Adjusted Reality

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Tag: holidays

Second Half Marathon Training: Week 4

By

On December 14, 2009

In Half Marathon Training

I want to bottle this feeling I had about this week’s runs.  Just the sense of pride I have right now.  Week 1 of training was a little mixed up because of the Turkey Trot.  Week 2 was screwed up because of illness.  Having the first two weeks not go as planned did not do well for my confidence.  The training plan I picked makes each and every run TOUGH.  In these 12 weeks, there are no happy fun lazy runs around the neighborhood.  The SLOWEST goal pace is 9:40, and that’s on my long runs (which are 8-12 miles here on out).  My tempo runs, which are up to 8 miles, are at 8:55.  The sprints are even faster and get longer and longer.

This week I finally got the chance to do a normal week of training.  Monday, it was sprints. which is honestly the thing I am MOST confident with keeping the required pace.  This week, it was mile sprints.  I have to say, I LOVED this workout.  It was difficult but the rest intervals made it tolerable.  The first mile was felt great.  The second and third was TOUGH by the end but not falling-of-the-treadmill hard.  It’s going to be brutal to tack one and then two more mile sprints at the end of this, but I look forward to the challenge.

Wednesday was COLD as HELL (ok, I don’t want to hear from you people with windchills below 0, it’s cold for me) and was in the low 30s in the morning.  I was planning to get up and run.  I even got dressed in my running gear, poked my head outside, and went right back in.  I left my running gear on, put a sweater over it, packed my bag, and headed to work.  I would conquer the cold at lunch.  I ended up out in about 40 degree weather.  At first it was a little chilly, but it was a huge breakthrough – it wasn’t that bad at all!  Also, I had planned to do my 5 mile tempo but ended up actually going 7 (my route went NOTHING as planned because of construction and I ended up on the other side of our office area at 5 miles so I just kept going).  I really enjoyed knocking my long run out in the middle of the week!  The mileage was estimated – I spent a lot of time running circles around parking lots – but I was bookin it and ran for 70 minutes.  I definitely don’t PREFER running in the cold (give me a 70 degree morning ANY DAY) but I felt awesome that I conquered my hesitation to run in winter temps.

By Friday, I was SO dreading this run.  Five miles.  Under 9 minute pace.  I didn’t even get that on race day.  It was Friday night, I was a little bummed that we were missing a fun-sounding holiday party, but I just kept telling myself that I had 5 miles between me and my weekend.  And if I made my pace, I would celebrate somehow.  I did a 5 minute warmup, reset the treadmill, and started again at 6.0.  I decided that I was gonna attempt a true tempo, so after the first .75 of a mile of ramping up, I hit 6.7 and just WENT.  I felt strong, I felt confident, and most importantly, I felt like I could hold the pace even if it was tough.  So I did it.  For 3.5 miles.  Then, at 4.25 miles I knew I had some time to make up, so I started ramping it up again, and by the end I was going 8.0.  My final pace? 8:57 miles.  Under 9.  I beat my race time 2 weeks ago by 1:05.

Then, we made amazingly delicious homemade pizza for dinner/breakfast the next day, which was much better than any crazy holiday party.  Or at least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

The DDR circuits were in there too (Tuesday and Thursday) and I yoga’d Monday.  I meant to do another yoga session but got busy with holiday stuff.  Oops.  MUST YOGA TWICE THIS WEEK SOMEHOW.  I stretched well after each run but I can still feel tension.  MUST YOGA.

I went into this week scared.  I am coming out of this week feeling like a badass.  I am ready to conquer these next 9 weeks because I have it in me.  Sub 2 hour half, here I come!

Training for week 4:

Monday – 6×400 sprints @ 1:58 pace (with one mile warmup and one mile cooldown and 400 rest in between) = 5 miles

Tuesday – DDR circuits

Wednesday – 6 mile tempo run @ 8:55 pace

Thursday – off (holiday party)

Friday – 30 day shred (need something effective and quick as I have dinner plans)

Saturday – 8 mile nice outside long run @ 9:40 pace

Sunday – rest

Next week in theory should start my holiday break and I should be back to 2 weeks of training on whatever schedule I want, but since I have a shippable at work I’m in charge of that has to be done by the end of the year, I might have to work some half days that week.  But we shall see.

This is the week where the appetite starts to kick in too.  I can already feel it.  At least this time, I’m craving boatloads of protien, more dairy, and veggies instead of all carbs all the time.  I’m sure that will come later, or perhaps training this way is changing the way I crave.  It could make sense.  Each workout is brutal, so protein/dairy helps build my body back up stronger, but I have enough rest time that I don’t need to be pumping constant FUEL ME NOW energy into my body.

The problem is I’m sitting here at my desk, having eaten a 20g protien bar this morning, a huge buffalo chicken lunch meat sammich for lunch, and I’m currently destroying a full 1 lb bag of baby carrots.  It is not long for this world, folks.  And I’m pretty sure before the workout, I’ll be digging into the pistachios and the blackberries too.  I mean – it’s all ridici-healthy and all (minus the nummy onion bun instead of the normal horkin’ fiber bread), so I can’t be too upset.

The plan is to really watch it this month.  Eat super healthy on most days so I can just kinda let myself graze until I feel fueled without being restrictive.  On days I have holiday plan-type-things, make sure I watch my portions and fill up on all the healthy stuff I can.  Or moderate.  Like last night’s party where there were 4 appetizers and 3 desserts and NOTHING was healthy and the meatballs actually ended up being the best option.  Or Saturday night when bacon fudge made an appearance.  It was AMAZING.  I broke my no sweets/drinking in the same day rule twice this weekend, but it was totally worth it.

So I’ve got my playlists set, my gymbag with me, and I’m ready to rock some sprints tonight.  Hopefully I can stop shoveling carrots into my mouth by that time.

Second Half Marathon Training: Week 3

By

On December 7, 2009

In Half Marathon Training

Again, I loathe to call this week 2.  Why?  Because I got my dumb bunny butt sick last Sunday and have been recovering, so it’s week 2 out of 2 I haven’t done the proper training on the proper schedule.  However, considering the half is 10 weeks away whether I do it or not, here we go.

Last week’s plan went to crap so let’s just examine what I did:

Monday – sick.  Barely made it through work.  Was in no condition to do anything but lay on the couch and go to sleep around 9pm.

Tuesday – still sick, but not quite as much.  I needed to move around so I did about 80% intensity DDR for about 30 mins.

Wednesday- felt better, but was snotty and coughy, so I stayed out of the gym for the sake of other people.  If it wasn’t freezy outside I would have run but I didn’t want to aggravate the cold.  Did 30 mins full intensity DDR instead.

Thursday – felt good enough to gym.  Did 4 miles, allowed myself to go as slow as I wanted even though it was supposed to be my tempo.  Got bored going supah slow and ended up around 10:20 pace.  Could have gone faster too, but I didn’t have a rest day between runs so I took it as easy as I would let myself without going insane.

Friday- felt good and did my 6 mile long run for the week.  Came in at a 10 min/mile pace.  I’m supposed to be long running at around 9:40 so considering I still had the phlegm going on, I won’t complain.

Weekend – fail.  Was supposed to do a 4×800 sprint session, or at least put in the miles, but I just rested.

So, considering I came down with the funk and sounded mostly like a dying narwhal all week, I feel like I did ok.  I still have some congestion going on, but feel 100% healthy, so it’s time to pick up the pace.  So, I present to you, Week 3!

Monday: warmup, 3×1600 @ 8:25 pace, cooldown.

Tuesday: DDR circuits (weights, I has missed you!)

Wednesday:  5 mile tempo @ 8:55 per mile (eeep – I didn’t even race this fast)

Thursday: DDR circuits (or equivalent gym type activities)

Friday: 7 mile run @ 9:40 per mile (yipes.  Just…yipes)

Weekend: rest

Yoga shall be done twice this week.  Whenever I can fit it in.

To be quite honest, the paces scare the crap out of me.  But I figure the next few weeks I’m going to slog through them and see how close I can get (since I have a day of not-running after each), and then later, if my body still doesn’t wanna move so fast, adjust my expectations for my half time.  This is the first week that *should* go as planned so cross your fingers for me!  The weather is not cooperating well with my happy fun outside time, but considering I continually feel BETTER and FASTER when I get to run outside than when I get on a treaddy, I think it’s less key this time around than when I had barely ever run outside.

Other Things of Thingeeness:

-After my diatribe on smoking, I went 7 full days without one, and didn’t feel so crave-y until the alcohol came out Saturday.  I think I was fairly responsible and didn’t have too many, and haven’t had one since.  The cold weather helps.  I think the goal will continue to be no smokes during non party times unless I’m crazy for one, and if I am, I should examine why (is it habit, stress, trying to suppress appetite, etc).  During party time, keep it to one smoke per drink, max (and not use that as an excuse to start chugging drinks).

-I haven’t touched my book.  I’m feeling burnt out in general, but definitely in terms of writing.  I’m giving myself a little leeway here this month but it’s definitely one of my resolutions.

-We hung our Christmas lights on Saturday!  Along with our tree, and old timey holiday music going all day, my little bah humbug heart grew at least 2 sizes.

-It really hit me Friday how gosh darn broke we are this month. Two weeks forced unpaid leave for Zliten at the end of the month, 6 months of car insurance coming due the 22nd (high time we get a better deal on car insurance), other bills, some dental work, gifts, etc etc. Considering we DO have 2 weeks off together for the first time in forever, we don’t want to just sit at home.  So for the next 2 weeks, it’s cook/hang out at home palooza (a positive spin on something otherwise known as eating out/drinking out = banned)!  We really sat down and looked for yummy recipes we’re excited about.  Some are a little heartier and higher calorie, but these are the sacrifices I make so Zliten doesn’t pout too badly.  Luckily, we’ve got a work party and 2 friend parties so we’re not going to feel *too* antisocial.  We have some really cool plans for our time off and don’t want to have to cancel them!

-Also in that vein, I have given up clothes shopping for the month of December.  I originally said that I would give up clothes for the month (which got a “woohoo” from Zliten), but that would be cold.  So unless my only pair of nude nylons gets a run or somehow I am in need of something for running I cannot live without, no fashion related purchases until 2010.  I know, I’m crying a little on the inside too.

-Oh, if anyone’s curious about my weight (yeah, didn’t think so), I’m still hanging out right around that 154 range.  As always, I’m making the effort to eat healthily the majority of the time, and y’all know my workouts are hardcore, but my body just doesn’t want to budge.  I counted my calories last week just as practice, but it’s reinforcing what I knew I would be at – about 1400 during the week, about 1800-2000 weekends.   Which I think is reasonable and think that it seems like cruel and unusual torture to drop below.  I’ve been doing some thought on that but I’ll save it for another navel gazing day.

I think that just about wraps it up.  Everyone have a good weekend?  What’s your #1 on your holiday wishlist from Santa?

Quix’s Guide to Surviving The Holidays

By

On October 20, 2009

In Uncategorized

So, I always hear that the holidays are the hardest part of the year to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  And by holidays, I mean the last quarter of the year being Hallo-anksgiv-mas.  Which might as well just be Christmas, since ALL THE FREAKING STORES have their Christmas decorations up already.  Some were up in August.  Does that just piss anyone else right the fuck off?  Christmas is a holiday on December 25th.  Christmas season is from black Friday to Jan 1.  I DO NOT WANT TO SEE CHRISTMAS SHIT IN OCTOBER!

Ok, grinchy rant over.  Anyhoo, I so don’t agree – I think summer is the hardest for me and I regularly LOSE weight during the holidays.  The first year, I took off 15 lbs between Thanksgiving and NYE.  Last year I took off 7.  I’m hoping to continue the trend although my track record hasn’t been that great this year.  Honestly, the holidays are only as big of a deal as you make it.  Here are how I’ve gotten through them.  As always, your mileage may vary.

Healthy Lifestyle Problem #1: There will be candy, cookies, and other random non-healthy eatings around in abundance.  Yes, it would be nice if we gave out protein bars for Halloween and made Christmas Salad for santa, but sadly, it’s not the case.  There will be food all around that is not necessarily good and healthy for you.  It might even infiltrate your house via significant others picking up some sale Halloween candy or neighbors bringing over Christmas cookies (yes, people in our neighborhood still do that, isn’t it cute?).  How do you deal with sweets being shoved in your face 24/7 for the greater part of 3 whole months?

Tips:

  • Allow yourself an occasional treat.  Sure, Snickers aren’t the epitome of good healthy eating, but if see it and want it, you’ll go nuts about it if you’re like me.  If I see something like that, I’ll grab it and stick it in my desk drawer at work until I can work it in my calorie count for the day.  I still have a reese’s peanut butter egg from easter in there somewhere.
  • For baked goods others are offering, I have a guideline – if it’s from a store, skip it.  If it’s homemade, at least have a taste.  If someone took the time to make homemade cookies from scratch and is offering them directly to me, I’ll find the smallest one and eat half.
  • If something gets in your house, really think long and hard if you can be trusted around it.  If not, take it to work for others to enjoy, ask your significant other to keep it somewhere besides the house, or failing everything, just throw it away.  It is not the end of the world to put something you don’t want to eat in the garbage.  It is not doing the starving kids in China ANY GOOD to pad your own hips more.  This is probably the most freeing thing I learned during deporkifying.
  • If you find you can’t escape a situation, lie.  If your coworker Jeannie McPushypants is INSISTING you eat one of her storebought cookies because they are JUST SO CUTE, tell her you have a mild allergy to flour so you don’t indulge very often because it makes you feel ill (which is not TOO far from the truth, if you ate every cookie offered, you’d indeed feel ill).  For some reason, people seem to respect allergies where they don’t respect trying to be healthy.  Go figure.

Healthy Lifestyle Problem #2: Parties, parties, parties.  First there is the “let’s all get together and hit the haunted house and go out” this weekend and then the halloween party proper next weekend, and then the actual halloween weekend will have more parties.  Candy and sweets and witches brew in various forms (adult or not).  Let’s not even mention the multiple thanksgivings that most people have (work, friends, family, other family) as well as Christmas parties (again – work, friends, family, etc).  How do you cope with the “awww, we’re all celebrating – loosen up a little” being thrust in your face every freaking week?

  • Don’t participate.  It’s not an option I invoke very often (I like parties!) but if the party isn’t meaningful to you and is just going to set you off, find something else fun to do (so you don’t feel deprived).  Or if it’s a work potluck, just have some last minute lunch plans during that time you can’t cancel.
  • Some people say to eat a healthy meal before, but if you’re like me, I eat a healthy meal before, then munch and drink at the party too.  I compromise and make sure I eat a super healthy filling lo cal snack, but leave some room to taste the best of the best yummies.
  • My plan already allows for 1 or 2 higher calorie days on the weekend with lower calorie days during the week – I just make those the party days.  In that vein, if you make sure and be pretty much saintly the day before and after said party, you shouldn’t have problems.
  • Get an extra workout in or go extra hard to burn some extra calories.  Gonna have a few glasses of wine tonight?  Run a few miles.  Too much turkey?  Say hi to the elliptical.  Just make sure you’re not overtraining if you’re already on a pretty rigorous workout schedule.  I’m signing up for a race on Thanksgiving morning and already have half marathon training runs scheduled Christmas Eve Morning and the 26th.
  • If it’s the holiday proper, enjoy yourself and don’t think too hard.  Eat a nice, filling, healthy breakfast and then sit at the table enjoying the company instead of obsessing over how many calories each slice of turkey has, please.  Thanksgiving and Christmas are generally days where a lot of love and tradition goes into the preparation of a big meal – one day is not going to kill you.  Just make sure it’s that ONE day.  Again, if you’re saintly the day before and after, it’s not going to kill you.

Above all, my biggest tip would be…

YOU ARE GOING TO SCREW UP.  Yes, even you Ms. Perfect over there who is convinced your willpower will keep you on celery and hummus through the WHOLE holiday season.  Ok, maybe not this guy, but still.  Most of us mere mortals will have a day or two where we eat and drink more than we should.  Know this…

IT IS OK.  I promise.  You are not kicked out of the healthy lifestyle club for falling facefirst onto a stack of cupcakes or having a big two three helpings of mom’s famous mashed potatoes rife with butter and gravy at Thanksgiving, or having 6 glasses of wine at the company Christmas party instead of the 2 you had planned on.  Just don’t blame me if you get fired, tee hee.  You enjoy your moment of indulgence, wake up the next morning (or next meal or next moment or whatnot), and go back to the healthy living you know and love.  This means…

NO GUILT.  NONE.  No feeling bad because you screwed up so you’re going to mope around and you feel worthless so you might as well just eat a cookie because you’re never going to lose any weight with your lack of self control anyway.  Well, since they’re there, you might as well finish the bag so you can start again tomorrow… sound familiar?

The best aha moment I ever had was recognizing this (I still succumb to it but not nearly as often) and telling myself, “Self, we had a good time last night!  Those sweets sure were divine and it was certainly fun to get a little tipsy, huh?  Let’s make sure to be extra good today so it doesn’t put a damper in our week, right? Right.”  And be done with it. And dear fluffy lord – if you’re NOT enjoying the cookie or the wine SPIT IT OUT (preferably not on anyone nearby) and throw it away.

What are your tips for surviving the holidays?  Does anyone else think I’m crazy for thinking the holidays are easier than the summer?

Happy Labor Day!

By

On September 7, 2009

In Uncategorized

ROFLMAO!!!

ROFLMAO!!!

Since it’s a day off work, I will make this quick.  Have to fit a lot of workouting/errands in before a bbq later today.  This week was a 4 day workout  week, and I did the workouts as planned EXCEPT I ditched out on the yoga both days in  favor of stretching in front of the TV.  Not great for me to do, but I guess when the workouts can last up to 2 hours, it makes sense that I want to BE DONE ALREADY.  The actual workouts themselves have been awesome, but I forgot about this part of long workouts – I dread them.  It’s much easier to get myself up off the couch to do 30 mins of *something* and I usually end up doing more.  Right now, I’m sitting here trying to talk myself into the whole “it’s a holiday, so give yourself a break” mentality because a 5k, 15 mins on the arc trainer, and a full set of weights sounds like a hell of a lot of LABOR.

The great part is the 3 days off per week.  I felt stronger in the gym when I was lifting on Thursday because Wednesday I did nothing.  I had actually gone over 2 weeks without a full day off and my body was getting tired.  I relished the ability to take Friday and Sunday off guilt free!  So, it’s a tradeoff.  I think it’s one I like, so I am going to stick with it again this week.  But first, last week’s numbers:

Calories in: 1842 per day average (1742+100 for error)

Calories out: 535 per day average

Calories total:  1307

Total average deficit per day: 717

Heighest weight last week: 155.6

Lowest weight last week: 154.2

So yet another week where it appears that I’m at a huge (but still sane) deficit and have lost no weight.  Boo.  However, I think I’ve made peace that I’m at the size I’m going to be for my wedding.  I’m not all of a sudden going to start losing weight.  There is something my body needs to work through and we will figure it out in due time.  The only arbitrary date I had that I wanted to skinnify for was the big day.  That was actually a huge factor in my weight loss starting – I didn’t want to be a fat bride and wasn’t going to get married until I took care of the problem.  I think getting about 90% of the way there is good enough for me to be happy about and will still shock the hell out of my extended family when they see me.

This week’s plan for workouts is (essentially) the same as last week’s:

Today: 5k run, 15 mins arc trainer, full weights

Tomorrow: 6 mile run, yoga

Thursday: 5k run, 15 mins arc trainer, full weights

Saturday: 60 mins DDR, full weights, yoga

Now, off to start today’s workout!  I may be dreading it, but that’s no excuse to skip it…

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About Me

I'm a video game producer and a lover of anything game related by trade.  I'm a triathlete by hobby.  I live for being on or in the water as much as I can - scuba diving, snorkeling, paddleboarding, water slides... you name it.  The dichotomy between my outdoor and indoor realities are interesting, but they're all mine!  Longer version here...

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