Monday, October 25, 2010

Chocolate face plant


T-minus 14 days. This is it bloggy friend. Only 2 weeks until my big race. I am so ready for it to be over. I really let life get in the way these past 3 weeks and my pitiful long run yesterday really hammered that fact home. My husband got pneumonia and was hospitalized for a few days 3 weeks ago so for that week I was a single mom and could only get in a few runs with the kid between working and going to the hospital. Then that weekend I couldn’t leave him with Harper b/c he was feeling so weak and not sleeping well, plus she got really sick with a double ear infection. So, I chose to call that week a rest week and just ran two 6 milers that weekend, instead of the 16 I was supposed to. The next week I got hit with an awful sinus infection and slept through most of my weekly runs, then when the weekend came and I had my last 20 miler looming over me, I bagged it at 11 miles. I just felt awful and knew that if I pushed it I would be worse off the next week and decided to push the run to this past weekend and shorten my taper. Fast forward to this past week and pure laziness just set in. I allowed myself to get off track for 2 weeks and then getting up at 5am became too hard. I had two short runs mid week and was going to do 20 miles on Sat. I was all set, but then our grandma babysitter got sick and couldn’t watch Harper and we were getting windows installed in our house, so Gary was too busy to watch Harper that day. So, I had an awesome 7 miler with the stroller and pushed the 20 miler to Sunday. Gary slept awful Saturday night and I felt bad getting him up early so I let him sleep and decided to do the run whenever Harper went down for her nap. I headed out later than normal, which meant my nutrition was off as I hadn’t eaten lunch, plus it was unseasonable hot. I was a salty mess by mile 10. My plan was to run the 20 around my neighborhood to cut out the normal 40 min round trip commute I have for my long runs at the park. I took my dog out for 2 and took him home b/c it was so hot. Then a friend joined me for the next 4. After that I was alone. Thank goodness for an ipod. Only 6 miles in and I already felt off. My legs were just hurting. I was sweating profusely, I kept getting kind of lightheaded. I decided to make it into an adventure and ran to a completely new area and explored a little retail area I never really visit (Larchmere Blvd) and over to Shaker Square to refill my camelback, then I ran around the Fairmount Mansions streets. I kept to streets I never run on to keep it interesting. But the entire time self doubt was creeping in and my legs just really hurt. Normally I don’t have any pain when I run but my calves were screaming and my hamstrings were tight. After 15 I really start to walk here and there and by 16 I thought I should just go home and call it a day. I figured at that point I was doing more harm than good. For whatever reason I had to do 2 more and made it 18. I doubt that I walked more than 1 mile. And my pace when I was running was faster than I wanted it to be. I kept telling myself to slow down to a 10 min/mile as that is what I like my long runs to be at, but I was well below 10 min pace the whole time. I think I was hurting b/c I was going a bit too fast, I was dehydrated and I didn’t eat enough beforehand. Aside from the weather being gorgeous, the run sucked. If my marathon goes like this I am in huge trouble. But I do think that I am going to be well below my last marathon time of 4:29, gawd I hope so.

In other news. I weighed in at 130.7 this morning. Hopefully that isn’t b/c I am dehydrated and will still be there. I am really trying to be mindful and watch my nutrition and eat as cleanly as I can so that I feel good race morning. I am so scared of the Halloween candy. I hope I can prevent myself from jumping headfirst into chocolate and derailing my other good choices. Harper and I are heading to KY this weekend to see my family. Hopefully I can keep myself from spiraling out of food control. Wish me luck.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Let's get real

Hi bloggy friends I am looking for some suggestions. I am obviously someone who works out and it is something I love, I am lucky in that regard. I would say I work out 7-10 hours a week right now. I am marathon training, but even when I am not, 7-10 is my average. I am 5’2 and usually hover around 130 lbs. I carry a lot of muscle and I don’t think I look like I weigh as much as I do. However, there is room for improvement and I do believe that I could get myself down to 120. I have big plans people, Half Ironmans and lots more marathons, with the hope of someday qualifying for Boston. The fact of the matter is I want to lose 10 lbs, yes to look as great as I feel, but also for racing reasons. Not carrying around as much weight will translate into these legs moving faster. But what do I do to get there? If I am being honest I would say I eat really good, nutricious food 80% of the time. I have a horrible sweet tooth and have been known to have many more desserts in a week than really necessary, but I am working on it. I think in order to get down to a weight of 120 I really have to mix things up and “shock” my system, but what is a good way to do it? Some thoughts that are swirling in my head:
· Lift weights more, do less cardio
· Do speedwork on a track at least once a week and do hill repeats once a week, then the other run keep long between 6-10 miles
· Do yoga 5 days a week before bed
· Switch to vegan
· Switch to drinking shakes for lunch 5 days a week…
· Just tri train, the cross training will do it

Does anyone else have any ideas that have worked for them when they really needed to change things up? Right now I still have 2 marathons on the horizon and then I will be tri training for my first HIM, which means at least 3 swims a week, 2 bikes, 1 brick, 2 runs. Maybe that alone will do it? All I know is that I am no capable of calorie counting or writing everything down. I do better just avoiding sweets when I can, but it is tough.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Muffin Toppers Unite


So after 3 days of watching my food intake the scale is moving down. I was greeted on this cold Tuesday morning with 131.6. That is almost a lb down from yesterday. I am not going to weigh myself again until Friday. I have 2 friends that I am checking in with as we all try and lose those stubborn last 10 lbs. I decided to set a weekly non weight related goal. Mine for this week is to focus on 3 meals and 3 snacks, no more, no less. So often I just kind of graze all day and those calories add up. It is hard at work. I sometimes have to do a lot of data entry type work and it is hard to not sit there and snack on crackers or something along those lines as I type away. I stocked my cube with crunchy, carby, yet nutritious snacks and have been enjoying them. I picked up some crackers made out of almonds and super thin “rice cakes” made out of quinoa and sesame. Good stuff. Monday was a rest day, so no real exercise yesterday aside from some lunchtime stretching with a friend. On Sunday I did enjoy a wonderful 7 mile late afternoon run with the Fonz. When I run it is either dark and cold early morning or long slow runs with friends. It’s good to get out by myself every now and then during daylight hours and run as fast as I can. I kept an eye on my watch and made myself stay under a 9 min mile even though it was uncomfortable at times. I really want 9 min/mile to become my comfortable long run pace. I want all other runs to be somewhere in 8s, hopefully next year I can do a race where I am much closer to 8 even per mile, as opposed to the 8:47-8:52 I have done on my last several 10 milers and halves. Baby steps folks. Reading about my super speedy friends who do amazing things like come in second overall for females in Columbus (that’s you E-speed) or first female at the towpath marathon while pregnant (that’s you Salty) motivate me and give me hope that I too can be much speedier. I never would have believed that I could run under a 9 min mile for a distance race, never ever and yet I can now. I look forward to a 5K this winter. I don’t do a lot of 5Ks, I don’t like to run fast. But I know I will shatter my old PR of 25 and change soon. But I digress, I’m here to talk about my muffin top.

Weight is down today, I hope the trend continues. Gary is out of town today and tomorrow. I hope to get a short run in tonight with the kid and dog. Tomorrow morning will be yoga since I am home bound and hopefully another short run. Thursday morning I am taking my maiden early morning bike ride with my friend Natalie. I can’t lie, I am super scared. It was my idea and yet I am a wreck over it. I see people biking in the morning and I thought that I should really do that, but not alone. So Natalie is crazy enough to agree to meet me and bike in the dark. We obviously only have a few more weeks that we can even do this, but hopefully in the spring we can pick it back up. We are going to stick to well lit roads. I have 2 new lights to put on my bike. Friday is a run and Sat is my last 20 miler. Hoorah. I am sick of marathon training. I still want to do several marathons a year, but I think I want to switch from 16 & 18 week training plans to a 12 week plan. I keep myself in good enough shape that I think it should be sufficient.

Guess I better do some work. Have a great Tuesday!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Big Loser. I hope.




Bloggy friends I’m sure you are sick of reading this. I have made this declaration many a time in the past. But I am making it yet again. I have to lose some weight. Pronto. Before the holidays creep up. I had really hoped to get to the starting line of my marathon a slim, lean, running machine. When I started back at work full time in May I was 125lbs. I’m only 5’2 and this was honestly the lowest my weight has been in a long time and guess what…I was fast! And I felt and looked great. Seriously I had an amazing 10 miler and half marathon while I was weighing in at 124/125. Never in my life had I held a pace under 9mins at that distance and all of the sudden I could. Then I went back to work and then I started marathon training and the next thing I know I am back up to 131. 130-132 seems to be my natural weight. I don’t have to do much to stay there, but unfortunately I have to work hella hard to stay below it. I am so sad to see that I have managed to gain almost 10 lbs. And I can feel it. I feel gross b/c all my clothes are tight. I am sitting at my desk today with my stomach is just hanging over my jeans. I know some people are reading this and rolling their eyes b/c I am perfectly aware of the fact that I don’t look that bad and there are plenty of people who would be happy to be in my jeans. However, when you factor in that I run 30-40 miles a week it is really annoying. So, I am announcing it here. I weighed 132.7 lbs this morning and I fully intend to get down to 125 before the New Year, hopefully much sooner. Watch me. I am bound and determined and it’s going to take some serious work on my part. Here’s how I’m going to do it:
1. Stop JUST running. I have been awful about cross training lately, so I will make sure to hit the pool and my bike once a week
2. Ab work, I will do an ab routine off of exercise tv 2-3 times a week
3. No more junk miles, each run has a purpose and I forget this and run the same pace every time. I will run 4 days a week, one long, one tempo or speed, one hill repeat and one recovery.
4. Quit being a lazy vegetarian, I eat an endless stream of carbs and have gotten very lazy at making salads, etc for lunch
5. No snacks after dinner, I will “fast” for 12 hours, so if I eat dinner at 7pm, I can’t have breakfast until 7am
6. No more diet coke or splenda, I truly believe the fake sugars are way worse for you than the real stuff, yet I continuely let it back into my diet. For shame

I am always down with weight loss buddies, if anyone wants to join me on a 10 lbs pre holiday bust ass lose weight plan, just let me know. Every couple of days I will check in with my progress. I think I will make Monday my official weigh in days. I am hoping to get down to 130 pretty easily, that a few lbs are just bloat. I’d like to be 128 by Nov 7 for my first marathon and 125 by Dec 11 my second marathon. We’ll see! Then I start seriously training for my HIM and I really hope to see some changes in my body. Wish me luck.
ooohhhh and i'm totally getting that bike! yikes.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Race Rinse Repeat


There is never a day that goes by that I don’t have to stop and take a breath and wonder how I am going to continue to do all of this. ALL OF THIS being work full time, be a devoted mom and wife and continue to train for marathons and triathlons. Yet, somewhere in the back of my brain I still have IM dreams. When I am bored at night I look up training plans and wonder if I could ever do it. I watch Kona videos and think I could be an Ironman, surely I could. But who has the time!?!

I love to run. I truly do. I spend way too much money on races and deprive myself of sleep to run, but I can’t lie. I am really looking forward to my two marathons being over. I am ready to immerse myself in HIM training. One big reason is I won’t have to suffer through many outdoor winter runs. Mostly I will be tucked safely inside on my trainer watching trashy reality tv or swimming at the gym. But also I secretly am hoping tri training will do for my body what running never has. I weigh too much and my weight has been creeping up. How can my weight go up as my mileage does. It’s so frustrating and it’s not just muscle b/c my belly is hanging over my jeans right now. Ugh.

I really hate to spend the money but Gary just got a brand new amazing Jamis bike and I am now drooling over it. I want a carbon road bike so bad and I have my eye on two that are just incredibly good deals. They are a year old, so the price has dropped drastically. I know I shouldn't do it, that my 2003 Jamis Ventura is just fine, but I want it! So, I may be getting a new bike soon. At least it should be motivation to stay on my trainer for hours this winter. The picture is of the bike I will probably get, the other option is a Specialized Ruby Compact.

So what about you, how do you do it? How do you fit it all in? Sometimes I wish I was just a gym rat who didn’t have all these racing needs, like certainly would be easier. But would it be as much fun?

About Me

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Mnowac
distance runner attempting to run a marathon in every state, vegetarian foodie, mediocre triathlete, sucky swimmer, mommy to Harper, tea lover, coffee drinker, animal saver, hubby snuggler, race addict, full time working 31 year old living in cleveland
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Marathons so far

  • Sept 2012 - Corning, NY - TBD
  • April 2012 - Louisville, KY - TBD
  • Sept 2011 - Erie PA - 4:25
  • June 2011 - South Bend IN - 5 hrs+ (it was 98 degrees!)
  • Dec 2010 - Rehoboth Beach DE - 4:26:06
  • Nov 2010 - Huntington WV - 4:11:44
  • Oct 2009 - Towpath - Cleveland area OH - 4:30:35
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