Adjusted Reality

“Reality can be beaten with enough imagination.” – Mark Twain

Month: June 2009

SoC: Sacrifices

This might even be a fairly coherent thought.  Do not be alarmed.  Randomness will abound soon.

I live by a lot of principles and methods in my life, but one is definitely trying to find the least I have to give up to get the most of what I want.  In other words, I like to find the most efficient way to do things.  Case in point, my commute is more than 5 but less than 10 minutes any way I drive it, depending on traffic.  I still always wonder which way takes the least time on average to get there.  Because 1 minute is totally gonna make or break my day, right?  Still, this is how my brain works…

It took me so long to want to start losing weight because I wasn’t so sure what I would have to give up to do it.  I knew I would have to eat less, which I was ok with in theory.  I knew I would have to get some physical activity, which I was ok with, in theory.  However, the unknowns were out there.  I was smoking half a pack to a pack a day.  I wasn’t ready to quit.  Could I still lose weight?  I was playing a LOT of video games.  Would I have to quit playing games to lose weight?  I was drinking less than I was in and just out of college, but you don’t exactly see getting jiggy with a bottle of whiskey and muscles together, generally (at least for those of us of the fairer sex – and why is that?  Why are dudes allowed to workout hard and then play hard, but when a chick with a rep for being healthy is out, they expect us to be daintily sipping a water with lemon and eating salad with no dressing?  Anyways…).  Would I have to quit drinking?

Eventually I decided damn the odds, I was going to start doing this, but I was going to not do anything that I wasn’t ready to do.  A lot of it has taken care of itself.  Sadly, or not so sadly, depending on your perspective, I just don’t play as many video games as I used to – at least the same kind of games that took full weekends out of my life.  I still drink, but I couldn’t even dream of polishing off a bottle of whiskey with just my Zliten in a few hours like we used to.  I still smoke, but sometimes the packs get stale before I finish them.

Beyond this, I have other unhealthy habits.  My diet is not clean, nor raw, nor vegetarian, nor … any label that doesn’t include a sweet treat at night and at least a few servings of red meat per week.  I love “plant my butt on the couch” days, even though I could be logging more calories burnt with random non-exercise activity.  But I’ve developed a lot of healthy habits along the way too.  Exercising is a non-issue, I love it now.  I gravitate towards healthy food choices and rarely overeat just because I can’t control myself, if I choose to indulge, then I choose to indulge, and it’s right back to normal after that.  For the most part, I gave up caffeine and when I do drink even a regular diet soda or more than 1 cup of decaf coffee, I feel it’s effects.  I drink maybe one diet soda a day (and it fills more of a “sweet treat” type role, not a “I’m thirsty” role).

However, I am always looking for the most bang for the buck.  I didn’t give up all the unhealthy foods I loved, I just started looking for alternatives and smaller portions of my favorite foods that filled the craving.  I love places where I can get a 1/4 lb or junior burger and fries (and ditch about half of em).  I don’t feel deprived, but it keeps me from become gigantor-Quix again.  My favorite “genre” of food, if you will, is the sandwich shop type of fare: sandwiches, soups, salads, and wraps.  Generally if you avoid the 1000 calorie salads and tuna sandwich landmines, these are good staples if you’re trying to both eat healthy and sanely (for me, that means not having to cook all my own meals).

I’ve also been able to really push myself fitness-wise without giving up the partying.  It’s looking like the half marathon experiment is going to be a success – I’m only 2 miles away and I was feeling good after 11 miles Sunday.  I can lift and climb and bike and I have some pretty killer muscles to show for it.  Still some tummy pudge, but if that won’t go away without me completely overhauling my life, it’s not going to go away yet.  I love it, because I feel like I’ve been able to drink my beer and have it too, if you know what I mean.  Getting up in the morning to run or heading to the gym for a weights session after work might be tedious, but it’s something I want to do and the rest of my life generally works around it.  It doesn’t feel like a sacrifice to me.

Saturday, however, was the first time in a while I felt I really sacrificed for it (at least at first).  I had my fun night on Friday, planned to take it easy Saturday, because I scheduled my long run Sunday morning.  There was nothing going on that weekend, so it wouldn’t be a problem.  Then, Zliten’s friend from college was playing a show downtown.  He went out for lunch, then for drinks, and then ended up downtown hanging out with his friend waiting for them to go on stage.  About 2 hours into the adventure, he asked if I wanted to come join them.

I went through a bit of a minor existential crisis there.  Of course I wanted to go out and have fun and be a “roadie” and get in free and get cheap drinks.  But – that meant no run.  I’m not stupid enough to try to do an 11 mile run hungover and tired.  I tried to convince myself that I could just get up really early and do it on a weekday, but come on – that’s getting up at the latest at 7am, and the idea of running that long that early and immediately having to go to work for 8 hours – no fun at all.  So I did the responsible thing and declined and stayed home.

It ended up working out for the best, the guy’s band was supposed to go on at 8… then 9… then midnight.  I had to go retrieve my Zliten around 8pm from a really sketchy house the band had gone to eat BBQ and apparently do some other unsavory things which he was not OK with.  However, it was the first time I felt like I had two choices that were mutually exclusive and they both sounded like things I really wanted to do.  I think the worst part was my partner in crime was already out doing one of them, and to chose the other, I couldn’t be there!

I know it sounds as if I was being extreme.  Why Quix, you say, why didn’t you just go out and not party, but just hang out?  It’s harder than it sounds.  It’s just like peanut butter in the house – I would LIKE to say I can be responsible with it, until I’m face down in the jar, wondering how I’m going to burn off these extra 4000 calories.  I was tired, it was a bunch of people I didn’t know, and the only way it was going to be any fun was after a few beers, or at least some coffee – which at a shitty little dive bar probably wouldn’t exist.  So instead of putting myself in an awkward situation, I stayed home, made some necklaces, caught up on So You Think You Can Dance, and relaxed.  And it really wasn’t that bad.

I had a great run the next day, had a wonderful BBQ lunch, and even later enjoyed a few margaritas on the patio at El Mercado as a treat.  I can question what fun hijinx I could have gotten up to if I would have said “screw it” and wandered downtown, but the 30s have given me some perspective.  It’s not the end of the world if I don’t attend EVERY party.  With friends in town this weekend and 3 invites to random fun things the next Saturday after that already, I don’t think I’m going have an issue having to skip a few fun things to be responsible and train.  There will be much more fun to be had on a day before I DO NOT have to run 11 miles, and the benefits totally outweigh the few costs.

Half Marathon Training, Between Week 9 and 10

If you’ve been following me here this shouldn’t be any surprise, but for the rest of you and for my posterity, here is how last week went.

Monday: 15k race (unofficial)

Check.  Since I had Memorial Day off, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a long run not end in a mad rush to get me off to work.  Sadly, that also meant I slept in ’til almost 10 and got on the road running at a fairly hot part of the day.  While it was a pretty miserable run and I wasn’t thrilled with the pace (I really wanted 10 min miles and it was more like 10:30), I got through it and happily stretched, showered, and lazed around on the couch for 2 hours before BBQ time.

Tuesday: 50 mins DDR and yoga

Check and check.  Since I was an idiot and stayed up WAY too late and drank WAY too much Monday at various parties and outings, it was definitely a cross training day.  But – I got through it and actually felt better after.  I love that.

Wednesday: 5 mile run and weights at the gym

Check and check.  Nothing much to report except this ends up being a REALLY LONG FREAKING WORKOUT – over 2 hours with warmup/cooldown/stretching.

Thursday: 9×400 track intervals (1 lap at 2:00 or less pace, 1 lap jog, repeat) and yoga

Check and check.  Did the yoga in the morning.  Just as I got out that evening to run the sun went behind the clouds and trees so it was actually quite nice, which was a nice surprise.  I was glad I stuck to my guns and didn’t do this inside on the treaddy.  However, I went out a little too fast and eager (my second lap, I did 1:41 which is a 6:44 mile if I could keep that up 3 more times) and got tired enough that lap 7 and 8 were over 2 mins.  But – I made it through.  4.5 miles of intervals is a lot of freaking interval work.

Friday: 5 mile run and weights at home

Check and check.  I did the weights in the morning because I slept in, and then after getting home from work I really had to talk myself into this run.  But I did it.  What made me go?  When I skip a workout due to the “I don’t wanna”, I always feel worse, guilty, and regret it for way longer than it would have taken me to do it.  When I do a workout that “I didn’t wanna”, I usually feel better after and there’s no evil voice in my head telling me I suck.

Weekend: Rest

Week 10’s long run was Sunday, so Saturday I sat on my hiney all day and made necklaces and fixed my sweater, and other domestically inclined and completely out-of-character things for myself.

Total week 9 mileage 24.3 (running):   (plus 1-2 miles of walking)

Week 10 – Two more weeks ’til taper.

Sunday: 11 mile race

Monday: 2.7 mile run and yoga (yes, this is a wussy workout but I have plans)

Tuesday: 60 mins DDR and weights at home (here is the 5000 hour workout to make up for it)

Wednesday: 45 minute tempo run and yoga (that is – 35 mins at race pace/5 mins warmup and cooldown…youch)

Thursday: 5 mile run and weights at the gym.

Weekend: Maybe an easy neighborhood lap run to make up for missing a lap today.  Or maybe not.  I have friends in town staying with me, and I don’t think missing 2.5 miles is going to really break me.

Things I learned last week:

1.  I know I’ve said this before, but I am so ready to be done and run this race.  I’ve resigned myself that I am going to spend the majority of the next 2 weeks with sore muscles, just due to the sheer amount of mileage/time I need to put in.   I am crunching last week’s and this weeks workouts together a bit though because of friends coming into town Thursday afternoon and leaving Sunday – so maybe that 3 days off will be just the break I need to be energized and ready to go jumping into Week 11 (the last real week of training).

2.  I really dread the long runs, for some reason.  They are just daunting.  However, once I get into them, they feel good, I’m comfortable running for 2 hours straight now, and I feel great after (sore legs, yeah, but I’m not wiped).   I measure how I feel by whether I can kick at the end.  If I’m worn out, I ran too hard.  If I can speed up the last 2 miles and really speed up about half a mile out, I ran just right and I’m confident for the next week’s run.

3.  Five miles now feels like a pretty short run.  Three months ago, I had run six miles MAX and that was stretching it.  I’m really happy I did this to stretch my comfort zone.  If I would have kept increasing my mileage at the previous pace, I would have been at half marathon length in October.  And I really don’t think one is supposed to do a long, long run once a week for that long.  I still feel great body-wise now, and that makes me confident cause I don’t have that much to go, but I can see that I’d be suceptable to injury if I kept this up much longer.

4. So this endeavour has put about 2-3 lbs on me.  I’m weighing in regularly at about 152-153 something.  Zliten, however, seems to think I look significantly more muscular now, so maybe that’s it.  I hope that is, because muscles rock!  I’ll have to find a good before picture from the end of March and see how I compare now.  I said and I will maintain that I will eat in a way that keeps me fueled and comfortable for the race, no matter what happens with the weight – but it doesn’t mean that I want to keep creeping up towards 155 and leave it unchecked after I cross the finish line.

5.  Still trying to decide what I want for my post race meal.  Considering I’ve had lisence for at least the last 6 weeks to eat whatever I want (sorta) because of all the training, it’s not as special as it was in my head when I first started.  I do believe there will be some sort of a milkshake/frosty/frozen blendy treat though.

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