Today I had a GOOD eating day and a BETTER running day!
I followed my menu with no treats today; Although I did eye the left over pizza at the office. But all I had to do was think about how hard and painful it was the last time I ran (two days ago).
I think my two days off did the trick. My legs were not swollen today and they felt really rested. I was ready to go. My gut told me that this time I was ready to run.
No body knows your body like you do. If you are just starting training or running or some new exercise, your biggest learning curve will be learing about your body and how and when to listen to it. This will be your biggest asset in sticking with your health plan. It also has ended up being the hardest thing to do in my plan.
I think this might just be a mind set. When I am working out everyday and get in to the groove, I want to keep the momentum. So, when my body starts to tell me to rest, I resist it. Then my body reminds me who is really knows best. It might be sore hamstrings, heavy legs, water retention(like earlier this week), or something as simple as feeling exhausted.
But this doesn't always mean that you need to rest. It might mean you need to stretch, ice, try a different exercise, check your form, or eat foods with less sodium. Everyone is different and there are soooo many variables to different people doing different workouts. I have to learn how I respond to my workouts and my meals. Everytime I alter something as minor as the time of day I work out, I might see a difference in my performance. I truely believe this is the same for every human.
Today's Workout:
I decided to drop back and repeat week 2 of Chi-Running. I needed to set a goal for myself today that I knew I could reach. After my last run, I needed a good workout and needed a psychological boost. I needed to feel the satisfaction of reaching my goal:
1 mile warm up walking at a moderate to fast pace with dogs.
Dropped off dogs.
3 min run, 1 min walk (repeated 8 times)
I covered a total of 3.5 miles and worked out for over 40 minutes (this includes warm up with dogs, walk/run, cool down, and stretching).
My favorite crutches this week:
Bananas
All Natural Apple Sauce
Hard boiled eggs (whites only - dont care for the yolk).
Showing posts with label rest day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rest day. Show all posts
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
There was Pizza at work :/
I've missed a couple of days writing about my health progress. But I will get you all caught up ;)
Monday was a good day eating. Due to the snow I got to work from home. I found that working in a more relaxed and controlled environment helped me to make better food choices. I ate all my planned meals with a little exception ... Starbucks!
But before my Starbucks trip I wanted to run a little. My gut told me it was going to be a dificult run but I didn't know why. Determined not to give myself any excuses, I leashed up the dogs telling myself I would at least go and give it a try. It was cold - about 28 degrees out and VERY windy. I walked the first mile hoping to warm up and get my body going. Then I thought that dropping off the dogs would help. So I parked them at home, set my watch for 5 min run then 2 min walks. I was to repeat this 6 times. But I still wasn't feeling it at all.
The terrain is rarely flat in my neighborhood. I'm usually running up hill or down hill. I started my first 5 min running going down hill... After 1 minute I started an incline. I talked myself through it... Minute 2 was painful. Minute 3 I found myself walking until I reached the top of the hill. The 5th minute I was running down hill. I felt like I had cheated. I was discouraged and my face was frozen in place from the wind.
I decided I should compromise my work out. I had to regroup. I was now in the middle of my 2 min of walking. I stopped my watch intervals and began to revise my plan.
What was my goal for that day? It was kind of to start my 3rd week of Chi Running intervals but my body was not agreeing with it. So what was plan B? I didn't have one...
I decided that it was important for me to know how it felt for me to run 5 min nonstop using my new Chi Running form. I walked to a road that I had never run on before because it looked a little flatter than my usual route. I started my music, started my watch and started my run. It seemed like the longest 5 min of my life.
I was frustrated with my body. I kept thinking about the stories I have read by other runners. I have heard several times that even the most fit athletes have bad days. I tried to remind myself that I am not exempt from that. I also started searching for something positive about my workout so I wouldn't take this disappointment with me for the rest of the day. I thought of how I walked a mile at a good pace, I ran for 5 min using my new Chi running form, and I didn't have any pain in the areas of injury.
When I got home to take a shower I went to take off my shoes. My legs were swollen. Maybe I was retaining water? Maybe water weight gain caused my workout to be a bummer?
*Monday's Treat: Starbucks Fat Free Peppermint Mocha Latte
________________________________________
Tuesday I decided I needed a rest day. After Monday's bad run I thought maybe my body was telling me to rest. I went to work and had a good breakfast. It was a busy day and I had planned on eating a lean cuisine for lunch. I know lean cuisine is a far cry from a perfect meal but sometimes it's my best effort on really busy and challenging days.
One of my meetings ended right at lunch. I walked into the kitchen at work to find pizza. I was going in to heat my lean cuisine. The next thing I knew, I was eating a slice of cheese pizza at my desk. I didn't even feel guilty. Then I went for a second slice. I told myself as I devoured my pizza that I had to give myself a free meal once a week and that this was it. Then, after lunch, there were chocolates (2 mini chocolates). I figured since I was on a roll I could have chocolates too. But I also made a promise to myself that the next day I would need to have a good clean day of healthy eating... Which brings me to today :)
_________________________________________
Today - Wednesday:
I originally thought of this blog as a way to journal my daily habits and progress. I thought that if I would write everything down, I would learn a lot more about my habits.
It's working!
Habit - an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary (Marium-Webster dictionary)
I was just reviewing my last few days. What I have seen so far that concerns me is that 2 out of the last 6 days, I have given myself an "out". I have found myself treating myself on a whim. What I am afriad of is that this might be my habit that I haven't recognized all this time. Maybe this is something I do on a regular basis? Maybe this is why my 20 pounds have been so hard to lose?
Lots of questions today and not many answers. At least by writing this all down I will think twice next time when I think I deserve a treat! I will start tracking when I treated my self last in order to avoid this becoming a daily occurance.
So, today has been another rest day. Day 2 of rest. My diet is what I promised myself it would be. No treats! Pleanty of protient, low/healthy fats, whole grains and water.
Tomorrow we are expecting warmer weather and I have a half day at work. I am looking forward to stopping at the track on my way home to try my Week 3 Chi Running (5 min run/2 min walk intervals). This time on a level surface! This time no wind! This time the temp will be above 40 :D
Monday was a good day eating. Due to the snow I got to work from home. I found that working in a more relaxed and controlled environment helped me to make better food choices. I ate all my planned meals with a little exception ... Starbucks!
But before my Starbucks trip I wanted to run a little. My gut told me it was going to be a dificult run but I didn't know why. Determined not to give myself any excuses, I leashed up the dogs telling myself I would at least go and give it a try. It was cold - about 28 degrees out and VERY windy. I walked the first mile hoping to warm up and get my body going. Then I thought that dropping off the dogs would help. So I parked them at home, set my watch for 5 min run then 2 min walks. I was to repeat this 6 times. But I still wasn't feeling it at all.
The terrain is rarely flat in my neighborhood. I'm usually running up hill or down hill. I started my first 5 min running going down hill... After 1 minute I started an incline. I talked myself through it... Minute 2 was painful. Minute 3 I found myself walking until I reached the top of the hill. The 5th minute I was running down hill. I felt like I had cheated. I was discouraged and my face was frozen in place from the wind.
I decided I should compromise my work out. I had to regroup. I was now in the middle of my 2 min of walking. I stopped my watch intervals and began to revise my plan.
What was my goal for that day? It was kind of to start my 3rd week of Chi Running intervals but my body was not agreeing with it. So what was plan B? I didn't have one...
I decided that it was important for me to know how it felt for me to run 5 min nonstop using my new Chi Running form. I walked to a road that I had never run on before because it looked a little flatter than my usual route. I started my music, started my watch and started my run. It seemed like the longest 5 min of my life.
I was frustrated with my body. I kept thinking about the stories I have read by other runners. I have heard several times that even the most fit athletes have bad days. I tried to remind myself that I am not exempt from that. I also started searching for something positive about my workout so I wouldn't take this disappointment with me for the rest of the day. I thought of how I walked a mile at a good pace, I ran for 5 min using my new Chi running form, and I didn't have any pain in the areas of injury.
When I got home to take a shower I went to take off my shoes. My legs were swollen. Maybe I was retaining water? Maybe water weight gain caused my workout to be a bummer?
*Monday's Treat: Starbucks Fat Free Peppermint Mocha Latte
________________________________________
Tuesday I decided I needed a rest day. After Monday's bad run I thought maybe my body was telling me to rest. I went to work and had a good breakfast. It was a busy day and I had planned on eating a lean cuisine for lunch. I know lean cuisine is a far cry from a perfect meal but sometimes it's my best effort on really busy and challenging days.
One of my meetings ended right at lunch. I walked into the kitchen at work to find pizza. I was going in to heat my lean cuisine. The next thing I knew, I was eating a slice of cheese pizza at my desk. I didn't even feel guilty. Then I went for a second slice. I told myself as I devoured my pizza that I had to give myself a free meal once a week and that this was it. Then, after lunch, there were chocolates (2 mini chocolates). I figured since I was on a roll I could have chocolates too. But I also made a promise to myself that the next day I would need to have a good clean day of healthy eating... Which brings me to today :)
_________________________________________
Today - Wednesday:
I originally thought of this blog as a way to journal my daily habits and progress. I thought that if I would write everything down, I would learn a lot more about my habits.
It's working!
Habit - an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary (Marium-Webster dictionary)
I was just reviewing my last few days. What I have seen so far that concerns me is that 2 out of the last 6 days, I have given myself an "out". I have found myself treating myself on a whim. What I am afriad of is that this might be my habit that I haven't recognized all this time. Maybe this is something I do on a regular basis? Maybe this is why my 20 pounds have been so hard to lose?
Lots of questions today and not many answers. At least by writing this all down I will think twice next time when I think I deserve a treat! I will start tracking when I treated my self last in order to avoid this becoming a daily occurance.
So, today has been another rest day. Day 2 of rest. My diet is what I promised myself it would be. No treats! Pleanty of protient, low/healthy fats, whole grains and water.
Tomorrow we are expecting warmer weather and I have a half day at work. I am looking forward to stopping at the track on my way home to try my Week 3 Chi Running (5 min run/2 min walk intervals). This time on a level surface! This time no wind! This time the temp will be above 40 :D
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