Eating to be healthy? Pffffft.

This week I resumed working out.  Not full-bore training, but some easier workouts to build up into more of a training-esque schedule next week so I can start preparing for Ragnar Chicago.

Our 2012 Ragnar team--my first Ragnar ever.

I have to tell you it is totally weird not having a schedule on a piece of paper be the boss of me; after 16 weeks of being told what to do by an 8 x 11 piece of dead tree with some ink on it, I was cast adrift this week, having to actually decide for myself what workout to do.  Being made to think so much at 4 AM when I get up kind of sucks.

Anyway, I ran on Tuesday and Wednesday because the weather at 5 AM was fanFREAKINGtastic.  No wind, upper 40s/50s, and sunny because the sun is actually coming up at this time (or starting to, anyway).

These are the runs for which I have been waiting.  The runs that I daydreamed about during 20 miles in the cold wind and snow in February where I ran in 4 layers of clothing.  The runs that should have come when spring well...you know...was supposed to come.  Not that I'm bitter or anything.

I haven't been focusing on my pace at all this week and just running by what feels good.  Apparently what feels good is around a 9 minute mile, which is pretty awesome methinks after running a first marathon.  And what's weird is that these small bursts (4 or 5 miles) of faster running actually made my piriformis issues disappear this week.  However, my Achilles twanging as I go up and down steps is back with a vengeance.  I found a sore spot on my soleus that I massaged and foam rolled the snot out of this week, and it seems to be getting better.  All I know is that every time my Achilles twangs its way up the steps I want to cringe because the feeling is SO DAMN STRANGE and you never want to feel it EVER AGAIN.

Because of that strangeness, I rode the bike this morning for 10 miles. Since it was gorgeous weather again I took it outside, leaving the bike in a much higher gear than I normally do by accident (I forgot to crank it back down at the end of my last ride).  I didn't notice it until the 5th mile, and, by that time, I just decided to leave it alone and see what happened.  I think my quads may have gotten a tad bit stronger out of all that high-mileage running that is marathon training, which is good to know.

The goal for the next few weeks is to not tear the hell out of any more of my body parts so I can actually run a Ragnar without some injury nagging me.  Well, that's my exercise goal.  My eating goal is to be down at least 4 pounds by Ragnar Chicago, which is on June 7th-8th this year.  This morning's weigh-in wasn't in line with that goal:

Plywood = My house is being remodeled.  Still.  After 7 years.

But it was only 0.2 lbs gained.  That was probably higher because:

a) I went to bed at 10:00 PM instead of 7:30.  It has been bandied about that lack of sleep causes weight gain, and that may be more true of the long term than one night.  However, thinking back to when I used to weigh myself regularly in the past, after a night of shortened sleep I always came in at a slightly higher poundage.  So I'm not really worried about this.

b) It's a normal fluctuation for some other silly reason.

I know it wasn't because of my eating over the past few days, because I have really been sticking to the ol' eating manifesto.  This may all be in my head, but I have been feeling pretty good these last few days--better than I did when eating crap.  If eating like this is what's putting more pep in my workouts, then I think I have the motivation I need to keep going.  

Because who cares about that whole "eating real food because it makes you healthy" crap anyway, huh?