Days 1 & 2, Week 2: It's like I don't even run anymore.

I'm a little concerned with the Runner's World My Run Plan app.  Mainly my concern is about how much running it's having me do right now, which is not much.  Case in point - I was all up in the bike riding and weight work for cross-training over the past few days:


Just a little 25 miler that I did in the time I wish it took me to run that same mileage.

And just some casual upper-body strength training..no big deal.

That do-rag does AWESOME well.

The longest run I had last week was 4 miles.  Four.  Measly.  Miles.  You can tell I'm worried about running a marathon with such low mileage...and by "worried" I mean "completely freaked out and it's only week 2."

OK.  Take a breath.  It will be alright.  Even if other training plans have you running 14 miles at this point on the weekends.

Good air in....bad air out.....*gasp*

There.  I feel better.  Not really.

Anyway, here's how I'm going to get through the rest of this training cycle without feeling like I'm not really training:

1) Remember that the marathon isn't until October, for crying out loud and that there's time.
2) Convince myself that this will be a low-mileage training experiment and view this whole thing scientifically
3) Download the entire training plan from the app (which I just figured out how to do) and search frantically for longer runs than 4 miles on the "Long Run" days
4) Shake my phone every now and then when the app is running and say to no one in particular, "IS THIS THING ON?"
5) Remember that I'm also training for a half duathlon (10K/56 mi/10K) so I can freak out about that for a while to get my mind off the whole "I don't think I'm running enough" thing.

So the coping mechanisms are in place.  All that's left are some learnings:

• I have learned that bike riding in the morning when the sun comes up is pretty awesome.
• I have also learned that bike riding in the morning when the sun comes up leaves me covered in gnats.
• I've learned that recovery cat shows up most when I'm in a hurry to get ready and get out the door in the morning.
• I have also learned I better start biking and strength training on the same day to get those bike miles in.
• And lastly, I've learned that it takes more than 4 freaking miles to run a marathon people. 

Tomorrow's workout: Speed makes a comeback!  Some 300s...interesting.

Days 6 & 7, Week 1: My legs have a workout hangover.

Yesterday I did some of my beloved Cathe; specifically, I did her PHA Training workout.  This morning I did the 17 mile bike ride I was supposed to do yesterday before I did the 3 miler actually on the schedule for today.  And this pretty much sums up how I feel right now:

True story.

I think this is partly because I'm coming back from a few weeks of recovery, and partly because I am dumb and have to re-learn some workout lessons over and over again (just like eating lessons).  What lessons would those be?  Well...

Lesson #1: It's hard to train for both a duathlon and a marathon at the same time.

When you start adding bike rides to your cross-training days, you tend to get way more tired.  And then you tend to skip them because you're tired.  It's one of those horrible negative feedback loops that culminate in "whoops maybe I should have ridden my bike more" during the bike portion of the actual race.

I may have to start taking my bike to work and getting those rides done after work and before I go home and pass out for the night. However, I predict this will still make my legs tired.

Lesson #2: Cathe's Strong & Sweaty Series' lower body exercises make your glutes beg for mercy.

There's a lot of squatting using one or more legs during those workouts, oftentimes with a heavy weight in your hand.  This is what happened during the PHA TRaining workout yesterday, and my glutes (which are not used to doing these workouts anymore on the regular) were crying this morning.  So of course they enjoyed the 17 miles of bike this morning.  Not really.

I need to remember not to hit the glutes so hard before another hard workout.

Lesson #3: Every workout is not a race.

Let me show you the average mph for the bike ride.

I don't know what got into me this morning, but I was all in race mode for some reason, taking the hills like there was no tomorrow and just never slowing down.  As you can imagine, this did nothing to help my crying glutes.

Any time I do this I pay for it...and I will on my 25 mile ride tomorrow, I'm sure.

Lesson #4: Don't try and make up missed workouts.

I was actually supposed to do that ride yesterday, but I farted around and it got too late to do it.  So of course I thought I would slap it on the front of the run for today and ended up slapping all the energy out of my legs.  And now visiting the bathroom is an adventure all its own if you catch my delayed-onset-muscle-soreness drift.  Skipping the ride today would have been the better option but, you know, I'm a moron.  That's pretty well-established.

Lesson #5: I have got to get better at workout selfies.

While this is something I usually remember to do, I need to get better at the action shots like all those pretty ones the pretty fitness people post on Instagram.  I think I would get better if a) I remembered to take them during the workout and b) I wasn't afraid of dying on the bike if I tried to use my phone.  So this is as good as it gets for now:

ZOMG there's a camera on the ground.

My face: "Did it take the picture? Did it?  I can't tell."

Enough major learnings; time for the minor ones:

• I also learned that an Instant Pot can get you some chicken salsa verde in 10 minutes, people, so you can top off your baked potato and have some major yums:

• I also learned that my sunscreen breaks down after an hour and hey sunburn hurts.
• I also learned that I have to slow down at intersections out in the country now because of that darn corn everywhere around here.
• And finally I learned I need to organize my transition area just a tad better than I do now.

Tomorrow's workout: 25 miles on the bike...not in race mode.

Days 3 & 4, & 5, Week 1: Guess who learned to make neat little videos of pics?

Guess who learned how to make neat videos out of all of her stupid workout pics?

OK, I won't make you guess.  It was me.

I also learned how to embed them in a blog post, so everyone is the recipient of my recent learning curve...whether that be good or bad.  Anyway, let's do a quick rundown of the workouts for the past three days:

Workout #1: Strength training with weights and obstacle training with animals at the same time.  Boy, can I multi-task.

Workout #2: A little 2-miler outside that large dog treated like an ultra.





Workout #3: A little 2-miler where the cats acted like the treadmill was moving catnip.





Overall, this week is still a recovery week with the My Run Plan app making me do some small runs so I can remember what running is.  And here are some learnings so you can remember what they look like:

• This week has been exhausting.  I kept falling asleep before I could finish a blog post.
• It's faster to make one of those videos than it is to write a "quick" blog post.  The magic of modern social media technology.
• The trick to making those videos is to remember to take pictures.  Oh, and get the Ripl app.
• The trick to not falling asleep during a blog post is to go to bed when you should like a real adult.
• The trick to ending a post is just to stop typing.

Tomorrow's workout: Weights and a bike ride in the wind UGH

Day 2, Week 1: Just a little Q&A

And on the blog today - a quick little Q&A:

Q: Why a Q&A today?

Because I'm not into writing paragraphs today.

Q: What's up with the title of the post?  Are you officially marathon training again?

Yep.  I'm officially training for Twin Cities this year, and away we go!

Q: The title of your blog says "Day 2."  Where the heck is Day 1?

Day 1s are so lame, I decided to skip it this time.  Not really.  Obviously, Day 1 was yesterday.  Also obviously, I completely forgot about putting it in the title.

Q: So, on this Day #2...what did you do?

Ran 2 miles on a very hot and humid 5:30 AM morning with large dog.  And stopped to take selfies.

ZOMG HEAT....and corn.

derp derp....DERP

Q: Only 2 miles?  Are you a wimp or something?

I am a total wimp about spiders and the sight of my own blood.  But I am not a running wimp - the My Run Plan app made me do it.  And I do what the app tells me to do.  Maybe the app is wimpy.  You'd really have to ask the app about that.

Q: Maybe I will.  Anyway, how's the eating today?  Still healthy?

Yep.  And DELICIOUS.

nom nom nom nom

Q: Any news on the weight loss-front?  Is the eating working?

Well, I haven't weighed myself in a while because I keep forgetting in the rush to get my workout in and getting ready for work.  But I was at the doctor today and after they weighed me I used the following equation to calculate my weight loss:

Weight on scale - Estimated pounds of clothes I'm wearing - Hey I ate food today so of course I weigh more - Normally I weigh myself in the morning so of course I weight more - Oh wait I forgot I was wearing my shoes when I got on the scale = Hey I think I lost a few pounds.

Feel free to use that math equation for your weight whenever you'd like.

Q: Anything else interesting happen at the doctor?

I fell asleep in the waiting room (I had to wait for half an hour) and then when they took my blood pressure it was on the low side...which sparked a LOT of concern and ended with me saying loudly I JUST WOKE UP FROM A NAP IN YOUR WAITING ROOM GEEEEEZ I'M ALRIGHT

Q: I think we're at the end of the post now.  Do you have a logical ending for once?

Nope.  Instead I have a gratuitous and nonsensical animal picture for you.  Enjoy.

Go away.  Post is over.

Q: Are you going to do that stupid "learnings" thing you normally do at the end?

Oh yes - most definitely.

• This week is actually kind of a recovery week..the app won't let me run more than two miles at a time.  I hope that changes before the marathon.
• That meal was freaking awesome.  BBQ pulled chicken over a baked potato with butter and sour cream.  UH-MAY-ZING
• I was at the doctor for a check-up.  No freakouts, please.
• Why doctors gotta weigh you all the time?  They should just trust you and take your word for whatever weight you write down.
• It was super hot at 5:30 AM.  Like it has  every right to be hot because it's summer or something.

Tomorrow's workout: Weights!  Probably upper body of some kind with some abs thrown in for fun.

Advantages and disadvantages of actually eating like you should normally eat because you're an adult.

This morning I got the joy of doing a little brick workout in the humidity and heat of what was going to be a freaking hot day.  For all that heat out there in my way, the bike and the run turned out pretty good.  Although I have to say I could see the heat waves coming off my body whenever the wind was at my back.

This looks all artsy-fartsy but I'm really trying not to hurl.

You just know it's going to be a scorcher when sweat is dripping from the front of your helmet by mile 5 and you feel a touch queasy at the end of the run.  Here's a close-up of how drippy I was after all that brick-ing and after I stopped thinking I might be throwing up so I better stay outside just in case.

I'm glad the nausea subsided, because I've been eating pretty well these days and I was looking forward to lunch, which consisted of salad, strawberries, and no-bread turkey wraps with cheese, mayo, and bacon (I finally succeeded in getting them to actually wrap and stay wrapped today...the answer is toothpicks, for all you wrap-challenged people out there like me).

While I have enjoyed eating like I should eat because I'm a grown adult for crying out loud and should be eating this way anyway, I've noticed that there are distinct advantages and disadvantages of eating real or close-to-real food.  Allow me to list them out for you because, you know, I have nothing better to blog about tonight:

Advantage: You get, like, nutrients your body needs and stuff.  Food is fuel, especially when you're training.  This seems a little crazy, but every time I eat a real food item I didn't used to eat on the regular, I remind myself of the specific nutrients I'm taking in and how this will help me run and bike faster (even if it's not true, because I'm good at lying to myself).  

Disadvantage: You hit the grocery store more often.  To get fresh fruits and veggies, I find myself at the store 3-4 times a week.  Well, I tell myself it's for fruits and veggies, but somehow an iced coffee from Dunkin always makes it into my hands before I leave the store somehow.

Advantage: You feel way better during your workouts.  It might be all in my head, but the workouts haven't been feeling so hard these days...even while running in some hot heat.  And 

Disadvantage: I feel like my life revolves around food prep.  Just when I think I can relax, I remember that I have to cook some food--either for immediate consumption or so I can have good food during the week.  While the effort is worth it not to eat crappily all the time, I feel like my kitchen and I have developed an enormously co-dependent and very weird relationship.  

Advantage: Guilt-free eating.  Gone are the "oh I can eat this crappy stuff because I'm training" excuses and, along with them, the guilt I felt afterwards about eating that junk.  

Disadvantage: Hubbs keeps eating your food.  This is one of the main reasons why I have to go to the store 3-4 times a week.  Who said he could eat healthy too?!?

Advantage: Hubbs keeps eating your food.  This is my unintentionally sneaky way of getting him to eat better, too.  Because I need him to keep on living so he can watch the dogs while I'm away at races.

Disadvantage: The cats could care less about any of this.

Hyooman.  Go away.

Aaaaand one last advantage: Desserts look like this:

And learnings look like this:

• Eating real food is really, really filling.  I get fuller much faster.
• Eating real food is hard.  I've never spent this much time searching for recipes.
• Biking and running in the heat is hard.  But not as hard as not being prepared for your half duathlon.
• Ending blog posts sometimes is hard.  So this is the end of the post now.  Scram.

Tomorrow's workout:  My Run Plan app says it's 2 miles.  So that's what it must be.

Tips for running in the heat. Not really.

If you're in the northern hemisphere, it's summer (if you didn't know that, SPOILER ALERT).  That means we crazy runners have to get used to running outside in what's known as "heat."  To help you through summer running, below are some of my best tips for running.  And by "tips" I mean "things I just thought of off the top of my head that are useless."

Tip #1: Get out of bed early on a Saturday morning so you can get out the door before the heat gets too bad.  I don't care what you did Friday night - get up and get out there.

Tip #2: Always be sure to run with a large dog so he can share in your suffering. (Just be sure to bring water with you and run where there's shade.)

We were ready to run...but not in the heat at 7 AM.

Tip #3: Be sure to take pre-run selfies; this will cool you off before you even start running.  Oh, and always be sure to dress appropriately for the temperature and the humidity of the run, too.  That will also keep you cooler.

Jazz hands cool you off EVEN MORE.

Tip #4: Make sure your large dog mega-derps throughout the run so he can stay cool, too.  And make sure he drinks the water you put out for him.

Tip #5: You know large dog is sufficiently cooled off when even his shadow mega-derps.

shadow derpity-derp

Tip #6: Finish the run and enjoy your air-conditioned house.  And put ice cubes in large dog's water.

And from these tips we have learned...

...large dog derps a lot

...I hate running in the heat

...I couldn't think of anything interesting to blog about

...not much.

Tomrrow's workout: A small bike-to-run brick in a tri suit without holes in it.

Here are the facts. And some pics.

Fact #1: I did Cathe's Total Body Giant Sets today and I was reunited with my precious barbell.

Large dog just doesn't understand our
relationship.

Fact #2: I totally threw out a bicep shot for no reason at all other than I had nothing better to do.

Please note animals overrunning my
workout area.

Fact #3: I worked out while dinner was in the slow cooker and it was kind of torture smelling the goodness that was my pulled barbecue chicken while suffering through oh so many one-legged squats.

Pulled BBQ Chicken and Mashed Cauliflower FTW

Fact #4: Small dog is not a fan of post-workout selfies.  In case you wanted to take one with him.  Just an FYI.

No more facts - just stupid learnings:

• I missed all these Cathe workouts while training for that duathlon.  And I'm sure my barbell missed me.
• I have never eaten mashed cauliflower before...and it was good.  Probably because there was bacon in it.
• Animals in my workout area.  The struggle is real.
• Small dog can sure throw that eyeball attitude around.
• I need more barbell in my life.

Tomorrow's workout: 4 easy miles that the app is calling a "long run."  Pfffft.