RnR Washington DC Half: Training Wk 8

Preface

Ok! Enough of this pity party with these “road to recovery” posts. 😉 The die has been cast, and I have officially registered for Run Rock n Roll Washington D.C. Half Marathon (RnR D.C. Half).

General Updates:

This week has been a little bit of a struggle because I kinda neglected my training runs, but i have been doing other forms of cardio (e.g., stationary bike), strength training, and a couple of HIIT workouts. That said, at least I managed to squeeze in my long run (8.5mi).

Unfortunately, it was a bit colder than I anticipated on Sunday, but that feeling passed once I hit Mile 4. ;)

Random thought: This area is so beautiful when it snows.

A WTF moment. Since my RnR half marathon is coming up in a few weeks, I wanted to check out the elevation profile of the course. Normally, I'll take a peek at a course's elevation profile before registering for a race, but for some reason, I didn't do it with this half. I went to RnR's website, but I could not find the elevation profile for the half marathon. Of course with RnR's "wonderful" customer service, no one responded to my request for the elevation profile of their race. Fortunately, someone in one of my Facebook running groups sent over their Strava info regarding the course.

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Holy crap, I did not realize that there was a huge hill in this race. I've always assumed that DC, which was formerly a swamp, was pretty flat. I guess that I thought wrong. Yikes! Looks like I probably should add couple of hill workouts to my upcoming training runs. Fortunately, I already started with this week's long run.

As well as last week's Kemp Mill (C)hills 10K race.

Strength Training:

Eh, nothing worth writing about.

LOL. This reel about Planet Fitness hit so close to home.

I'll also add that hitting the gym at 4/5am also helps me avoid dealing with the protein powder bro and the general riff raff.

Dieting/Proper Eating:

Eh, nothing worth writing about except that I need to really start focusing on better eating habits.

Goals for the week:

-Actually complete my training runs and incorporate some more hill work.

Long run playlist:

I've been enjoying listening to musicals as part of my long runs because I don't have to worry about putting a playlist together. Also, I don't spend a lot of time fast-forwarding songs that I am not feeling at that particular moment. Prior to listening to this musical, I have seen The Temptations TV movie (I think it was from the 90s) a few times. While I've always enjoyed The Temptations' music, I was not a huge fan of most of the movie . . . and (now) the musical. While I get that the TV movie and musical were based on Otis Williams' POV, I wish both could have had aspects from the other members (or I guess from the other members' friends and family). I've always thought that the TV movie (and now the musical) portrayed Otis as an infallible saint with the exception of him cheating his wife. LOL! During portions of my long run, I remember screaming out "Shut the fuck up, Otis!" while listening to this musical. ;)

RnR Washington DC Half: Training Wk 7

Preface

Ok! Enough of this pity party with these “road to recovery” posts. 😉 The die has been cast, and I have officially registered for Run Rock n Roll Washington D.C. Half Marathon (RnR D.C. Half).

General Updates:

I have to admit that my motivation has been waning over the last week; however, I do not think it's running-related. I'm not sure if it's weather- or social-related. God, I cannot wait until Spring arrives. Then again, folks tend to have good and bad weeks when training for an upcoming event. Yike, my Rock n Roll DC half marathon is about 30 days away.

I have to say that I regained some of my running motivation during this weekend's Kemp Mill (C)hills 10K. Although I did not perform as well as I would have liked, this race lit a fire in my ever growing a** to get back on track (pun intended). While the race was this past Sunday, my legs quads and calves are still sore three days later from all of those hills.

Oh, I bit the bullet and joined the Montgomery County Road Runners Club (MCRRC). Since I hate wasting money, I hope this 'investment' will force me to run some of their upcoming low-key races and participate in some of their training runs.

Strength Training:

Bah, humbug. Last week, I hit the gym only once, but technically, I went twice. Lord, I'm such a mess. So what happened on the other day? I decided to walk ~3 miles to the gym as a way to warm up and get some fresh air. I arrived, changed into my workout clothes, and did three sets of bench presses. Hey! Something is better than nothing. Since I wasn't feeling it, I decided to hit up a local sushi spot. Well, lifting raw fish with two stick counts as a workout, right?

Dieting/Proper Eating:

Healthy eating was a bit of a bust this week, and I'm going to blame the Super Bowl AND the Puppy Bowl. I'll get back to eating decently next week because this week has been a little intense (holiday wise) with the Super Bowl, the Puppy Bowl (lol), Mardi Gras, and Valentine's Day all within days of each other.

Randomness:

So, I finally got my life together and made some health appointments to see a podiatrist and an internist. Why is it whenever I go to a podiatrist, I always receive different (and sometimes conflicting) information. As some may know, I have a heloma molle (aka a kissing corn) in between my 4th and 5th toes on my right foot.

Some information about these bad boys:

“Kissing corns are calluses or corns that develop between the toes, usually between the fourth and fifth (pinky) digits. The pain happens because the toe bones rub against each other creating little corns that “kiss.” They are also called soft corns or calluses....Because kissing corns are located between the toes, they are generally not as hard as other corns and calluses on the bottom or side of the foot due to the natural humidity in the area. These soft calluses can be whitish or yellowish and tend to look spongy....When the kissing corns are recurrent, there’s a small procedure that can be done in our offices in which we make a half-inch incision and shave down the bone slightly, so they stop their love affair' of rubbing against each other."

Central Massachusetts Podiatry

First podiatrist: He basically made it seem like I needed to get surgery ASAP to shave portions of bones in my 4th and 5th toes. Looking back, had I received this information during the pandemic, I probably would have done it. Recovery involves staying off of your foot for about a month, and most of the world (including myself) really wasn't doing anything during the pandemic.

Second podiatrist: Confirmed that it was a heloma molle, but he said that I really didn't need surgery unless the kissing corn prevented me from doing day-to-day activities. Considering that I've run 4-5 marathons and countless half marathons with these corns, he pretty much said that I didn't need surgery. Instead, he recommended wearing foot spacers and visiting him every 3-6 months to have the dead skin removed.

Third podiatrist (most recent): Didn't mention anything about the heloma molle, the misshapen bones in my foot, or surgery. She did indicate that there was a slight fungal infection deep in the corn. While she prescribed a topical antifungal cream, she said that it probably wouldn't work. Um, then why the hell are you prescribing it? She did recommend a few things:

• Investing Therlo shocks or another brand of non-cotton socks. Damn, she was right because these Therlo socks are kind of expensive at $50 for three pairs.

• Not wearing socks during my work from home days to reduce excess moisture accumulation in between my toes.

• Purchasing an anti-fungal spray for my shoes to kill off the spores from the fungal infection and reduce the chances for reinfection. Actually, this is a great tip.

Goals for the week:

-Although I'm not super religious these days, I like to give up something during the season of Lent. For the next 40 days & nights, I'm going to lay off of the Devil's lettuce and reduce my idleness by doing something productive (non-work related) for at least 1.5 hrs a day. There a few things that I really need to start doing that include: figuring out my professional life in medical communications (e.g., making an individual development plan, connecting with other folks in the industry, figuring out my next career move); updating my social media accounts (e.g., primarily my professional website and LinkedIn); look into getting my project management professional certification; learn a new non work -related skill (e.g., relearn programming with Python and R).

RnR Washington DC Half: Training Wk 6

Preface

Ok! Enough of this pity party with these “road to recovery” posts. 😉 The die has been cast, and I have officially registered for Run Rock n Roll Washington D.C. Half Marathon (RnR D.C. Half).

General Updates:

This week has been pretty ho hum in my running world. I'll admit that I skipped my long run this weekend. Fortunately for me, my long run was supposed to be a 5K race. ;) Instead of running a 5K race or doing a long run, I decided to hit the stationary bike for about 60 minutes while singing along to the original Hairspray.

Strength Training:

Strength training (supplemented with HIIT and yoga) has been going ok. Now, I've started supplementing my supplemental training with some exercises from Quick Strength for Running.

While the first week of exercises from the book look pretty easy, boy some of my smaller muscles definitely need work. The few exercises that gave me a run for my money were the adductor leg raises, side leg raises, and windshield wipers.

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Dieting/Proper Eating:

While I have been watching what I eat . . . kinda sorta, I was disappointed by my monthly weigh in. Unfortunately, I did not lose any weight during the month of January. In fact, I gained three pounds, which may or may not be significant. I completely understand that losing weight is 20% exercising and 80% managing your diet (or whatever the real ratio is). Well, I have been drinking these nasty veggie smoothies for lunch. I think the one below was a mixture of an orange, broccoli, spinach, carrots, blueberries, celery, and a scoop of yogurt.

Although I didn't lose any weight, I expected to at leave maintained my current (well, previous) weight since I have been working out. I guess that I need to do a bit more in terms of my diet/eating habits. One thing that I really need to change is my sleep habits. Like my eating, my sleeping is a hot mess for which I blame decades of being a night owl. Most nights (well mornings), I do not get to sleep until 1-3 am and will wake up around 6 am. I'm sure that my ghrelin/leptin hormones are out of whack. In case you are unfamiliar with these hormones:

• Ghrelin tells your brain that you are "hungry"and typically increases during sleep deprivation.

• Leptin tells your brain that you are full.

Goals for the week:

-Try to get to bed by 11 pm at least 3 nights this week.

-Begin meal prepping and planning my menu for the week. I think if I actually have a menu for the week, I'll be less likely to eat random crap.

RnR Washington DC Half: Training Wk 5

Preface

Ok! Enough of this pity party with these “road to recovery” posts. 😉 The die has been cast, and I have officially registered for Run Rock n Roll Washington D.C. Half Marathon (RnR D.C. Half).

General Updates:

Overall, this week was so-so because I did not do many of my runs; however, I managed to do my long run . . . so that's something. Over the weekend, well only on Saturday, we had a touch of "spring in winter" with temps in the upper 50s F. It was great because it gave me the opportunity to do my long run (8 mi) outdoors. Actually, it was so warm out that I had to take off my long-sleeved shirt around mile 6.

I kept this long run simple by running 4 miles along Sligo Creek Trail and running back.

The run was pretty nice, and it was great to smell some fresh air (instead of gym air) while running. I'm still doing the walk (0.1-0.25 mi) run (0.75-0.90 mi) method for each mile. Overall, I'm still falling in the long-run range (11:46-13:12 min/mi) for my training plan.

In fact, I ran the first half at a 12:44 min/mi pace and the second half at 12:37 min/mi. I know this pace is nothing to write home about, but it still counts as a negative split. ;) Using the walk/run method, I walked 0.25 mi for each mile during the first four miles and 0.1 mi during the second four miles. The weird thing: I'm not walking because I'm tired (for the most part); I'm walking because that's the only way I can stay in the 11:46-13:12 min/mi range. Also, it's kind of weird that I had a negative (albeit by a few seconds) for the second half because I walked for about 1/2 of mile while eating my Cliff bar during mile five.

Strength Training:

not do as many strength training workout as I would have liked. However, I managed to squeeze in a few Insanity Max: 30 HIIT workouts during the week.

I wonder if I'll actually finish the 60-day workout program. ;) Well, I know that I will not finish the program in 60 days because I'm doing this program to supplement my other fitness crap. However, it would be nice to finish this program. Normally, I get about 20 -30 days into the program and move on to another program or to another injury. ;) I think this happens because some of the 30+ day BODi programs becomes a bit repetitive.

Dieting/Proper Eating:

Ugh, I kind of had a setback. Because of my erratic sleeping scheduled (mostly caused by me), I haven't really been doing my 16-hr fasts or portion control. :( Actually, I find it's easier to fast when I work onsite (Tuesdays/Thursdays) because I do not chow down as much when I'm in the office, compared to when I'm home. Also, I'm a bit better with portion control during my office days since I do not have a pantry of food at my disposal - only a variety of teas and coffee. Dropping the ball with my eating this week reminded me of this meme from I Love Being Black’s IG.

So yeah, January will be my trial month for dieting/proper eating. Actually, I am proud of upping my daily intake of fruits and veggies by drinking homemade smoothies that typically consist of spinach, carrots, celery, apples, blueberries, broccoli, tomatoes, and a scoop of yogurt. At the beginning of the week, I shread a brunch of fruits and veggies so I'll save time not having to chop crap everyday.

Goals for the week:

Same goals as last week.

-Make health appointments. I need to find an internist because I have not had a physical with full blood work in two years. Also, I need to find an optometrist and a podiatrist. One of the crappy things about moving to a new city is having to find new medical specialists.

-Update my running playlist. It seems as if Eurovision has taken over a lot of my running (and general) playlists.

-Start meal prepping.