Planned Miles: 18
Completed Miles: 15
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 5:30am 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 6:15am 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.
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 let her know that she can always 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.
Goals for the week:
-Keep on keeping on.
-Nightly stretching and foam rolling.
-Update my Spotify running playlists.
Questions of the Day:
-Any suggestions for running- or fitness-related podcasts?
-If you incorporate strength workouts in your running training plans, how many strength workouts do you complete per week? How long are these workouts? I’ve been trying to do strength workouts (1-2 times a week for about 45 minutes), but I think they are too short. However, I do not want to do too much where I will have to skip training runs.
Social Media Plug:
Run There, Drink That 
As my mileage increases my intensity/amount of time spent weightlifting decreases. It I end up with two, 20 min workouts a week I’m doing good. The last two or three weeks before my last half marathon I barely lifted. That was prob more out of laziness and boredom of lifting than feeling I needed to for the race though.
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You know what’s kinda funny. Back in the early 00s, I preferred weight training over cardio. Now, it’s the reverse. Sometimes during my weight training days, I’m like uuuuggggh, I much rather run 5 miles.
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Yep! I love how strong I feel if I consistently weight train but I find workouts so boring. I told Jason anything that requires me to think while exercising feels like a workout to me and that includes counting reps. Give me a preplanned running route that I can zone out and free my mind and I’m a happy camper!
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I can understand that. My issue is mapping out my plan – what happens if someone grabs a piece of equipment before I finish my superset.
For reps, I’ve found that counting up and down alleviates my mental blocks. For instance instead of counting 10 reps, I’ll count 1-5 then 5-1.
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Keep on! You’re doing great!!
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Oh that lady in Zumba, oopsie! She’s learned for next time, right?
I don’t really strength train though I used to love it on the machines at the gym (the gym is not covid-safe and I managed to escape from their direct debits without getting sued so no going back there). I do now need to do some (although first, heating and rolling, owwww) to rehab my posterior chain. So let’s see.
You’re doing really well! Hope the momentum keeps going!
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Oh it looks like some coorporations that operate gyms in the UK are scammers too. I was hoping that was just a US thing. It’s funny that you mentioned this because I recently received a check from a civil suit settlement. Long story short: New York City (or maybe it was New York State) filed a lawsuit against New Yorks Sports Club. The corporation continued to charge members when NYC was on lockdown, making it impossible to visit their gyms.
I hope that I’ll keep up the motivation too.
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Oh they are notorious for it here! Mine did automatically suspend my membership and payments when they had to close for lockdown, but the MINUTE they were allowed to reopen under very strict conditions they started taking money out of my account: no warning, no notification, nothing. At that point (and still now) they were not Covid-safe, e.g. the yoga studio and spin studio had no windows that would open to allow in fresh air and were deep within the building so even with the front door and their doors open, no air circulating. Air con but we all know that’s not safe. I’d already got a couple of colds from their yoga classes. So I said I wished to cancel and they said three months’ notice after the end of the current month (so 4.5 months’ payments) and I said um no, and I just cancelled my direct debit and they wrote to me and I told them again they were not Covid safe and mentioned speaking to my legal advisor (my brother-in-law is a barrister, he doesn’t do that sort of work at ALL) and then they shut up! But that’s v cool you got an actual cheque: well done to the City/State of New York!
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