Workouts:
Monday: Ran 39 minutes
Tuesday: Biked 6.5 miles
Wednesday: Hill sprints (10 in 25 minutes)
Thursday: Ran 31 minutes
Friday: Off
Saturday: Ran a 5K in 34 minutes (a new PR!)
Sunday: Walked 3 miles
Thoughts on food:
After taking some strong medicine with the potential for long-term side effects, I did a three-day raw food cleanse. For three days, I ate nothing but raw veggies, smoothies with kale/spinach/fruit/flax seed, and raw "cookies" that I made. In addition to (hopefully) flushing residual chemicals out of my body, it was enough to get me over some pretty intense addictions to Diet Coke and junk food.
That was about a week and a half ago. Since then, I've been doing much better, food-wise. I've been making simple meals at home (baked potatoes, tuna, salads, protein smoothies). I've also been taking calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B complex, vitamin C, magnesium and glucosamine chondroitin. I've had a Diet Coke three times since then, and I don't want chips or cookies.
Tonight, I made tuna salad, a homemade salad dressing out of blood oranges, and hard-boiled eggs for easy lunches. I live close enough to work that I can bike home for lunch, if I have some easy foods ready to go when I get there.
Overall reflections:
Taking time away from blogging and to-do-listing was the best thing I could have done. I feel healthier, happier and refreshed. I'm motivated to vary my workouts, and I have a lot more energy. It's a wonder what eating real food and treating your body kindly does. My skin looks better, and I don't want to snack all day long on crappy food.
I've turned a major corner, definitely, in my health. The 5K I ran this weekend was the fastest I've ever done -- and I was more out of practice than I have been for past races. Doing speed training and actually taking care of my diet certainly made a huge difference.
Before I got sick, I was training for a 10K. There's another one in October I thought about doing, but that would only give me a month to get ready for it. Instead, I'm going to slow down, and focus on strength and speed work instead. I've got my eye on running a 10K by spring, and a half marathon a year from now (something on my lifelong wish list).
It's been nearly a month since I wrote this. I've been working hard to balance work, loved ones, my own alone time, and my health. The only thing I haven't done much about is the creativity portion, but I've got little ideas and projects I want to work on -- some related to writing, some not.
The number on the scale? The one thing I'm not excited about. But I feel good, I'm happy, and I feel like I'm on the right track. I'm enjoying working out. I'm enjoying being outdoors in the sunshine and cool weather. That's all that matters.
Goals:
- Keep going. Work out at least four times a week, if not five.
- Work in hills/speed work one day a week.
- Keep eating real food. Not diet food. Not soda. Not candy.
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