Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Is it normal to be THIS tired all the time?

I have been exhausted lately, and I haven't really even hit the upswing of this spring's training plan. My weekly schedule is as follows:

Monday - REST
Tuesday - 3 mile run, powerlift (mostly arms) 1 hour
Wednesday - 3 mile run, kickboxing (1 hr)
Thursday - 6 mile run
Friday - Zumba (I know, I could rest, but the class I'm taking is so laid back that it really just loosens up all the tight muscles before my weekend runs)
Saturday - Variable, but speed workout - last week was 6 miles
Sunday - Variable long run - last week was 11 miles

My weekly runs are at a comfortable pace (somewhere between 10 and 11 min/mile) and my long runs are at my marathon goal pace of 11 min/mile. I ONLY do speed runs on Saturday and they are usually around 9 min/mile.

I chose to do powerlift and kickboxing to strengthen my arms and core. I need to get ready for my fall triathlon and without access to a pool until summer, I'm trying to get a strength base so its easier when I hit the water.

I could literally put my head down on my desk right now and go to sleep... right here at work ... and that isn't good.

All signs point to nutrition but I'm netting 1600 calories a day (I used to net 1400). So on days where I have hard workouts, I'm taking in roughly 2600 calories and burning 1000. I'm trying to lose some weight, which is why I'm sticking to the lower intake. But I get most of my calories from protein and am making sure I'm eating a balanced diet.

Maybe I'm getting sick? Ugh, its always something :/

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Running or ice skating?

So my plan to post more often didn't quite work out as I planned :) I have been keeping up with mileage and writing in my super fancy running log (thanks Mom!) but rarely remember to post! I guess that's because marathon training is in full swing which means I'm either running, working, eating or sleeping... Ahhh, the joys of running.

Good news is, I've made my mileage ever since the epic fail of week 1. I've actually been running much faster than I anticipated (10 min/mile average of all workouts). If the weather would cooperate, running in the winter would be much more fun though. I don't mind running in blowing snow or even the cold but when it snows in Nashville, people don't know how to handle it. I don't think they know about the magical inventions of salt or snow shovels and, as a result, the sidewalks are so icy I end up sliding through the majority of my runs! Luckily, the sidewalks around my lab are clear so I can run the same (albeit boring) mile loop over and over again, but come out and play sun! Melt the snow so I don't have to slide through the majority of my runs.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

First Week of Marathon Training Had Its Up And Downs...

Last week was the first official week of training for this April's Country Music Marathon. It started out pretty good but ended in failure...

My family was in town for the holidays meaning my diet was horrible from eating out so much and finding time to run was difficult. My first run on Tuesday morning went fairly well. It was 4.0 miles (supposed to be 3, but I opted to get in miles when I could) at a 10:21 pace. This was great for me because I used to be doing speed work outs at 10:30. Wednesday was supposed to be a 5 mile fun run and ended up at 5.3 miles at a 10:30 pace. Thursday was another 3 mile run but I ran to meet my family at breakfast which was 4.0 miles away and I ran it at a (wait for it) 9:28 pace!!!

With my weekly runs going so well I was very excited for the weekend runs. However, too much to drink on New Years Eve combined with my constantly on the move family made me too exhausted for a 5 mile pace run on Saturday. Since I had already put in some extra mileage I decided to skip Saturday's run. Sunday was my very first long run, at 8 miles. I decided to run from my house to a restaurant to meet my husband for dinner. I hate hate hate out and back runs so this would give me more positive motivation to finish the 8 miles. I ran and a pretty good pace for the first mile and a half. It was at this point in the run that I noticed I had a friend... and this is where things got interesting.

I had picked up a stray coming out of my neighborhood and he was running right along side me keeping my pace. I wasn't afraid of him or anything, but I was more worried about him getting too far away from home or getting hit by a car. I decided to pull off onto a side road and try to get the little guy some help. After calling the local police department, here's how my long run ended (at 2.59 miles - 10:39 pace):

It took two hours to catch the little guy but he's such a good dog I'm sure someone will adopt him.

Week two starts today! Lets hope its more successful (and less eventful) than last week :)