Not eating frankenfood is easier than I thought.

This morning's workout was called a fartlek in the ol' Runner's World app:

But I don't know if that's really a fartlek, as every time I've fartleked before this I was never prescribed a certain time to run at a certain speed.  But hey - I'm giving the runs on this app a chance precisely because they are different than what I normally do.  So, because it was pouring down rain at 5 AM this morning, I hopped on the treadmill and got this fartlek-that-felt-like-an-interval-workout done.

Fartlek?  IDK....

Treadmilling it.

I have to say I am surprised at how good I've felt during my workouts, fake fartleks or otherwise, while not eating any processed carbs.  Apparently my old "but I need to eat these highly processed and made in a laboratory carbs because I need energy for running" reasoning is a tad bit faulty.  I'm also surprised by a few other things I've been able to do in this foray of mine concerning not eating crappy carbs.  Let's bust these little eating surprises out in a bulleted list, shall we?

Surprise #1: I haven't really missed sugary treats.  Very much.  Now, don't get me wrong - if I was locked alone in a room with a box of chocolate bars for more than 2 hours, those chocolate bars aren't going to make it out of the room intact.  But I have found that as long as that junk isn't in my house or around me, I'm cool - and not craving any of it.  Very surprising to this common sugar addict.

Surprise #2: I have learned to live without dessert.  Usually the highlight of my dinner was dessert, and I just ate all the stuff before dessert out of respect for tradition.  And not looking like a freak.  Anyway, I have found I can quell my dessert habit by just popping a piece of gum and having some sparkling water.  That little bit of sweet from the gum tamps down the need to shake down every cabinet in the kitchen for some chocolate.

Surprise #3: I have learned bread needs me more than I need it.  Before my current diet, my sugar addiction was matched only by my love for bread.  Bread, bread, bread, and more bread - if it was in front of me (along with some butter), I would suck it down in nanoseconds.  But now that I'm a member of the "I'll have the hamburger, hold the bun" club, my bread addiction is greatly reduced, much to my surprise. 

You know what's not a surprise?  The fact that the cat could care less about all of this.

He's not caring so hard at us.

And these learnings are least surprising of all:

• Even though I have some issues with the Runner's World Run Plan app, I mean it when I say I am enjoying the different workouts being thrown my way.  Gotta mix it up, my friends.
• Fartlek.  Fartlek fartlek fartlek.                              Fartlek.
• I don't always love treadmill running, but I love it when it means it's the only way to get my run in that morning.
• Speaking of my treadmill, that cat is the reason I got on the 'mill 20 minutes late.  Because that cat's comfort comes way before my workout, apparently.
• Really, all of the frankenfood I used to eat needed me more than I needed it.  I'm glad I broke up with it.

Tomorrow's workout: Some cycling.  Or upper body weights.  Who knows?!?

Surprise! I eat too much.

This morning was a nice round of boot camp with Cathe, who coincidentally has a DVD named Boot Camp that I have done many, many times from her Strong and Sweaty Series.

5 DVDs of weight-lifting & cardio GOODNESS

This morning was also the morning that I took a long, hard, sideways-suspicious-eye glance at my MyFitnessPal food diary stats.

I see you hiding over there, you huge list of food I've eaten over the past few weeks.

And, after carefully analyzing all of the trends, extrapolating, interpolating, interpreting, and statisticsizing, I can only come to one conclusion:

I eat way too much.  Surprise!  Didn't see that one coming!

Not really.  But I have a few options now that I have come to that blindingly obvious conclusion, which I shall phrase in the form of a multiple choice question as an homage to my teaching past:

A. Ignore it and just keep on eating like a champion.  MyFitnessPal is obviously lying about how many calories everything is.
B. Recognize that I eat too much and keep droning on and on about it, admiring the problem in all of its shiny overeating goodness.  And just keep on eating like a champion.
C. Actually do something about the problem...like eat less.

While Choice B reflects more of my every day reality, I do realize that Choice C is the better choice.  So, how's a fitness-crazy girl who loves to eat going to eat less, especially when she sits at a desk most of the day and likes to snack while she works?

Cut out a few snacks a day, that's what.  Just like when i started losing weight, it's all about making little changes that add up to big changes.  Having the data from MyFitnessPal helped me recognize that my issues wasn't really my meals--it was all the little snacks I threw down during the day that were making the calories pile up.  So I decided that I wouldn't die of starvation if I have up one of my (too many) morning snacks and one of my evening snacks.  I also decided that I would slowly transition my snacks into more natural food rather than processed stuff pressed into a rectangular bar. 

Now here's to hoping this works because, disturbingly enough, I found myself taking those "cool sculpting" fat-freezing commercials somewhat seriously the other day.

You know what you should always take seriously?  This cat...

HYOOMAN END THE POST ALREADY

...and these learnings:

• As a former science teacher, I can tell you data solves everything.
• Well, after you analyze it and figure out what it's trying to tell you, it does.
• And then it annoyingly and jerkily tells you to stop stuffing your face mindlessly while you sit in front of a computer all day.
• But wearing that cool little Ragnar do-rag makes you feel all better.

Tomorrow's workout: 10 miles tempo in strong cold winds and 20 degree temps.  Yay spring!

Just a little Q&A about my day.

Q: So, how'd that 5 mile tempo run go this morning?

A: I think I may have been traumatized by it.

Q: Geez, doesn't sound good.  What went awry?

A: I had to do it on the treadmill, first of all, because it had the nerve to freaking snow a few inches overnight and the roads weren't plowed when I needed to get my run on.  Secondly, my lungs are still giving me crap and making easier tempo paces (8:45) seem way harder than they are, so I had to stop a few times and I felt like a total wimp.  Finished the entire run, though.


Q: Hmm...that run gave you a run for your money.  You going to throw that run some attitude?

A: Yep.

mmmm HMMMM take that sucky tempo run

Q: Very attitudinous.  Well, was your eating any better today? Did you track your food?

A:  I don't know if my eating was "better," but I did manage to remember to record everything.  And here's the proof:

Q: How'd you like using that app?

A: I dug it.  I really dug that you could just scan the bar code on whatever it is you're eating (if it comes with a bar code, that is--good luck finding one on a banana) and it would pop up for you without having to search so you could add it to your food diary.  Although, like anything with a pay wall, I hated that BS "upgrade so you can see things you should be able to see for free" thing that kept appearing everywhere.  Greedy greedy app developers; you're supposed to HELP people, not gouge them, dammit.  Why can't everything be free and we don't have to use money like in Star Trek?!?!


Q: Alrighty, that's enough - can you calm yourself and stifle your app indignation?

A: Yes.


Q: Now that you're calm, any profound eating takeaways from today's food tracking adventure?

A: Nope.  Other than the fact that the app reassured me I was getting more than my fair share of fiber during the day.  That's the kind of thing that keeps me awake at night.


Q: Really?

A: Not really.  What keeps me awake at night are all the scary stories I listen to on my horror story podcasts.  And staying up blogging when I should be asleep seeing as how I get up at 3:30 AM every morning.


Q: Oh....right.  Well, can you at least leave us with some stupid pictures of your animals?

A: Absolutely.

Hyooman.  Stop hogging my side of your bed.

Hyooman.  No one cares about your sucky tempo runs.

Q: Will there be your normal end-of-post nonsensical learnings that are really just random commentary about what you wrote in your post?

A. You bet your sweet sucky tempo run there will be.  And here they are:

• It was all I could do to get through that run.  I think I may have to go to a doctor about this whole "perpetual sore throat and shortness of breath" thing I have going on.
• Tracking my food was actually very informative.  And the calorie goal it set kept me from having too many snacks this afternoon.  Because snacking is my jam, ya'll.
• I would have posted pictures of the dog, but they would have all been of their blurry heads moving because they were not about me taking pictures of them this morning.
• I'd write another stupid learning, but hey-it's 8:30 and it's time for bed for this little runner.

Tomorrow's workout: Easy 3-miler.  On the treadmill, most likely.

Just the last four pics on my phone turned into a blog post.

Here's how I slept last night, only imagine me coughing up a lung every 0.3 nanoseconds.

Those are Perrier bottles, FYI.

After an awesome night's sleep like that, only one thing could make me get on the treadmill for my run:

Awww yeah.

Speaking of aww yeah, male cat was in feline awe of them.

Hyooman.  Tye-dye has me trippin'

I then got on the treadmill and I tried to do my speed work, I really did...I was all "this speed work will be cake" during the warm up but 30 seconds into that first 1000m repeat my lungs were all "DO YOU NOT REMEMBER THAT WE WERE COUGHING ALL NIGHT LET ME REMIND YOU" and I decided to modify the workout and do 3 miles of 1-minute pickups instead.  Which worked out much better, and made female cat quite pleased.  For once.

For once, hyooman, you not stoopid.  Too bad it won't last long.

Learnings:

• That sleeping picture may or may not have been a revenge pic because I have taken tons of pictures of the hubbs sleeping and made a small collage of it this weekend that I may or may not have threatened to post to social media.
• Those shoes are so awesome I may just buy another pair.
• Although those shoes are a Launch 5...which, to be honest, feel a little heavier than the Launch 2-4s.  But tie-dye, you know.
• I can't have stupidly unhelpful advice for every post.  Sometimes all I have are the last 4 pics on my phone and a will to write a dumb blog post.

Tomorrow's workout: That thing where I lift heavy weights over and over again.

When all you want is your face and teeth to stop hurting.

I did something incredibly stupid yesterday.  I went for a 3 mile run with large dog.

Large dog be like OMG RUNNING

Large dog felt fantastic afterwards.  I, however, did not.  I meant to do all of the 17 miles that were on the training plan, but after 3 I headed back inside the house to use an indoor bathroom...and after that I felt kind of bad.  And about 10 minutes later, I felt super bad.  And then it was all I could do to shower, shove some NyQuil down my throat, and crawl under a blanket and go to sleep.

Hyooman.  You can't have my blanket.

And I felt like crap all night.  If only my face and teeth would have stopped hurting from the severe congestion, I would have been fine.  But I wasn't fine; I got up at 5 AM and stumbled downstairs to take the dogs out and get something to eat.  I was ravenous because I had been asleep for 13 freaking hours, and I was still managing to feel absolutely rotten.  Through the rottenness, I realized I should probably take something while I was awake to try and ease my suffering.  And, after rummaging through the medicine cabinet, I finally found some medication that wasn't past it's expiration date--some Tylenol Severe Sinus.

I'm not usually a pill-popper, but at this point I was willing to try anything--and boy was I glad I did.  My face and teeth finally stopped hurting, and I got 3 solid, blissful, entirely wonderful more hours of sleep without any pain.  And then all the junk up in my head started to drain, making it less likely I would feel like the right side of my face had been replaced with a brick.  I felt so good after popping those meds I managed to clean the house and make me some dinner via Crock Pot.

Female cat was still unimpressed.

I wanted to see if I could get in a long-ish run on the treadmill today, but hubbs made me promise not to do any workout because of what happened yesterday.  So, that means another run on the training plan scrapped due to this sickness...hopefully this won't extend into the coming week.  I hope it doesn't, or I'll be blaming any poor performances at my goal marathon on these missed runs like any irrational runner would do.

Just a few little learnings:

• Why didn't I take that freaking Tylenol earlier in the week? I'm an idiot.
• Well, at least it's not the flu.  Then all you'd be reading in my blog posts would be "zzzzzzzzzz  *snore* zzzzzzz"
• In case you were wondering, I made chicken alfredo in the crock pot.  And it was wonderful even if the onions were a little strong.
• I'm glad I could clean the house because if I don't vacuum the animal hair starts working on sentience if it's left alone too long.

Tomorrow's workout:  I'm going to attempt speed work to get back on schedule.  Just 5 x 1000m...

Every graph tells a story. This one tells a really stupid one about running.

When I taught physical science back in the day (which consisted of basic physics and chemistry), we used to give students graphs and have them write the "story" of the motion of the object depicted in the graph.  I was the object in motion this morning with my speed workout (4 x 800 meter repeats at around a 7:40 pace) on the treadmill, and here is my graph:

So here is my story:

One day a slow old runner got on the treadmill to do a speed work at a faster pace than she has done in a while.  This is because she is trying to be a faster old runner.  Anyway, she starts running at a slow, turtle-like pace while watching the news because SO MUCH NEWS.  But then, because the furnace stopped working last night and it's, like, winter, it was so cold that her nose was constantly running, so she had to stop to blow her nose.  Then she kept on running at that slow pace for about a mile until she realized she was supposed to run faster for about half a mile and she had completely missed when she was supposed to up the speed.  So she started running faster, but then her damn nose kept running and she almost blew a snot rocket on the carpet out of habit but, thankfully, she remembered that she had a rag on the treadmill and she used that instead, stopping to make sure her aim was true.  Then she continued on with the workout.

Next, she walked her 2-minute recovery, gasping and panting and warm enough now that the lack of heat in her house didn't bother her that much.  The cat stared at her from the cat tree, accusing her with his eyes of being an idiot who was running to nowhere.

Despite the feline negativity, the old runner kept going with her 800 meter repeats, doing three more and walking each recovery, only adding a few more seconds to those 2 minutes rather than an extra 20 or so like she was tempted to do.  As she reached the end of the last repeat, her husban finally came downstairs to get ready for work and asked, "Honey?  Are you sure you're supposed to be running that fast?"  At that point many dirty looks were unleashed upon the hubbs by the old runner, causing the hubbs to run and hide in the bathroom.

Finally the old runner finished the last repeat and got off the treadmill to get ready.  While the old runner was completely stoked at having done those repeats at that speed, the resident animals expressed their opinions with their eyes.

Eyeball translation:  Can we get some breakfast now?!?

The old runner didn't let all the indifference and snide hubbs comments stop her from taking a completely stupid and blurry selfie afterwards and posting it on her blog.

And thus ends this graph's story.


And the morals of this really horrible story are:

• I couldn't think of anything actually creative to write about today, so this is what you get.  
• If I were to grade this like I used to for my students, it would get a "oh geez REWRITE THIS"
• It actually was a pretty good workout, even if I didn't listen to music to cover the sound of my 800 meter repeat-wheezing.
• The furnace conked out last night and the hubbs couldn't get the part he needed to fix it until today.  That pellet stove you see there is what is preventing the animals from becoming animalcicles today while we're at work.
• No, I am not comfortable leaving a fire burning in my house all day, even if it is contained in a small metal case.  But I had no choice.
• You know what's a good way to generate some heat for your house?  Do a speed workout on the treadmill.

Tomorrow's workout: More upper body goodness with more heavy weights!

Giving myself the gift of barbell: A slightly useful workout review.

This morning I gave myself the gift of barbell.

Bonus cat not included.

I decided it was time to get back on the heavy weight-lifting wagon, but I want to go back and revisit some older workouts by Cathe to see if I wanted to include those in my next marathon training cycle.  So I browsed through my workouts and came up with the back, biceps, and shoulders Lift It HiiT It workout from Cathe's Ripped with HiiT series. 

Now, I love me some Cathe weight workouts, but for some reason I'm not a huge fan of the ones that only do certain body parts.  I prefer getting a total body workout or an upper body workout that hits all of the upper body muscles, not just three.  But I used to do this workout and its sister workout (chest, tris, and shoulders) all the time, so I needed to remind myself what the allure of these workouts were--and why I stopped doing them in the first place.  Let's tackle each question in turn, shall we?

Why I used to do these workouts, like, all the time:

• Heavy weights-and lots of them
• Barbell.  So much barbell.
• No complicated exercises.
• Have I mentioned the barbell yet?
• There's a dude in the background!  Omg!
• There's a workout mix for every mood.  I did the one that replaced what Cathe calls "finishers" (exercises after the three sets of the main exercise meant to torture your muscles one last time) with ab exercises from one of the bonus ab workouts on the DVD: (Please note it was the 10th---TENTH--premix.)

Why did I stop doing these workouts?

• I got new workouts so the old workouts are automatically, like, SO outdated once you get new ones (not really - it's all in my mind)
• Three sets of the same workout is kind of a snoozer after awhile.  Sorry, Cathe.  
• The finisher exercises were more annoying than challenging.
• The cat felt the cool-down wasn't sufficient and demanded I give him rubs for my workout recovery.

While I still think the three sets of the same exercise is kinda boring, I found that I liked this workout enough to consider putting it into rotation during my upcoming marathon training cycle.  This decision is based on the following facts:

1. My back is currently sore
2. My biceps are currently sore
3. My shoulders are currently sore.

From a workout, I can't really ask for anything more.  Well, maybe we can ask for some post learnings:

• Barbell is back!  Rejoice.
• Even though there are only 12 reps per exercise, this workout is no joke, people.  If you've never done Cathe before, lighten up on those weights.
• Cats in my workout area.  Buh.
• The dude in this workout totally threw me for a loop.  I felt the same way I feel if a dude accidentally walks into the girls' bathroom.

Tomorrow's workout: Some easy running with large dog.  Unless I do something else.

Day 4, Week 14: Another 4 pictures, another 4 sentences. And some stupid learnings, as usual.

Picture #1: I decided to do one of the 20-ish minute low-impact cardio workouts on this DVD this morning.

Picture #2: I thought it didn't use weights, but it used fives and threes, making a liar out of me in yesterday's post.

Picture #3: Female cat didn't get the email and she did yoga instead.

Picture #4: Male cat got the email, but thought such puny weights wasn't worth breaking a sweat.  If cats could sweat, that is.

Quick! Learnings!

• After the workout I was all "I doubt that did anything" and right now I'm all "Holy cow I am super aware of my glutes."
• Therefore, these workouts are sneaky.  Sneaky.
• I wanted to write more, but that's going to have to wait until tomorrow evening in the airport...if I can snag some free wifi that is.
• Speaking of airport, tomorrow night I'm on my way to Dallas to kick some asphalt.  
• I wonder what I will have forgotten to pack.  We'll find out!

Tomorrow's workout: 3 mile marathon pace run.  Which means it will be at fast tempo pace har har har.

Day 2, Week 14: I have to go pack for my marathon, so here's some memes for you. And a lazy cat.

Did some Cathe upper body weights again this morning, only this time it was an upper body workout from her ICE (Intermediate Conditioning Extreme) series.  Male cat was supposed to workout with me, but I caught him lounging around instead of pumping iron.

I told him the weights were way lighter than normal since I was tapering, but he said he was already booked for lying around in my way during the workout and expelling carbon dioxide and taking in oxygen.

Cats.  You can never depend on them.

But you can depend on Cathe to give you a solid workout even with those puny weights listed in the picture above. Even though the weights are light, the exercises and number of reps are such that you will feel like you worked out.  Do I feel completely badass like I do after heavy weights? No.  Do I feel like I got a nice little workout that got my blood moving?  Absolutely.

And I am absolutely going nuts tapering.  I've already told you that I am way overpreparing in response to this taper.  Add the fact that this is an out-of-town marathon, and the stress of having to pack and get myself to the bus station and then make it to the airport on time and then go to the expo and make sure I get enough sleep so I can get up on time and make it to the start line is causing my nerves to go all jittery.  So the rest of this post will consist of the best tapering and/or marathon memes I can find so you can enjoy those pictures while I go start packing as a self-soothing measure.  Enjoy!

Learnings?  See below:

• I like memes.  Memes are my favorite.
• Male cat is a champ at exchanging gases.
• I really, really believe that consistency is the key for training, even during a taper.  The way to develop a workout habit is to make it a nonnegotiable part of your day.
• Even though I lifted puny weights this morning, my shoulders and back are feeling it right now.
• I'm going to panic about hitting my goal time while I pack tonight.  FYI.

Tomorrow's workout: Only a 6 x 400m speed session tomorrow.  What will I do with all my free time in the morning?

Day 6, Week 13: Our last tempo & how to overprepare for a marathon.

Large dog and I did the final tempo run on our training schedule before my marathon next week (!!! next week!!) It was supposed to consist of:

• Two easy miles
• Three miles at "short tempo" pace, which for me is an 8:33 (also known as "warp factor 5" because I am a huge Start Trek nerd)
• A one mile cool down.

Here's what the tempo run actually looked like:

• Two easy-ish miles
• Three miles at warp factor 10 
• No cool down because I had to get inside and get ready for work to make money to pay for these marathons

OK, so maybe that was just warp factor 9.75, but seriously people--an 8:09 for the last two miles?  It didn't even feel that hard, and large dog wasn't dragging me for once.  Although he did do a lot stopping suddenly to pee and dragging me into ditches this morning, for which I justifiably gave him my best dirty look.

"Mom. I have NO REGRETS."

All this fast running yet my legs still feeling groovy is only leading me to one conclusion that I want to whisper in case I jinx myself:

My training has gone well, and I feel kind of confident about hitting my time goal.

This is the first marathon in a long, long while that I'm going in with a modicum of confidence rather than just hoping really really hard that I will hit my time goal.  And I really believe it's due to this crazy thing called "doing almost all of the runs on the plan and then writing stupid blog posts about them."  I especially think it's because I actually did all of the tempo runs....in the past, those were the runs that I would skip most readily.

Damn tempos.  So hard, but so good for your marathon goal.

Anyway, in addition to my actual running preparation, I'm doing a few other things to make sure I'm prepared for this marathon, such as:

• Obsessively checking the weather in Dallas every 10 minutes (it's supposed to rain! Argh.)
• Agonizing over whether I should wear capris or shorts
• Putting my two most motivational songs (Sia's "The Greatest" and "Unstoppable") multiple times throughout my marathon playlist so they're there when I need them (especially around miles 18 and 23)
• Sneakily buying a new pair of Brooks Launch 4s for the race because, like I've said before, I have a marathon coming up and I NEED them
• Creating a packing list that greatly exceeds the capacity of any suitcase I own.
• Eating way too much because don't want to run out of fuel during the marathon, so why not start eating for it now?

But the cat says I am overpreparing.  And he says this post is over now.  Scram.

And what have we learned from this post?

• I insert gratuitous animal pictures whenever I can.  But I'm sure you know this by now.
• I completely own my Star Trek nerdiness.  Join us--resistance is futile.
• Since I have been running most runs way too fast, I worry that I will start the marathon too fast and then blow up by mile 18.  If that happens expect a lot of sobbing selfies.
• My unwritten motto right now is EAT ALL THE THINGS.
• Overpreparation for a marathon?  No such thing.

Tomorrow's workout: My usual weights and, if you can believe it, I may go for a bike ride tomorrow since it will be in the 50s.  Stay tuned...

Day 3, Week 13: My running guilty pleasures which may or may not include jazz hands.

This morning I just hung around on my treadmill and did a little speed work.

Managed to convince the cat to get some exercise, too.

It was a 5 x 1000m repeat session, which I breezed through unlike last week's 8 x 800m workout.  This is because I was smart enough to crank up my headphones this time so as to not hear how badly my lungs were wheezing their way through those 1000s.  I also did not watch the little dot move slowly around the track for the entire workout, and instead actually looked up at the TV every once in a while.  One thing I did do during my recoveries (200m of walking) was start singing to whatever song was on my headphones, which accidentally woke up the hubbs.  Here's the exchange we had after he came downstairs to find out what the heck was happening:

Hubbs:  What was that noise?  Is everything OK?!?

Me: What noise?  The treadmill?

Hubbs: No; the other noise.  The high-pitched irritating noise I just heard.

Me: ........you mean when I was singing?

Hubbs: .*turns around and walks back upstairs*


I felt so guilty about waking him up I took a post-run mugshot.

WANTED: Singing horribly while running

(Confession: I didn't really feel guilty.  This is the same man that wakes me up almost every night by yelling at the dogs not to tromp on me and wake me up.  And those dogs don't feel guilty about that at all.  See evidence on non-guilt below.)

Guilt level: ZERO

Singing on the treadmill is one of my running guilty pleasures.  I know other runners have their own guilty pleasures, but here's the rest of those little things I love to do that I would never actually do when not dressed in running gear:

• Sneakily pacing someone during a race.  I know I can ask to run with people and most will gladly oblige, but I do like being in stealth pace mode for some reason.
• Snot rockets.  Lots of snot rockets.
• Counting how many people are wearing colored tights vs. black tights during a race.  This helps the time pass by a little easier.
• Justifying a new running shoe purchase with "BUT I HAVE A MARATHON COMING UP AND I NEED THEM" (To which the correct reply is "You always have a marathon coming up!")
• Listening to lots of dance/club remixes of songs while running and always being one second away from head-titling to that dance beat like the SNL Roxbury guys.
• Justifying buying a slew of new dance club remixes from iTunes with "BUT I HAVE A MARATHON COMING UP" (see the correct reply above)
• Continually signing up for marathons.
• And finally....post-run jazz hands.

In front of caricatures of me and da hubbs, no less.

Prepare yourself for the learnings coming at you right now:

• I'm convinced the only reason hubbs puts up with my running quirks is the fact that he ran cross country in high school.  
• I also tell hubbs he has to put up with my running stuff because it was in the wedding vows but he just doesn't remember it
• How do other runners not snot rocket during a cold race?  If I don't I will suffocate on my own phlegm.
• Any purchase that is related to running is always justified.  Because I said so.

Tomorrow's workout: A weight workout of some kind.  I'll probably be stupid and do some Boot Camp, though.

Day 4, Week 11: Things that shame...I mean, inspire you to get your workout done.

This morning my workout supervisor demanded I do some Cathe Strong and Sweaty Boot Camp.  Apparently I have displeased him in some way.

Puny hyooman.  Lift this many times repeatedly.

Actually, there's a lot to like about this workout.  This workout is a nice break from lifting heavy, since you only use 8, 10, 12, and 15 lb weights.  You also get to do box jumps and my beloved barbell during every round of exercises, so hey-what's not to love?

Oh right.  There's those pesky push-ups.  Well, no workout is perfect.  I still took it on and took it down this morning.

Don't be all jealous of my headband and sleeping dog.

Speaking of taking it on, sometimes you may need some motivation to get that workout done.  If you read this blog, you know I pretty much have to talk myself into any long run that I do, especially when the weather gets disgusting in any way.  If talking myself into it doesn't work, sometimes I turn to my favorite inspirational running quotes or memes to motivate (or shame, which happens most often) myself into doing my workout.  I thought I would share some of my favorites with everyone; you'll find them below in no particular order.

#1:

The "excuse" part is what gets me.  I'm a no-excuses kind of gal.  This gets me going.


#2: "If you fail to prepare you prepare to fail."

An oldie but a goodie.  It's my way of shaming myself.  For example:  "If you do not do this run you will not hit your goal time and it will be ALL YOUR FAULT because you missed this run."  What can I say, my inner voice is more "mother from hell" than "gentle social worker."

#3: "But what if you nail it?"

This isn't really one you see plastered over some picture of a sunset over a forest.  This is a question I ask myself when I'm a bundle of nerves before a race I'm actually racing for time and I've filled myself full of doubts in the minutes before the gun goes off.  For some reason asking that question puts me into "BRING IT ON LET'S DO IT OR DIE TRYING" mode.

#4: "It's supposed to be hard...it's the hard that makes it great."

This is one that I use before my hated mile repeat sessions or a tempo run that seems like it's a million miles long.  It's also one that reminds me that I'm not going to feel bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in mile 17 of a marathon.  It's going to suck.  And I have to push through the suck.

#5: "So it's cold/hot/rainy/snowy.  It won't be as bad as you think."

It's never as bad as I think it will be.  Except for that time I took off my sweaty glove in 18 mph winds in a polar vortex and almost lost my fingers.


And since the post is over, we go the learnings:

• If a workout has box jumps and barbells, I'm all over it.
• If a workout has push-ups, the whining will commence.  I won't give excuses, but boy will I whine.
• Everyone needs those little phrases to get them to get the workout done; you have to find the ones that work for you.  You regret 100% of the workouts you don't do.
• Polar vortices.  Please....no.

Tomorrow's workout: An easy 4 AM three miler.  Hopefully with large dog accompaniment, if weather allows.

Day 6, Week 9: I lifted small weights this morning. It was weird.

I wanted to do my usual Total Body Giant Sets workout with my beloved barbell and heavy, heavy dumbbells...but I know that variety is what keeps your body guessing and growing.  So instead I did Cathe's FlexTrain, which is a total body workout that has you prancing about with lighter weights (10 lbs and under) except for that time when I was doing one-armed rows with a 25 pounder. 

It's definitely not what I've come to know and love in my weight-lifting world, but I also know that my body needs a break from my yooge weights every now and then.

I also know setting my mat up like this during a workout when I'm not using it keeps him out of my workout area.

Looks like he's all chatarunga-ing to me in there. Or is that
"cat-arunga-ing?"  Ha ha I crack myself up!

Enough of the cat and let's get back to breaking down the workout.  Here's the good:

• It is a nice workout for an easy day of lifting but where you still want to feel like you worked out.  There's nothing worse than feeling like you just wasted your workout time.
• There are a nice variety of exercises, overall.  And they were all different from what I would normally do in her Strong and Sweaty series.
• She uses what she calls a "firewalker" band toward the end to work the legs.  It's basically a really big rubber band that you slip over your ankles and then torture yourself with by doing leg exercises, mainly outer thigh exercises.  I dug this because, again, it's not a usual focus area for me and the exercises were a break from using weights.
• There's an ab workout included in the main workout itself.  Yay!  No switching out DVDs!

Here's what bugged me:

• So many triceps exercises.  So.  damn. many.  Two sets of two different exercises, which doesn't sound like a lot until you're in the middle of those sets.  It was overkill, in my opinion.
• Speaking of those triceps exercises, they were exercises that I don't particularly care to do.  And then I had to do them twice.  Buh.
• And what was with all those freaking push-ups?  So many.  Too many.  
• And you know how happy I was that there is an ab workout included on the disc and I wouldn't have to switch to another after the workout?  Yeah, well, I had to switch anyway because I rotate between the FlexTrain ab workout and the Strong and Sweaty ab workout...and today the latter was on the schedule.

And that ab workout is a killer, let me tell you.

Dogs be like "Crazy woman will be OK"

Here's the learning that needs to be done:

• I hate push-ups.  I don't know if that's obvious or not.
• I did make a smart decision to lay off the heavy weights because...20 mile run tomorrow.
• That 20 miler will be in the rain.  Double buh.
• Can there be more bullet points in this post?  
• Yep.  Here's one more.

Tomorrow's workout: 20 miles.  Hopefully this side-stitch ab thing won't crop up again like last time.