Thursday, April 09, 2009

Thursday Randomness

There is SO much on my mind right now I don't know if I can lay it all out in one post:
  1. Trigger Point
  2. Race photos
  3. Time crunch
  4. Running-induced ills
  5. Eating habits
  6. Sad news
  7. Workouts this week to date
I'll start with the boring stuff first. Trigger Point. I finally got my own set! And the ball isn't squished down yet! I decided to get the complete set because I really liked how my trial run went with the borrowed set from Shawn. However, since I've had it for like 2 weeks I haven't used it once. I need to get ON that.

Race photos! They were posted yesterday and much better as a whole from the last set during the Shamrock race. Below is the full montage of the "official photos" including pre-race shots of me joking/stretching with Amy at the start, our lesbian prom portrait and several of the race during the start and finish.







Time crunch. Life is once again in full swing and it is hard to keep up. I actually did two of my workouts during the MORNINGS this week. It was great cause I had woken up pretty much naturally and decided to head out. But my workouts are becoming so intense that I feel like I need massive amounts of sleep. I am not a good morning person. I wish that I were but it is something that I've been unable to change through much experimentation. I guess I'll take the days that I can do this and not feel discouraged when I simply can't wake up. I have pretty much been able to cram in my workouts after work but feel like its taking up most of my M-F free time. Anyone have suggestions on what to do here? No choice but to suck it up and get used to it? My work schedule will most likely only intensify over the next few months as my project load and travel increase. Not to mention the whole wedding thing. Rain/pours feast/famine.

Running-induced nonsense... I have been getting mild to awful stomach pains on the tail ends of my hard runs that last several hours. Now these things are lasting into the next day. I did a little research and it sounds like the only way to combat this is to watch more carefully what you're eating and when. I'm going to try my best to be better about eating and pray that this stomach issue goes away.

Which brings me to my eating habits. About six months ago when I started training again I was really focused on my eating and weight. I knew I had a lot of improvement in my body and wanted to see those results. I was so excited to start running again (and with a real coach!) that I matched my intake of food to that level of discipline. However, as I've progressed my body has caught up and luckily shed a lot of the excess weight. This is great! But, that means that I've stopped focusing on the quality of my intake. No bueno. I've been eating shit for food (trail mix for lunch) and in quantities that are not small at all times of the day and night. It hasn't really caused me to gain any weight but is making me feel like crap. What is wrong with me? How can I trick myself into caring about this again? Better yet - will someone give me a friggin program to stick to! Do I need to hire a friggin eating coach now?

Before I get into my workouts so far this week I have some sad news. One of my favorite Portland people is moving back to Texas. Yes, my awesome, wonderful friend and coach Shawn is leaving us!


It is very sudden and he and his girlfriend are leaving soon and I'm devastated! It is a good thing for them and is taking them into the next phase of their life and they're really excited. I'm so happy that they're happy too! But I am really really sad to see them leave. Not only because of the coaching stuff, more so because they're great people and great friends. It is weird to reflect on how attached I've become to the people that I've met in my new city. I feel like I've been euphoric since I moved here - happy with everything - that I don't want anything to change! So I've decided to kidnap both of them and chain them to the top of my rock wall. There. Done.

Now I'm all verklempt and can't discuss my training in this post. I will say that yesterday I had my toughest track workout to date. SO HARD.

9 comments:

Amy - the gazelle said...

I'm totally with you & the food stuff. When I was actively losing weight, I was so good about my food, making sure I was all balanced & nutritious & eating reasonable portions, etc.

But now that I'm all sporty and not fat anymore, and I KNOW I won't gain weight unless I start eating like a crazy person, my food choices SUCK! Skip lunch, skip snacks, go run, wine for dinner, etc. I, too, want to eat healthy (at least 85% of the time, the other 15% I want wine for dinner), but can't figure out how to motivate myself. I was thinking of looking into finding a coach that will help me with both workout plans AND food plans, but then I realized that I am poor & cannot afford such things.

I do love that 5th photo of you - that is just such a good running pic!

Susan said...

Your legs look SO strong! No wonder you're so speedy!

I'm kind of with you on the eating habits...I KNOW I could eat better, and I technically know how to (that whole bachelors in dietetics thing), but I really like things like ice cream. And Diet Pepsi. There are some food blogs out there that are pretty good and show good ways to eat. The key to most food blogs is oatmeal for breakfast...I have yet to adopt this, however.

Denise said...

LOVE the prom picture!!

Sorry you're friends are moving. I know that's hard. But think about the fun vacations you can take to go visit them!

jen said...

Awesome photos as always!

Thanks for letting us tag along at the track workout. You were a blur running around that track so fast! Can't wait to see the breakdown of your times. Pretty sure you ran a sub-4 minute mile at one point.

Zach said...

Embo! Dude - My legs are still sore from the track workout! You've got some rock solid quads to have been able to knock out a third 1200/400 set.

With the eating stuff - I figure that one of the benefits of working out hard all the time is getting to eat some crap from time to time - now trail mix for lunch, that's another story. Buy some turkey and make yourself a sandwich instead.

Aron said...

wow check out those legs!!!! those are great pics, you look like you are flying!

RunToTheFinish said...

ohh to bad about shawn, I know he really motivated you!

good luck with the eating, you've done it before so you can get back on track now. just try to make small changes and not beat yourself up!

Sarah said...

I'm so so so sad for you to lose Shawn. I hate it when friends move away from me. I apparently think I should be their priority in life. You must be a better friend than I am because you aren't making him stay!

Marathon Maritza said...

Holy moley you look so speedy in those pics! Seriously, fast...like a cobra!

I'm sorry to hear Shawn is leaving! :( I'm sure you will find another great coach, but it's always hard to lose good friends. I know the feeling. :)

I think the only way I have been doing better with my eating is to actually lay it out in front of me. I had the bad habit of grabbing this, then eating this out of the box, then getting distracted. Even if you multitask while you eat, lay it all out first, on a plate or on the table in front of you. This way you see the array of what you've picked and it's more in-your-face when you've missed including veggies, a protein, etc. Also, it's in your face when it's just a pile of junk that isn't really gonna fuel ya.

Hope that helps a bit! Love ya! XOXO