, and the chair is uncomfortable enough that I don’t really want to stay in it for too long. Luckily, Dan doesn’t seem to mind too much that I’m crashing his party in the office. :)
 |
| Terrible picture of austere desk set up. The whole "desk" (large table) + chair set up cost literally under $45 from Ikea. Oh those crazy Swedes. |
Plus, by keeping the charger in the office, I’m self-limiting my time that I can spend on the computer because my laptop is super old and dies in 90 minutes, tops. Eventually, when I want to computer-game for an extended period of time (yes, I’m a nerd!), I’ll move the charger to the living room. But I’ll be sure to move it back when I’m done!
I’ve only been keeping at it for a little over a week, so we will see how it works in the long-run. But for now, this is a great solution. Creating self-imposed barriers to doing things I don’t want to do is maybe an odd way to go about building a habit, but it is working!
Weekend Wrap-Up
I failed on the pictures front, so this will be short. On Friday night, I went with my friend to Oyamel for DC Restaurant Week. It was really delicious, and I actually liked going for Restaurant Week, despite hearing negative things in the past about the whole experience. It was definitely crowded, but the service was on point (they knew they had to perform!) and the fixed style menu encouraged me to try things I wouldn't have normally ordered.
On Saturday, after my long run (details below!), Dan and I headed up to visit his sister, brother-in-law, and their NEW BABY in Balitmore. I hadn't seen the baby since the day he was born! He had grown so much and is just as a really cute age. Really enjoyed spending time with him!
We didn't get back from B-more until dinnertime on Sunday, so the weekend felt a little short/full. But full of fun and people I love, so no complaints!
Weekly Workout Summary: February 4 - February 10, 2013
Monday: 5 miles at 11:12. Pretty standard run! Crazy to me that 5 miles is now seeming not-super-daunting and do-able after work.
Tuesday: 20 min yoga at home. Ugh. I really wanted to go to yoga in the studio that night, but ended up getting held up at work. Bummer. I tried a new Yoga Download 20 min routine that I was just not feeling, so I didn't do a second one. Lamesauce.
Wednesday: 4 miles at 10:55. I only decided half-way through that this would be a "pace" run, so it probably should have been a little faster. Also notable was that I had originally intended this to be a morning workout, but failed miserably and reset my alarm when I woke up before it and felt terrible--and then ended up not falling back asleep. Don't you hate that? Lesson learned.
Thursday: REST. I'm trying out switching my rest day from Friday to Thursday, and so far I'm liking it. It gives Dan and I some extra time on a weeknight, and Fridays are actually kind of nice days to work out--not so bad to do so in the morning (the promise of sleeping in the next day), or at night, no rush to get home.
Friday: 3 miles on the treadmill, with 4x400 at 6.0-6.2 mph. This was in the morning! For whatever reason, the treadmill is seeming much more appealing in the morning (whereas at night I'll always prefer outside). Who knows, but if it gets me up, I'm fine with 1-2 treadmill sessions a week.
Saturday: 8.5 mile long run at 11:10. Woot! New PDR. I was running into the wind for the first half, so instead of doing a loop like I normally would, I turned around at half way to enjoy the wind on my back. Haha, that was definitely the way to go. I felt good on the run and even at the end (maybe all that wind?)--like if you really wanted me to, I could probably go another 1.5 miles for 10. Which means training is paying off!
Sunday: Unintentional rest day (Baltimore visit!).
Total mileage: 20.5 miles.
Happy with my running this week, but I really need to be better about getting to yoga and doing strength training. I know they ultimately help my running and help my body recover faster!
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