Moving, Allergies and the Chaos it Causes

So, my running kind of took a bit of a hiatus.

Between moving to a new house, and starting allergy injections to get immune to that which makes me sneezy, wheezy and itchy eyes, my running has definitely suffered.  The last two-three weeks there's been very little running.  This past weekend I was suppose to run 12 miles, but thanks to a hit on the head that caused me to black out, I wasn't in much shape for anything let alone running.

Today, I went out for an easy six mile run and it turned into three because of the allergies that are causing me problems.  Legs felt fine, but my lungs were not happy at all with it.  Saturday is my 25k. My goal distance for 2011.  I've decided in order to make this happen, I will skip a dosage of the allergy injection so that I'm clear of body and mind when it's time for that to happen.

I know for a fact I WILL complete the 15.5 miles.  It won't be a spectacular time, because of my set backs, but it will happen.  I just need to focus on the fact that I've killed 10 miles three times before not too long ago, and another 5 miles is nothing!  Especially since I will be doing 5/1s to get it done.

I do need to come up with a game plan for tomorrow, Friday and Saturday for nutrition so that I don't end up having problems because of that.  Shouldn't be too hard,  I know how my body reacts to foods and what I need to make it work well.  Then I just need to get my feet moving one in front of the other and I will be flying to my goal.

I just need to remember:

1. Limits are a fabrication of the mind.
2. Goals are dreams with a plan.

Making Ten Miles My Bitch

This morning I once again broke through that ten mile barrier.

Today, I knew I could get past it, but I still had the little doubts in my head. "Ten miles is a long way, you sure you want to?"  Well, the 11.35 miles I did today, says "YES!"  I still worry about running ten miles, just not as much any more.  I ran it doing 5/1s, but does that mean I ran at leaset 10 miles today or did I walk some of it?  Well, turns out, I actually ran 10.09 miles today.  While the rest of it was walking.

The entire run took me 1:48:56, which happens to be 3 miles slower than I ran the 10.35 miles last week. Right off the bat, I not only ran further today, but ran quite a bit faster.  Average pace overall was 9:36.  My average pace during just my 5 minutes of runs, 9:03.  There was one 5 minute interval where my pace was 11::34 but that was because I stopped off at my truck and swapped out water bottles.  If I did not need to do that, then I would have had a sub 9 min average for the runs.  It is all about fast transition times!

I did try to push myself a bit today, to see how it would work out.  I wanted better time than I did last week, and I achieved that.  Also, with this week, my legs didn't start to feel much until mile 9.25.  So that's also a 1.5 mile improvement over last week.  I would say that my training is going well for me.  Just need to keep with it.   Next week is 12 miles.  I'm quite comfortable, sitting here with tired and achy legs, in saying that, 12 miles should not be an issue on Saturday at all.  I probably could have pushed that out today if I really wanted to, but no need in going beyond what is prescribed and possibly doing some damage that could harm the goal.

My legs now know what 10 miles of actual running is again.  They aren't hating me.  My head is in a good place right now. Over all, today was a good day for breaking mental barriers and pushing physical limits.  Reminds me of a quote I came up with many years ago when I first started getting into shape...

"Limitations are a fabrication of the mind"

Easy 6 Miles... Wait. What?!

Yup.  Title says it all.  I went out and ran with a friend and we did an easy 6 mile run today.  Not doing 5/1s or anything... A couple of breaks so we could water up.  But nice and easy and completed it feeling great.

I remember towards the beginning of the year I was having problems running.  I was able to do 3 miles for a while, and my goal was at least 3 miles 5 times a week.  Yeah, that fell through, I'm still not running 5 times a week, that is way too agressive with all the other stuff I'm doing lately.  But, it was so bad I just stopped running for several months and would go do it, and then flake, and run and flake.  No real motivation to run since it was starting over, and that's always hard.

Now I'm being consistant, getting out there 3-4 times a week following my plan to get my 25k done this year on Dec 31st.  And I am now at a point where I can say I went out and ran an easy 6 miles and it is!  It's amazing to be able to say something like that after so many struggles through out the year that kept me out of it.   But, I'm not going to let it get fully to my head.  I know something can come along and derail my path here and I will have to start over, but knowing I can, and doing it so successfully now makes me think if I had to, I could.

And I'm still off the sugars since Oct 31st as well as caffeine, which was totally accidental.  But, when I cut out the energy drinks, I just never replaced it with tea like I was planning on.  I got too lazy to make a cup.  Not sure why it was so easy this time around, no real withdrawal issues or anything, just cold turkey and it worked... So far...

Always a struggle and always staying vigilant!

Rough Week

I had a bunch of goals set for November, after a successful October, but this was cut short because of several things going on.  First, was my fridge flaking out on me.  This meant I had no means of keeping foods after cooking and had to toss a bunch out.  This makes it hard to cook ahead and stay healthy.  Second was/is work.  I don't normally let work get too involved in my non-work time, but the last several weeks it's been hard with two weeks of training and then a major planned power outage at work today.  That meant I couldn't plan on anything this weekend for getting out and doing stuff as I don't know when I go in or for how long.  Yesterday I got there at 6:45am and left at 11:15pm, then didn't know if I was coming in today in the morning or evening when the power comes back.  As it turns out, it will be this evening.

Because of that it's been hard to keep up with my work outs and eating.  But, I have been not too bad with eating and making good choices by going to the grocery stores and getting chicken and salads and veggies for lunches while at work.  I did have pizza last night, but it was ordered in for the group of us working and I didn't gorge too badly on it.  And I had some gnocchi for breakfast today, as it was thawed out from the fridge and needed eating.  And some mexican food as well today, grilled chicken with onions, mushrooms and cheese, with rice and beans.  So not great, but I never over ate and don't feel bad about doing it.  I know the coming week will also be a challenge as I need to get back to working out and eating healthy and restocking my fridge.

All in all, it wasn't a bad first week of November for my goals, not meeting them all, but still meeting some of them.  Again, this goes back to my thinking that goals need to be flexible since you never know what life is going to throw your way and you just have to go with the flow and do your best.

Goals: Flexible or Not?

Today I had a goal to run 8 miles.  I woke up this morning feeling a bit cruddy, so I adjusted my goal to run 5 miles and see how I feel.  The weather here in Houston is awesome currently.  As I headed out, the temps were in the low 50s.  After a summer of record weather: most days in the 100s, highest temperatures, no rain, to name a few; these cooler temps which wouldn't feel that cold in years past but this morning it felt cold to me.  I don't know if it was because I was feeling cruddy, or just not use to the temps for so long but I was feeling the cold this morning, so I waited a bit before going out when I had planned to.  Another goal, running by 8.

So, for those keeping track, that's two goals today alone: 8 miles, and running by 8.  I didn't make either goal, I adjusted them.  I ended up getting to my run around 10:20 and ran around 6.4 miles.  So, I guess I technically made the adjusted goal of run 5 miles and see how I felt.  At mile 5 I was feeling a bit tight in the legs so knew I should push past it too much further, but I also was in the back of the trails when that happened so running back was the only option I had.

As disappointing as not running 8 miles should have been since I didn't make that goal, it was one of the most enjoyable runs I've ever had.  For me, this means more than reaching any goal, original or adjusted.  It's documented quite well how much I'm not a fan of running.  So any time I have an enjoyable run, I think that trumps any goals I have.  And since this was the most enjoyable this counts as a good run.  And I will take it.

This brings up the question.  Should goals be flexible?  I mean, I didn't reach my goals as I wanted, but still feel great about the run.  I didn't make the 8 miles which means I'm behind on the training I am trying to accomplish, but does that much? Will next weeks run goal (10 miles) be achievable because I had a good run this week even though it was 1.6 miles short?  I guess I will find out next week!

Why all this talk about goals now?  I came across a revelation recently.  I set myself a goal for the month of October to not eat out at a restaurant all month.  Now, I didn't reach that goal because I did eat out a couple of times, but much less than I normally do, which had a surprising effect on my bank account.  So, even though I didn't reach the goal, I had positive results.  This has got me to thinking that I really need to start creating myself more proper goals.  I always say "my goal is whatever" and although I say that, I don't actually make it happen.  I once saw a sign that said "Goals are dreams with a plan."  

Time to start planning out my dreams and turning them into goals.

Addictions and Distractions

Yes. I know.  I need to be better at writing up here.  But, I have really bad excuses for not doing it. "Tomorrow" "Nothing good to write." "blah blah blah."

Anyways.

So, the last couple weeks I've been in training for work.  Basically 8 hour days in front of a computer in a hot conference room.  Sitting around eating bad foods and coming out totally unenergized.  So, I have not ridden my bike.  I have not ran since last Wednesday.  I did partake in some Dragon Boat races on Saturday though.  So I have not been a complete slug.  I was suppose to run 4 miles Monday, but did not as I was suppose to head to Clear Lake for a birthday celebration, but did not because traffic was horrible.  So instead, went for a burger and beer.

Yesterday I was suppose to run 4 miles, to make up for the four missed on Monday, but got out of training zombiefied and so, I didn't.

I've been eating like crap because it is free food and well, free food when you are low on money is a good thing!  This week I have been making better choices (no chips, extra fruit cups) but I still find myself buying and eating sugar loaded pies, cakes, what have you with out thinking about it until after the fact.  This is something I continuously fight with.  I keep trying to find that zone that I was in several years ago when I did not have any sugar related items for a couple of years, but it continuously eludes me.

I keep trying to get on the Paleo Diet which I have done before for a couple of months and had great success with it, but then I fell off that fairly hard and just haven't been able to get back on there. Right now, the hard part is because of these distractions at work of free meals.  But luckily for me they end this week and I can get back into a schedule next week that I'm familiar with for work outs and eating.

The title is "Addictions and Distractions"  and I have discovered they go hand in hand.  My addiction to sugar is amplified by distractions to being healthy.  The less active I am and the poorer my food choices are, the more I crave the sugary, chocolaty foods.   Right now my distractions in life are this this training for work.  It will end soon and I can better refocus myself against the addictions again.  I will also attempt to get back on the Paleo wagon again once I have time to start cooking and getting things ready.  I have always been trying to do it cold turkey.  Cutting out the dairy, grains and other processed foods all at once, but this time I am thinking about doing it in sections.  Cut out dairy first, then grains, then processed foods (or some order of the three.)

Right now I have been doing "enough" to maintain my weight, which is not a good thing, as if I cut out the extra calories I mindlessly consume (damn you chocolate fudge pies!) I would probably drop weight very fast, with the running I am doing.

Speaking of running.  That has been going not too bad all things considered.  I have been fairly good at being consistent with it (up until the last two weeks) and so my distances and speeds have improved quite a bit.  I have been happy with it and am looking forward to getting back into it so I can continue to improve.  The running goal right now is to get up to 15 miles for two long runs, then I can ease off and reintroduce resistance training.  I feel this will help me maintain the distance and speed and also rebuild some lost muscle mass, which will in turn help me burn more fat in a healthy manner.  Plus, 15 miles has always been my goal distance to have at a moments notice.  "Want to go run a 25k this weekend?"  Sure! I can do that without thinking!  So, we shall see how that goes over the next month as I'm about that far away from getting there!

Until next time (hopefully much sooner than last time!)

Rough Week - Hard Times to Come

Here it is Friday around noon.  I've not run at all this week.  So the goal for this week is not going to be met.  I'm OK with that.  I've stepped back and noticed some other things that need to be paid attention to right now.

Running isn't one of my favorite things. I need to work to get myself out there.  This week has been rough because of dealing with truck problems, bike problems, and as of last night phone problems. So with all this other stuff going on, I can't get the energy to get myself out to run. 

I'm an emotional eater.  When things start getting bad, I will eat.  I will eat things that don't taste great, and are bad for me.  When things get really rough, I gain weight.  Which, in turn, makes me depressed more, and the cycle becomes a spiral and heads downward quickly.  It then becomes hard to break out of. 

This is where I'm at now.  In the spiral.  I know this. I know what needs to be done to stop all of this from continuing on.  But, it's hard to break that spiral.  Emotions is stronger than logic (try arguing with someone who is very emotionally upset about something, using logic.) 

I don't want to be here, in this spiral.  It makes me tired, lazy, fatter and just all around unhappy.  There is a lot I want to do this year and next, but this spiral is pointed the wrong direction to make this happen...

I am declaring war.  War on my health. Mental. Emotional. Physical.  It's all getting a make over and attitude adjustment.  This weekend the war plan will be formulated and the execution of said plan will commence immediately forth with!

Some people have said my previous posts were kind of rough on myself.  I reread them and didn't think they were rough at all.  And I don't think this one is rough on me either.  It's the simple truth of where I'm at, and what needs to be done to fix things.  I'm not upset at myself, I just know now is the time to make the changes needed to find the happy Steve that dwells inside.

Rough Time Lately

Last week I didn't make my goal exactly.  I missed out on running five days.  But I had five runs in.  I doubled up on Thursday because I knew I wasn't going to get a run in on Saturday because of having to take my truck in for supposedly an oil change.

I got to the dealership to get the 115k service (just basic oil change and some other things) and waited around.  I did tell them that there was some funky squeaking happening as well so they were going to look into that.  After waiting for three hours they came back to me and let me know what was going on.  Needed water pump replaced and some bushings on the tie-rods and struts and stuff (not a car guy so no real clue here.)  This immediately brought me into a bit of a depression.  Broken trucks and bad finances will always do this.   

Sunday, went out biking, and got in 20 miles in about an hour forty.  I was feeling pretty down still and this ride was actually pretty hard.  A 20 mile ride shouldn't be that hard at this point.  So, that contributes to the downward spiral. 

Monday morning, I wake up at the alarm, and hear it raining and decide I didn't really want to go through the hassle of getting dress to run in the rain.  Plus I was really feeling the bike in my legs still.  So I went back to sleep with the plan of going running in the evening.   Everyone talks about getting your work out done in the morning because something may come up later in the day which makes you miss out on it.  And this was definitely true yesterday.  I had a scheduled meeting after work, and because of the weather it got delayed about 30 minutes.  Then it also went on a bit longer than I had anticipated at this time as well.  But that's ok, still plenty of time to go run.  Get into my truck, and the battery is dead.  Crap.  So my mood sinks again, and running is completely out now. 

I call up Triple-A and they come out in about an hour, and I get going.  Running is out, because it's too late, I would be too wired from it to be able to sleep.  Plus I just don't feel like it at all.  I stop at Whataburger for dinner.  It didn't really taste great, but it was comforting.  Yup, I eat crap when I need comforting even when it doesn't taste good. 

I get home, and get everything ready so I can run in the morning.  It will be a new day and things are going to be good tomorrow!

Alarm goes off at 4am, and it awakes me from a dream where some lady crashed into my truck because she was driving down the wrong side of the road.  While waiting for the cops to show, I find out she has no insurance I start going into a bit of a rage fit, but before anything really happens, that's when the alarm went off.  So I wake up pissed off.  And my knee is locked.  I slept funny and it won't move or anything.  And I also have a bunch of blood in my mouth from biting through my tongue again.  Great start to the day. I'm going back to sleep.

My goal for this week is in a flux, I'm not sure I will make it.  But, goals are things to reach for.  And the real goal is 3 miles a day, 5 days a week for 2011.  There will be weeks when I don't make that happen.  There will be weeks when I do make it happen.  And I expect down the road, I will have much more mileage than just 3 miles a day.  So, I will continue to reach for this goal. 

I will also take lessons learned here, to always make sure to get that run in, in the morning, because YES, you don't know what will happen through out the day, which may cause you to miss out on the run or whatever.  

Another lesson is some times you do need to just step back and take a break, breathe a little and don't worry about hitting all your goals bang on.  In the end it doesn't really matter, as long as you can keep yourself happy and continue to be happy doing what you are doing.  Don't beat yourself up because you missed out on a work out, or a financial goal in a certain time or something.  Life happens, and it passes you by while you are berating yourself.  Something happens deal with it, move past it and get on with the good stuff again.

Supposedly I will be going running after work tonight if my knee behaves it self.  If not, then definitely in the morning.  We shall see if it happens or not either way.  It is OK.