Polar Vortex Post

If you haven't heard lately, it's been a tad cold lately here in Northern Illinois--polar vortex cold.  We're talking temps of -25 to -32 underneath the wind chill.  What, exactly, have I been up to during this polar vortex?  Well...

1) I've been doing the obligatory "throw boiling water up high in the air and make more snow even though we don't really need any more" science trick.  If I don't, they'll revoke my Midwesterner license.

Phase changes are UHMAYZING

2) I've been doing spin and lifting weights in my teal and black sparkle-painted workout room and taking weird selfies with my bike.

3) I've been treadmilling in my smelly basement because even thought there's a polar vortex going on, my shirt says there are "no excuses" so I pretty much have to suck it up, buttercup, and get those miles in amongst the basement smell and other junk we have stored down there.

4) I've been watching the animals sleeping the polar vortex away in between taking them outside and watching them do absolutely nothing before racing back in on frozen paws.

Mom.  Only laying on you will unfreeze my paws.

hyooman sleeping through polar vortex SCRAM

While the animals are sleeping, here's some learnings:

• Did half-mile pick-ups during my easy 6 mile treadmill run to make it go by faster and turned it into a not-so-easy run because I'm a moron.
• Remember my left-butt injury?  It's not so bad anymore...must be the spin.
• Remember my ankle injury?  Yeah neither do I but my ankle has been sore for 2 weeks.  Must be picking up left butt injury's slack.
• Fun fact:  The ratio of the number of times I have taken the dogs outside to do some business and the # of times they have done absolutely nothing and run back inside on frozen paws is almost 1:1.

Tomorrow's workout: A 4 mile tempo run.  On the treadmill.  Because polar vortex.  BUH.

Don't want to do your run? Trick that brain of yours.

So it's been a few days since I've tortured everyone with a blog post and I know you're dying to know what fitnessy stuff I've been doing.  Well, here it is:

Some running in a minor polar vortex (the real one is getting here tomorrow)....

SO EXCITED to run in 3 degree weather + snow
freezing to my eyebrows as I ran. So.  Excited.

Pit stop after the first 3.5 = a run in two parts.

Did I mention the 3 degrees thing?!?

Some spin and lifting heavy things and taking bad post-workout selfies...

The black sparkle paint is the best part of the pic.

...and some treadmill speed work to the tune of 8 miles total, 4 of those being one mile repeats @ 8:34 pace.

I must confess that I didn't want to do either of those two running workouts because...well I think the obvious reasons are "too freaking cold outside" and "mile freaking repeats."  But part of my determination to lose 20 pounds by this summer is to complete the running workouts as listed in my trusty My Run Plan app, no matter how cringe-worthy or shriek-inducing (mile repeat workouts do this to me every time).  So away I went on those two runs, doing them anyway even though my brain was all NOPE NOPE NOPE PLEASE NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOPE the whole time. 

Now, I haven't always been able to get past my brain NOPE-ing away workouts, especially if I lie to myself and say I'll do them after work (NOPE).  But lately I've been using some tips and tricks to ignore the NOPE and get the run done, which are helpfully enumerated for you below:

1) For cold winter runs, have the right gear.  If you have the right gear, you can run in the cold with confidence.  For my winter runs I make sure I have some pretty awesomely printed fleece-lined tights and a lot of sass to make it to the end of the run:

So much sass.  And awesome tights.

On top of all that (or underneath, as it were), I also have a thin base-layer tight to keep that warm air right next to my skin, a nice thick running turtleneck under a quilted running jacket, a buff, a balaclava, and a neat-o Ragnar hat to top off the ensemble.  When I run in super cold weather that's pretty much my running uniform, only with different obnoxiously colored tights and hats.  Gotta be sure to mix that up, you know, so the people in the cars passing you don't get bored of looking at your same old tired running outfit.

2) Also for cold winter runs, always know that it's never as bad as you think it will be.  The weather forecasts for those days always put my NOPE brain on overdrive, but once I get out there and start running it's usually never as cold or as miserable as I think it will be.  Unless I forget that water freezes at 32 degrees Celsius and don't have it in an insulated bottle and have no liquid water for for 15 miles of a 20-mile run...then it *is* as bad as it seems.  Especially when you're eating snow from the side of the road and spitting out gravel as you truck on down the road...then it's pretty freaking miserable and you're only running because if you stop moving you'll freeze on the spot and die.

But that's still not as miserable as doing all those miles on the treadmill.

3) Speaking of treadmills, those little running equivalencies I blogged about earlier sure do come in handy.  This is especially true for the longer more torturous repeats, such as the 4 x 1 mile repeats I did this morning.  My mind likes to break down those little mile repeats into more little four quarters, and then celebrate when I reach the halfway point and the "ONE MORE LOOP TO GO" point.  After which I walk for a minute and a half and then do it all over again, making my brain conveniently forget the mile I just did. (Brain: Hey, didn't we just do one of these?  Me: WE DID NOTHING NOW RUN)

4) When you don't want to do your treadmill run, get on the treadmill anyway--but have a backup plan. When I got on the 'mill this morning I went in with a backup plan - if I felt I was going to die running an 8:34 pace, then I would alternate quarters during each mile, running an 8:34 and then an 8:40.  That way I could have a little bit of slower running to look forward to, even if it wasn't much of a plan.  (By the way, my backup plan to the backup plan was just to sit on the treadmill and sob in my smelly basement.)

Welcome to my smelly basement, where
I run next to a set of doors and a pile of lumber.

5) Fun socks are a must for hard treadmill runs. They lessen the torture, especially when they say ROAR on them.

And now let's roar our way to some learnings because this post is over now:

• I mean seriously-how fun are those socks?
• Superfun, that's how much fun.
• Loud shorts and pants are also motivational in getting your run done, but everyone knows that already.
• I need to write a running book called "Overcoming the NOPE: How to trick your brain into running every single day."

Upcoming workouts:  Many more treadmill miles because the real polar vortex is coming in the next two days...

Four pics, four sentences, four AM workouts.

This morning's workout was Cathe's Cycle Sweat, during which my cycle did not sweat but I sure as heck did.

What am I pointing at?  Who knows.  It was 5 AM when I finished.

I did this workout at 4 AM because I had to be at work super duper early this morning; you can tell how excited I was about that.

4 AM workout WOOT FAKE EXCITEMENT

Along with the copious amounts of sweat released by yours truly, please note the ice on the windows in the above pic from the polar vortex and the spike of my heart rate in the pic below:

Also note that male cat could give not a crap about any of this.

Action shot of male cat not caring.

No more pics, just learnings:

• I am happy I added spin workouts into my weekly workouts.
• But not as happy as that crazy excited picture, mainly because holy cow look at that heart rate spike willya?
• Male cat would be very happy if I left him alone.
• But that will not happen as long as he keeps sitting in front of the shower after my workouts.
• 4 AM workouts BUH

Tomorrow's workout: 9 mile run...maybe in the freezing cold with my new thermal running tights...or maybe on the treadmill.  The suspense is killing you, isn't it?

That feeling when...you have so many feels.

That feeling when you wake up and have to get dressed for a 4:30 AM treadmill threshold/tempo run so you take a selfie of yourself at that hour of course:

Huge runner thighs are a go for launch

That feeling when you just wish you looked like this again and wish Medifast could make this happen in two weeks (minus being covered in mud because man does that set off my eczema these days):

That feeling when you use your urge to look like the aforementioned picture to get your butt down to the treadmill so you can run 7 miles under a bare lightbulb amongst that awesome smelly basement smell:

That feeling when you actually run both of those 2 x 2 mile repeats @ 9:00 pace without stopping ONCE to go to the bathroom:

That feeling when you walk into the bathroom to shower after your epic threshold run and see this first thing:

Whut hyooman a little privacy please

But especially that feeling when you realize you have a lot more treadmill runs ahead of you thanks to Mr. Polar Vortex coming back for a visit:

negative 22 BUH

That feeling when the post finally ends and puts you out of your misery with some learnings:

• I'm very impatient with weight loss.  But as my wise mother once said, "It took a while for it to gain, it's going to take a while for you to lose."  *sigh*
• I kicked ass on that mud run, btw.  6 miles of obstacles in 53 minutes.
• I also kicked ass on that threshold/tempo run.  Didn't think I would be able to do both repeats because I tend to mentally break down during tempos on the 'mill.
• Speaking of mental breakdowns, SERIOUSLY NEGATIVE 22 OH COME ON MOTHER NATURE
• The cat, I can honestly tell you, is not worried about the weather at all.  Or tempo runs for that matter.

Tomorrow's workout: I have declared Fridays a "free space" to do whatever workout I want.  I'm leaning (or jumping, as it were) towards a total body plyometic workout, but who knows what 4 AM will bring?  Stay tuned.

Ramblings about my treadmill run this morning. And many bulleted lists.

It's me again, kids!

As you can tell, my treadmill and I had another hot date in my ugly smelly basement this morning, this time at around 5 AM.  Six easy miles was on the schedule, and I have to admit I was dreading it.  That's because it is a known fact that six easy miles on the treadmill is more accurately measured in eons and epochs rather than minutes and miles, and I suspected I might die of old age while i was trying to get this run done.

So I decided to spice it up with some pick-ups.  Well, actually I first decided to spice it up with some awesome purple shorts.

PURPLE POWER

And THEN I decided that I was going to accentuate my run with some pick-ups. 

I ran the first mile at warm-up pace, ran the second mile at around 10 min pace, and then did the first half of miles 3 through 5 at a 9 minute pace (with the back half of those miles at a 10 minute pace). I am happy to report that a) I made it off the treadmill, b) I am still alive, and c) those pick-ups made the time go by much, much easier.

But during the run I couldn't help but notice my mind wandering off, trying to self-soothe by making up these weird comparative equivalencies to keep myself motivated. It actually wanders off like this a lot, and I thought

• I have half a mile of this last pickup....that's only two short little loops on the display.
• I have one more mile left...that's only about 10 more minutes of running.

Of course, those are the more sane ones my brain comes up with when shut up in a basement with a treadmill.  I thought I would share some of my other little running equivalencies I cook up when I'm in a race or outside taking large dog for a spin:

• I have two more miles left of this hilly run....that's only four more times I have to be dragged downhill by large dog.
• I have 13 more miles left of this marathon...that's only three more gel snack times until I'm done.
• I have 20 more miles to go...that's only a puppy every mile that I don't stop.
• I'm at the start line and I have no motivation to run this race whatsoever...that's only one waste of a race registration and one miserable run ahead of me.

But there's other ways you can spice up a boring treadmill workout other than playing little mental games with yourself.  Here are some other suggestions:

• Do speed intervals for 20 seconds whenever you hear a certain word in the song you're listening to or movie you're watching.  Whatever that word is, just make sure it's in good taste along with whatever it is you're listening to/watching.
• Jump off the treadmill every half mile or mile and do some push-ups without permanently injuring yourself.
• Hum.
• Crossword puzzles are always a good idea while running to exercise your brain along with your body.
• For crying out loud get off the treadmill and go outside where it's not boring.

So boring.  Go outside.

And here are some suggestions for learnings from the ramblings above:

• As usual, I should never write posts when I'm this tired.
• So many bulleted lists in this post.  So. Many.
• But boy did that treadmill run go by in the wink of an eye this morning.
• A really really slow wink of an eye.
• Please dear lord don't jump off a treadmill or do crosswords while running.  You'll hurt yourself.  FYI.

Tomorrow's workout: Got me a little tempo...it may be on the treadmill or I may go outside and do it where it's not boring, for crying out loud.

All aboard the motorized weight loss scooter.

Hey there, kids!

When last we met I was talking about goals for the year that were really the same goals I have every year only with different words.  I was also jabbering about how I'm doing Run the Year 2019.  I'm still pretty much on track with those goals (except for the whole "get to bed on time" one), but today I really want to focus on Goal #5--my weight loss goal.

If you remember, that goal was to lose 20 pounds by June and to do it using Medifast.  Now, I set that goal because:

a) I have been 20 pounds lighter before and
b) I ain't getting any younger, so I realize that weight loss at my advanced age of 44 takes longer than it did when I embarked on my first weight loss journey at 35.

So I have been dutifully been doing my Medifast stuff for over a week, and people...I lost 5 pounds already.

Five.  I know that's not exactly a runaway train of weight loss, but it's at least a motorized scooter.

Now, I know that's how these plans hook you and stuff - you experience big loss at the start and then you get to the dreaded plateau.  But after being on my Medifast plan (the 5-2-2 plan), I can see why this is causing some big time loss in the first week.  And because I can never get enough of bulleted lists, here's a list of reasons why:

• It's low carb.  And I don't mean "no carb;" I mean LOW carb.  The only carbs I seem to eat are the ones in veggies and fruit, which I usually eat as my two healthy snacks a day on my plan.  No processed stuff allowed unless Medifast has processed it for you in one of their "meals."  
• Speaking of those "meals," The Medifast "meals" are all low-calorie.  Like, 110 calories or less.  These "meals" could consist of bars, shakes, things labeled "mashed potatoes" and "ziti" that you're pretty sure were never such things and these awesome little "soft bake" things that are like desserts but only the brownie and gingerbread ones are any good.  Overall, they're not bad, but let's just say I keep writing the word meals as "meals" for a reason here.
• Another reason the "meals" don't bother me that much (right now) is because on my plan I get to eat 2 "Lean and Green" meals in addition to 5 Medifast "meals" a day.  I have come to determine that these meals just consist of some flavored meat and some veggies, which is fine by me because that stuff is easy to make.  But these meals are also the reason I think the weight has dropped off in the first week - they're filling, healthy, and low calorie. 
• This Medifast plan I'm on is pretty stinking easy to do.  As soon as I realized the "meals" were really just supplements to my Lean & Green meals, it all fell into place for me and I was rolling with the plan.
• This whole experience is teaching me that my old "I can eat more because I'm training for a marathon" just isn't true.  I have to admit I am hungrier than I was before when I was free ranging on crap, but feeding my body just enough is still working for my training at the moment.  And feeding my body mostly nutrients is working quite nicely - my workouts have been strong this past week.  Well, except for the time I was begging Cathe to stop with the hovers during a spin workout.  She ignored me, though, because she was too busy climbing nonexistent hills on her spin bike.

And oh yeah...I've been doing some workouts this last week too.  Some spin, some weights, and of course some running.  Even ran outside with large dog in the wee hours of the AM crazily whispering "will you shut up barking shut up shut up don't let the coyote pack we hear every night when I take you outside know where we are!" while he ignored me and kept barking. 

We'll see how the Medifast is working as my mileage starts to increase on the weekend.  May have to add in another snack if my energy starts to flag.  But I will leave you all with the biggest learning I've learned being on Medifast and training for a marathon:

Never, EVER have a Medifast "meal" before a run.  Ever.

And now for some lesser learnings:

• I freaking love those running shorts.  Go buy some for yourself at Gypsy Runner's site.
• My fave Medifast "meal" so far - the Triple Berry Smoothie.
• I have run a 16 x 200m repeat workout two weeks in a row now and I'd just like to state for the record that I would not be upset if my training plan app didn't give me that one for awhile.
• If this weight loss keeps going we may have to upgrade from a scooter to an Elliptigo.

Workouts for the week: Weights, spin, and my first tempo run since my last marathon training cycle FUN

So I'm Running (and walking and biking and maybe crawling) the Year. Again.

In my last post I talked about all of my goals for 2019..well I recently added another one to the list:  I'm doing that crazy Run The Year thing.

I've done every Run the Year since it started, but I haven't always been consistently conscious about it.  In fact, last year they sent me the medal at the start of the whole thing and my brain went into shut-down mode about it and never thought about it again until I just moved that medal (it's pretty) to my new house.  Good thing I did end up with the right mileage at the end of 2018 or....nothing would have happened, really, except my sister who runs mocking me relentlessly.

Notice that's for all activities, not just running.  That's how I do a "Run" the Year; I tend to count all active miles because I know I'll injure myself if I run every day. By counting all my active miles I can challenge myself to be more active in the activities that I already do.  For example, in 2017 I only biked 470 total miles; in 2018 that number jumped to 810-ish. Now I know some people are really literal about the whole running part of the Run the Year challenge, but if live pigeon shooting was at one time considered an Olympic sport, I can consider counting my miles any way I want, thankyouverymuch.

Speaking of counting, there are definitely some things I did since last we met that could be considered workouts:

1) I did two spin + weight workouts, because of that whole spin addiction thing I've mentioned before plus why not give me more to do every day.  Please note that the hubbs got me a weight rack for Xmas and that the man gets me, he really really gets me.

2) I did a 6 mile "long run" that was in the MyRunPlan app thingie with large dog on a 40 degree (!) January morning where I did not have to wear gloves.  Plus, wearing tights plus a running jacket made me extremely overdressed.

The bigger the tongue, the better the run.

A peak between two vicious little hills

Not too shabby.

I'm really determined not to slack off on the workouts...and I am also determined to think of them this way (props to the I run to drink account on Insta for this).  Let's face it: most of life and what you do in it is all about the proper mental framing.

Now let's frame some learnings:

• Still having a hard time with sticking to that whole "bedtime" thing.  One thing at a time, I guess.
• If those Run the Year peeps send me a medal it's going to be hard for me to remember that it's not over already again.
• The only thing that wasn't awesome about running with large dog in 40 degree weather in January was him dragging me downhill on all the downhills at warp speed.  Again.
• My quads also think that wasn't awesome of large dog right now as well.
• It's time to end this post now, because I have to get up early and celebrate what I can do on the treadmill.

Upcoming workouts: Fartleks (lolol) tomorrow morning, of course more spin and weights, and more running.

New Year, New Blog Post...Same old goals.

So here we are again--at the dawn of a new year.  It's really too bad I have the same old goals as last year.  And the year before that (ad infinitum...and ad nauseam).

But let's review what those goals are anyway, just in case what's old becomes new again.  And in case I actually stick to them I'll know what they were because I wrote them down somewhere.

Goal #1: Run More

Seems simple enough, but I have only been running three days a week for about 4 years...so I decided to throw caution to the wind and add another easy run during the week.  This run will be done in the morning, and in the evening there shall be a spin workout or a weight workout.  but in order to accomplish that two-a-day workout, I also have to work on the next goal, which is....*drumroll*

Goal #2: Go home after work.

I have decided heretoforthwith that on the day I do that extra easy run in the AM that I will actually leave work on time, go home, and do at least 30 minutes of spin or weights.  I know I can do it because I actually did it today, and boy oh boy was it a new experience getting home before dark.  Even the animals were caught by surprise, especially since the male cat was in the shower when he shouldn't have been.

HYOOMAN YOU NOT SUPPOSED TO BE
HOME YET SCRAM

My co-goal with this one is also to then reward myself for skedaddling out of work on time and working out by reading in my awesome new comfy chair for the rest of the night.  I don't know if i can do that one yet because obviously I'm blogging right now instead of reading...duh.


Goal #3: Stay addicted to spin workouts.

This one is gonna be easy youbetcha.

Let's blast.

Goal #4: More sleep, please.

I tend to burn the candle at both ends when it comes to my job, so I really need to buckle down, set a bedtime, and stick to it.  If i can get the animals off the bed so I can get in, that is.

Goal #5:  Lose 20 pounds by June.

Because seriously, kids, my job-induced stress-eating is getting out of control again.

I can do better than this.

I'm 14 pounds heavier than I was at this time last year, and it's really time to get serious.  So here's what I'm doing, in a nice bulleted list because bulleted lists are awesome:

• I ordered me some Medifast.  I need structure, people, because apparently I'm no good on my own.  I am also really sick of the Nutrisystem food, which is why that wasn't ordered again.
• I'm going to stick to the Medifast plan and weigh myself every day like I used to.
• I'm gong to stop being ashamed that I gained weight and just freaking take care of this once and for all by changing my eating for the long-term.
• I'm going to stop letting work put pounds on me and find other, healthier ways to deal with the work stress as it arises.  Like picking fights with my co-workers (NOT REALLY CO-WORKERS if you're reading this).

Goal #6: Stop posting so many animal pics.

Just kidding!  I need to post WAY more animal pics, starting right.......NOW

And what have we learned from this excursion into my 2019 goals?  Well:

• Stress eating.  Buh.
• Weight gain.  Double BUH
• I stayed up past my bedtime to write this post, so going to have to restart that whole "bedtime" component of that goal.
• I am glad I added that run, if for nothing else to make me leave work on time at least one day a week.
• My weight gain is seriously bumming me out.  More about that in another post.
• What the world needs is more animal pics.  Right....NOW

Upcoming workouts: Last two days were 3-mile easy runs...have some spin, some weights, and a "long" run of 6 miles this weekend.  Life is rough right now, folks.