Sometimes you have to get worse to get better.

And it feels like I’m kind of working through that.

soon

Just like my cat is working through a nap and not falling off the ledge.  It’s a hard life.

The good news is that I’m feeling a lot more relaxed.  The first day of vacation I was so anxious about everything.  Nothing could go right and I figured that taking a relaxing staycation at home was not going to go well. This happens as well after a race when I’m taking a break.  For a while, I’m like, hey, I don’t need this, I can totally just keep plowing through the training until the endorphins and either the glow of crushing a goal or the flame of redemption from biffing it subsides.  Then, I become completely and totally exhausted for a bit, while my body and mind are regenerating.

Now, on Day 7, I’ve gotten fairly well re-acquainted with my couch.  I’m somewhere between ultra-slothy and actually wanting to rejoin society… soon.  This weekend, I was excited to go out and do some social things, not so burnt out that leaving my house and interacting with people is a chore.  I spent a lot of time yesterday doing some chores, but I also spent a good amount of time reading, sleeping, and watching a movie.

I wish I could say the motivation to run has come back, because it really hasn’t.  It was the same drill last year, now that I’m thinking about it.  I had rosy memories about getting out around 4pm and running until sunset.  The reason I was running at 4 was because I couldn’t summon the motivation earlier and I hadn’t yet learned about running with headlamps or it might have been 9pm instead.  The reason I have ROSY memories is that the runs were nice once I got out there, so I need to keep doing that, but this lack of motivation is not the end of the world.

soon2

I’ve been indulging a bit.  Believe it or not, these Pizza Tacos were actually fairly healthy in the scale of things lately.  Besides the indulgence of sitting on the couch, I’ve enjoyed some Christmas cookies, candies, and a whole lot of Christmas spirits.  I think I’m finally to the point where I’m a little sick of drinking, and that’s good.  I realized I haven’t had one of those type of vacations this year – I’ve been out of town only for races, family vacations, or a vacation where I’ve had to get up early and go be active every day.  This time, instead of being on a beach, I was on my couch.

The downside of this is my body feels a little sludgy, which makes the whole process of running a little less enjoyable, but that tends to shake out partway through the run, and I shall persevere.  I know that January will be awesome and awful as I get back to eating like an athlete, but I need this time right now.  So there.

Although I’ve been slacky, I did get some activity in last week:

  • 2 rides, approximately 2.5 hours and 40 miles.
  • 3 runs, approximately 2.75 hours and 15 miles.
  • 1 yoga/stretch session, 30 minutes
  • 5.25 hours

Not bad for my first week back even though it feels like I did almost nothing.  Baby steps.

Ask the audience: what’s your favorite Holiday indulgence?