PLANNED MILES: 18
COMPLETED MILES: 19
Since I switched my full marathon registration to a half marathon, things have been going pretty nicely. Running has been great this week, and with every workout (including other non-running workouts), I feel my mojo returning. FINALLY. Yup, having other interests is a great way (for me, at least) to have more focus on my running. The only problem (at least for me): sometimes I feel like I spread myself too thin, which may lead to burnout.
RUNNING
Ok, so Hell has frozen over. As some might know, I typically do weekly HIIT workouts with the November Project VB. By typically, I mean from time to time. The group meets on Wednesdays at 6:15 am for HIIT and on Fridays at 5:30 am for training runs. Hell froze over, (makes sense - we had some really low temps last week) because I made it to the Friday workout. Put it like this: it's hard for me to make the Wednesday 6:15 am workouts at Mt. Trashmore, AND I live only 15 minutes away from our workout spot.
The workout was pretty simple: run back and forth across a bridge overlooking the Va Beach Expressway – pretty much 0.5-mile repeats for a good 30 minutes.
Although I have mentioned that it was been tough for me consistently attend running clubs for multiple reasons. I will say that I enjoyed the workout because I noticed that I pushed myself to catch up to (and in some cases pass) other folks. I started at the back of the pack (on purpose) and wanted to see how many runners I could catch. Also, I wanted to make sure the terrain was fine because it was still dark at 5:30 am and I left my headlamp at home.
I really hope that I can make future Friday workouts for a few reasons:
The training is geared toward preparing for the Shamrock Half/Full Marathon in mid-March.
It was great to finish my workout by 7 am.
It was nice to hang out after the workout. Unlike the Wednesday workouts, some of the November Project folks grab breakfast after the Friday workout. Although I am doing weekday 16:8 fasts, I did hang out but just had a black coffee.
ZUMBA TIME:
I had a very interesting Zumba experience last week. Since Friday’s Zumba class left me a bit sore for my long run a couple of weeks ago, I decided to attend Wednesday’s class. Also, I made sure to get there very early so I could secure a spot closer to the front of the class. Right before Wednesday’s class a woman jokingly said that I took her spot. Then we had a brief conversation that went something like this:
Lady: I was joking about you taking my spot. It is really nice to see men in the class, and I wish more men would attend.
Me: It’s a great workout. I like it because I tend to burn more calories than a regular 45-minute workout.
Lady: That’s the reason I like Zumba. . . Oh, I see that you are married. I hope your wife does not mind you attending a class with a bunch of sexy women.
Me: Eh, my husband is cool with it.
Lady {probably trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t offend me}.
Lady: Oh, Oh, OH! THAT’S GREAT
LONG RUN CHRONICLES:
So I kinda skipped this weekend’s long run. No, I’m not in another funk. Like most on the east coast, we had VERY cold weather over the weekend – more so on Saturday than Sunday. Instead of running on Saturday, I decided to do Shaun T’s Insanity Max and a 2.5ish mile walk indoors. When I woke up on Sunday to run, I noticed that my legs were a bit sore from the previous day’s Insanity Max (ie HIIT) workout. Rather than pushing through the pain, I decided to take a day off from running and streamed a yoga workout on Beachbody on Demand.
INTERMITTENT FASTING:
I think this is going well because I am at the point where I don’t need to eat as much to become full. Also, I’ve noticed that I’m not in starvation by the end of the 16hr fast even after completing a morning workout in the fasted state. In March, I think I’m going to try to do 1-2 18-hr fasts during the week.
TRAINING PLAN:
Goals for the week:
-Keep on keeping on.
-Nightly stretching and foam rolling.
-Update my Spotify running playlists.
Long Run Playlist:
This isn’t a playlist per se, but this song has been on a constant repeat for most of the week. There’s just something about the way Karmento sings this song, Quiero y Duelo (Longing and Pain/Grief), that makes you really feel the song. From my understanding, the song is about a young girl who wants to set out and explore the world. While her parents are fearful, they let her go out but tell her that she always can return home. Where I am in life (even my running life) this line really has significant meaning for me. Y distinguir, en mitad del quiero y duelo si se ha parado el velero o navega en calma. (To distinguish, in the middle of/between longing and pain/grief) if the boat has stopped or is calmly sailing