Tag Archives: marathon

Commit, then follow through.

Leave a reply

I have my eye on the Loch Ness Marathon; it’s the first weekend of October. I’ve been starting to improve fitness on the treadmill during the icy spells but today was a balmy 3C so I went outside for my 3 miles. Only 15 min/mile which isn’t fast yet but I have 35 weeks to go. I can work on fast over the next few months. It’s the uphill start that is really killing me.

This time I downloaded the Hal Higdon app since I have used his training plans for years but I did it with pen/paper and this time I don’t want to spend the time organising. Also the app gives feedback on your training and recommends workouts that will help with trying to meet intermediate goals. This is a good thing. I am going to work towards actually having a race pace this time: I want 13 minute miles. I am aware that barely qualifies as “running” and I don’t give a shit. I am going for faster than “I barely made it before they closed the finish line” this time.

I like that the app asks me to rate my effort and how tired I feel afterwards. I was really pleased that I wasn’t exhausted at the end today. I have that lovely rush of adrenaline and endorphins. I feel great.

I love my body.

Thursday

1 Reply

Thursday April 19: ran 2.27 miles in 28:34. I did a bunch of stretching this morning and I could feel it in my body during the run. I felt like my thighs were longer and sleeker powerful muscles. This is not a feeling I have had much in my body.

Breakfast: whole wheat bagel with strawberry cream cheese and a bagel.

Snack: half an apple with a big glass of orange juice with a slug of vodka in it. I feel defensive, which is stupid. I’m tracking because I want to know how my body is doing. Alcohol consumption matters. It’s not like I have a slug of vodka every day. I have been working on the same bottle for six years. Anyway.

Lunch: leftover pasta with mounds of meatballs and a little bit of mac'n'cheese. Err, about two cups of food total? Then two big handfuls of grapes.

Dinner: two and a half slices of French toast with macerated strawberries on top.

I apparently like to post about the previous day. Still no icon.

2 Replies

Wednesday, April 18: Ran for three miles. I got interrupted twice for conversations with neighbors, which makes me feel pretty connected and happy. 3.07 miles in 43:03. I was running slow and being social.

Breakfast: two breakfast burritos. No meat today. Bright orange eggs from chickens we met last weekend.

Snack: handful of pretzel chips

Lunch: ramen

Snack: 1.5 bananas (the kids didn’t finish theirs), a cup of strawberries, two tablespoons of peanut butter, and about 6 squares from a Dagoba chocolate bar

Dinner: mac’n’ cheese with corn. About a cup and a half?

Tuesday!

1 Reply

Tuesday April 17: Walked to the park pulling the wagon (about 65 lbs). It's 3.4 miles round trip. At the park I did laps around the soccer field. I went 2.02 miles in 20:04 minutes. According to my phone that means it was 9:55 as my average speed. I hated the Garmin so I will never get precise about this sort of thing. This was the first time I have run two miles without walking at all. I'm fairly proud of that. I would like to be able to run for an hour without walking. I think that would be rather bad ass. It's not a serious goal yet. My next semi-serious goal is to be able to run three miles in 30 minutes without walking. I hope I can do that by June.

I backed way off on miles after the half marathon. I started over from scratch training for the marathon. I don't want to over train. I am not used to serious distance running. I think this is a better idea to prevent getting injured. It's not like I'm pushing myself that hard for speed. Ten minute miles are not that fast. I don't plan to try and get faster. This is a speed I can hopefully learn to carry for long distances. Fast is not the point. Fast wears me out. Fast uses different muscles and different strength. I need distance.

Yesterday was the best feeling running day I have had in a while. I think it is because I am getting closure in some ways that I need mentally. Life just goes on and it's time to let go of some stuff. I can only take care of the people in this house. That's my limit.

Breakfast: two delicious home made scones with devon cream, lemon curd, and strawberry jam. A little bit more than a full chicken and apple sausage. Tea with several tablespoons of sugar. 😛 and moo

Snack: a couple handfulls of trail mix (Shanna stole all the chocolate)

Lunch: about 1/2 a cup of pasta with two meatballs. I had just finished running and my body didn't want food.

Snack: five scones plain. See how this catches up with me?

Dinner: brown rice (about 3/4 of a cup), orange chicken (huge mound, like three servings), bok choy and carrots (about a cup), and pot stickers (8). I was hungry.

No dessert. Went to bed early. Exhausted.

I haven’t been tracking.

5 Replies

I realized today that I want to track. I'm feeling weird about doing it. I keep forgetting that I am supposed to be doing this for me instead of anyone else.

I need a running icon. And a picture of me with short hair.

Monday, April 16: rest day

Breakfast: French toast, three slices of processed potato bread. Mmmmmm. Syrup, not a lot—maybe a tablespoon or two? Glass of milk, I think only 6 oz. Gummy vitamins.

Snack: oranges I only had a couple of slices.

Lunch: ramen

Skipped snack

Dinner: pasta (this really extra thick ridiculously long stuff I found at Cost Plus—it’s neat; whole wheat) about a cup? Partially home made partially jarred tomato sauce with about 1.5 lbs of grass fed beef (meatballs and some just loose in the sauce) I ate ~cup of vegetable matter and 3 meatballs. There were 15 meatballs from a pound of meat. A large green salad, around 2 cups. Maybe two tablespoons of Caesar dressing on the greens.

Second dinner: two soft chicken tacos on corn tortillas. They were fairly small. A handful of sweet potato fries with sauce. Two glasses of wine.

Dessert: half a cup of Americone dream

I'm trying to get to a place where I have a better understanding of how the food I eat affects my body. Stands to reason that I should keep track of what I'm eating for a while. I'm not "calorie counting" in the sense that I want to lose weight. From where I am this morning I could be ten pounds lighter (Easter candy happened right after I all but stopped running. Excellent.) just so my pants are more comfortable. I have recently gotten a lot smaller in the legs and bigger in the waist. It's interesting. My thighs generally rub a lot but they don't seem to any more. I've been wearing these same jeans for a while. They used to be tight in the thighs and loose in the waist. Now I have muffin top and the thighs are baggy. Bodies are weird.