Winter Running

Over the last few days, I've managed to get in two really great runs in the snow. On Sunday, I went on a nice 4.5 mile run, when the snow was melting and the sun was shining. On Monday, I had a break during work and I was able to squeeze an 8.2 mile run in before heading back. Here are a few things that I learned:

1. Trail shoes work really well for keeping your footing in snow/slush. Having a little extra grip was really helpful.

2. Be prepared for wet feet. Snow will melt on your shoes, but as it warms up there might also be melted water underneath the slush. It's not hard to deal with, but it can be alarming.

3. Switching between the roads and the sidewalks can be a little scary. Not everyone has their sidewalks cleaned, and that's ok. Running in bike lanes and on road shoulders usually are usually par for the course. However, snow plows usually don't usually prioritize bike lanes and shoulders (again, that's ok). Just be aware that this may cause some awkward hopping back and forth between the snowy shoulders and the clean road to avoid traffic.

4. Running in the snow is beautiful. Honestly, running this weekend was so invigorating and exciting. I was running on a route that I run all the time, but with the snow this route was like I had never seen it before. My routine had become something special.

The snow is gradually melting. I'm not sure if we're going to get any more this year, but I'm going to put my shoes on as often as I can to play in the snow while it's here.

Motivating with honesty, not with excuses

I am a Pinterest junkie. Seriously. I have boards for food (yes, boards as in I have several for different meal categories). I have boards for knitting and crocheting projects, full of cute little animals and cool blanket patterns that I would love to fill my home with one of these days. I have boards for fitness, full of at home body weight workouts, kettlebell workouts, and yoga flow routines. I have a running board, full of running products, interval workout plans, and races that I've done and want to do. Then of course there are secret boards, which are secret so I won't discuss them any more here ;)

I have another board called "Inspiration". This board is probably my favorite to revisit from time to time. Some of the pins on this board have pictures of individuals who inspire me, including scientists like Rosalind Franklin and Rita Levi Montalcini. Some fictional characters are even on the inspiration board, like Atticus Finch and Jane Eyre.

Rita Levi Montalcini. Look her up, she's pretty cool.

One of my favorite parts of this board though, can be classified as "motivational quotes." Some of these include scripture about God being for us and with us. One of them is a favorite Quaker quote of mine - "Don't speak unless you can improve the silence." I have a wonderful Corrie Ten Boom quote also, which is "If God sends us a stony path, he provides us with strong shoes". Collectively, this board is one that I call upon to remind myself of my focus. I have it to remind me that challenges are not insurmountable, yet they require a huge amount of work. With hard work and a healthy attitude I can begin to approach the challenges before me.

Pinterest, has recently taken to suggesting pins for my Inspiration board. They include pins with quotes like "If  you can't love me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best", and "Have you ever just sat down and been like 'Damn I've been through a lot of shit' " (seriously, I'm not sure why that one came up but it did.) Without quoting ALL of them, the central message of these pins often has to do with identifying yourself as the victim, and dismissing the behavior of those around you.

I will never understand this mentality. Ever. If you actually want to change things for the better, you need to have ownership over what you can control and what you can change. Having that realization gives you direction. It allows you to either change the circumstances that you are in, or make the best of them. Granted, the actions of others may have directly or indirectly influenced where you are. But allowing that to be the blanket excuse for your attitude, your happiness, and your success is giving those people complete power over you. If you still dwell on the skinny girls who made fun of you in high school, it's as if they still taunt you and define you as the fat girl in the class. If your excuse for having zero confidence in your place of work is that your dad told you that he was disappointed in you that one time, you have blown his teaching moment completely out of proportion.

Own where you are, do what you can do, make the best of what you have.

Like this guy...

6 week marathon training

Time to turn the training up to 11.

On Saturday I had my longest run in a long time. I ran 8.22 miles at a very respectable pace. If I honestly felt like I could have gone longer, if I had started my run a little earlier before sunset. The best word to describe how I feel now is 'jazzed'.

I got my calendar out and counted the weeks leading up to my next marathon. 6 weeks. There are 6 weeks between now and my next marathon. *gulp*.

Increasing mileage really does need to be a priority for me above everything else. However, I'm starting to feel limited by my strength and flexibility on my speed. I'm going to focus on compound lifts, and follow the 5x5 program from StrongLifts. I want to make sure that I'm focusing on my core, and that I'm evenly strengthening my muscle groups. I've always enjoyed doing squats, but having huge quads with relatively weak hamstrings could result in increased injury. I think, for that reason, it's important to stick to a training plan.

When I pulled out my calendar to look at events to train around, I realized that the upcoming months are the busiest of my entire life. One weekend in February we're going to go to visit friends out of town, another weekend we're headed back to visit my family for our wedding shower. Recently I took over as coordinator for our church's care cluster, which is taking over at least 3 Monday evenings coming up. Wedding planning also needs to be kicked up a notch, and so does work towards my thesis.  My fiancé and I recently took over the role of coordinators for our young adult small group. So... there's a lot to work around.

When my college friends started switching to taking notes on the computer and on their iPads, I stuck to my trusty spiral notebook. I felt like making a physical copy of my training schedule might bring the same feeling of careful planning and study that I gained from taking notes and study guides in class. It so did. I'm going to try to do this for all of my other training schedules from now on!

It's a lot to juggle, but I want to make sure that I'm setting myself up well for success, without putting myself in a position where I might be injured. Here's roughly what the next 6 weeks should look like.

Week 1
Sunday - Rest from running. B day lifting (Squats, Overhead Press, Deadlifts).
Monday - Rest.
Tuesday - 6 miles.
Wednesday - 2 easy miles. A day lifting (Squats, Bench Press, Bent Over Rows).
Thursday - 4 fast miles. Rest from lifting.
Friday - Rest from running. B day.
Saturday - Valentine's Day hike!!! :D

Week 2
Sunday - 16 mile long run.
Monday - Rest from running. A day.
Tuesday - 4 easy miles. Rest from lifting.
Wednesday - 3 easy miles. B day.
Thursday - 6 miles.
Friday - 2 easy miles. A day.
Saturday - 3 easy miles.

Week 3
Sunday - 13.1 mile race (Sentara Colonial Half Marathon).
Monday - Rest from running. B day.
Tuesday - 4 miles easy. Rest from lifting.
Wednesday - 2 easy miles. A day.
Thursday - 6 miles. Rest from lifting.
Friday - Rest from running. B day.
Saturday - Traveling.

Week 4
Sunday - 10 miles
Monday - 5 miles. A day.
Tuesday - 2 miles. Rest from lifting.
Wednesday - 7 miles. B day.
Thursday - Rest.
Friday - 3 easy. A day.
Saturday - Traveling.

Week 5
Sunday - Traveling
Monday - 10 miles.
Tuesday - 5 miles. A day.
Wednseday - 3 miles. Rest from lifting.
Thursday - 2 miles. B day.
Friday - 2 miles. Rest from lifting.
Saturday - 18 miles.

Week 6
Sunday - 3 miles.
Monday - 6 miles. A day.
Tuesday - 2 easy.
Wednesday - 2 easy.
Thursday - REST
Friday - REST
Saturday - Shamrock 8k
Sunday - SHAMROCK MARATHON

We'll see how this shakes out!

Back to Fitness

Well that was hard. I had been so proud of how, in the past I had used running as a tool to overcome emotional strife, body image problems, and self-esteem. I had conquered everything, and had some shiny medals to show off as proof. I think I had actually deluded myself into thinking that I had solved all future problems because of the transformation I had gone through.

I suppose I didn't explicitly say it in my previous post, but I've been struggling a lot with depression over the last couple of months. It started with problems at work, and then over time my anxiety about work started bleeding out into my personal life. My relationship with my roommates fell apart, my relationship with my fiancé was strained, I spent a huge percentage of my visit home to my parents sitting in my childhood bedroom crying my eyes out. Needless to say, things got out of control. I went to my doctor for some help getting out of the hole that I was in. The medicine she gave me definitely pick myself off the ground. I was able to follow through when problems cropped up, and actually feel like I was in control of my life again.

However, the particular version of that medication that I was taking had some side effects that were sort of lousy. For one thing, the medicine made me hungrier than any amount of marathon training ever did. I don't mean emotional eating, or "I'm bored so I'm going to forage in my kitchen", I mean stomach-rumbling legitimately hungry. This was a horrible combination, because the other lousy side effect that it came with the medicine was general digestive distress. Sometimes I was nauseous, sometimes my stomach was really cramped, sometimes I feel sort of acid-ish, just generally kind of bad. And, it was especially bad while I was running or walking.

So... now I'm up a few pounds, but generally feeling a lot better about my emotional energy. Now it's time to get my physique back to where it was. I think I can do it. I need to get myself in shape for the Shamrock Marathon on March 22. Time to get my shoes back on!