Feeling Like Myself

I finally feel like I am back in the groove.  The run this am was great.  It was in the 50's and beginning to feel like fall.  I had been dreading this run because I have been so tired and felt so out of sorts.  I am such a creature of habit (especially my healthy ones).  Now that I am back and I am eating fresh whole food and drinking water regularly and getting some sleep it sort of all came back together.  I love those effortless runs where you feel like you could run forever.  Also it never ceases to amaze me the difference I feel when I run.  I have been so tired and yesterday, a rainy morning meant sleeping in and a rest day.  I felt like I was dragging all day.  This morning back up at 4am and I am more focused and have more energy.  I don't know if this is something anyone can explain to someone starting out to live healthier.  It changes your whole perspective on what you thought was healthy.

I am back at trying for 6 running days a week, adding back in my planks and some strength training.  My half is a month away!!  I hope to get in a nice long run this weekend.  On the flip side hubby has still been struggling with his injury and I know he has not been feeling like himself. Just like the feeling good snowballs, I think so do the effects of missing out on your regular exercise routine. I know it has been hard for him, and every time he feels like he is making progress he feels like he takes  two steps back.  I hope he is able to get back to his running soon. I know he loves it and before I started running I would have looked at this like a break, but now I realize it is kind of torture, especially because I can run and he wants to join me so badly. 

What do you do to take your mind off running or to get some physical exercise when sidelined with an injury?

What a Difference a Week Makes

I have been out of pocket and technology since we were robbed. I have missed blogging, but I have missed following all of my blogger friends more.  Well I am back in technology.  Went with a Microsoft Surface Tablet, because  I think it is more practical for my work and home life.  Now I can blog on my lunch hour!  How about that!

This week was tough and not one I am terribly proud of and I was definitely paying a price for it on my runs this weekend.  First let me say Vegas, without a car trapped at a casino, is not a health conscience mecca!  I had to search high and low for veggies and forget my healthy snacks of fruit.  Diet not great.  Also sleep was an old lost friend.  I have been in the conservation game for a while, so at the biggest conservation and efficiency conference of the year I have one or two colleagues to catch up with, most in the bar or over some meal.  Also we had to see something in Vegas right?  So a 9:30 David Copperfield show at MGM Grand it was.  May not sound late, but when we got back to our hotel it was 1AM or for the east coast girl 4 AM.  That is when I usually get up to run.  So you might imagine I am an early to bed kind of girl.  Body still on east coast time wants to get up at the crack of dawn.  I was punch drunk tired by Thursday. 

The schedule for me with meetings and sessions was jam packed.  Early AM starts and late night events.  I only got in two days on the treadmill.  Also I love all of my friends and colleagues, but by nature I am more introverted, so this constant stream of activity and socializing is really a big effort for me.  The great, passionate people in the field make it easier, but still going against my grain. 

How does all of this come  out in the wash.  Two tough runs this weekend.  I was jet lagged, dehydrated from the desert and lack of time to properly hydrate, poor food choices, and no sleep.  I have been feeling really strong training but yesterday's 10 K was a struggle and a 3 miler today at the pace I have been doing my 12 mile runs felt hard and I had a bad a side stitch. 

I am back on the program.  I will be cooking healthy meals with fresh ingredients, I started back on my regular water regime and I hope to be feeling like myself by my long run this weekend. Rainy morning tomorrow is going to give me a much needed rest day.  It is amazing what one week of less than ideal health choices can do.  I guess I forgot that I used to make these all the time, now that I know how much better I feel I hope I can always remember that and try to focus on it.

Hope you all have been having a better, more successful training week.  I am back at it this week and glad to be back home.