Move/make: Weeks 3-5, Take 2

Today's weight: 172.2.

Workouts:
Week 3
Mostly took the week off to travel. No workouts worth writing down.

Week 4:
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Walked 3 miles
Wednesday: Ran 25 minutes
Thursday: Off
Friday: Off
Saturday: Ran 35 minutes
Sunday: Ran a charity 5K (33 minutes)

Week 5:
Monday: Off
Tuesday: Ran 22 minutes
Wednesday: Ran 30 minutes
Thursday: Off
Friday: Off
Saturday: Ran 40 minutes
Sunday: Ran 20 minutes

Thoughts on food:
Ate a lot of Indian food these last couple of weeks. Learned that it's hard to be a vegetarian in small-town Arkansas. Finally started cooking for myself in a real way that I am actually excited about. Made grilled brie sandwiches with wilted spinach/sauteed garlic for lunch today. Delicious.

This upcoming week is the first one where I've planned a meal for every day that I actually want to eat (and don't just feel like I should eat, like a salad).

Overall reflections:
A busy couple of weeks of work-travel-work meant I was pretty burned out on running/eating/work/life. Throw in some random heel pain, severe depression, and lack of sunlight, and I didn't do much for a week or so. But I bought new running shoes (again), got some sleep, and finally sorted out some things. My heel pain is gone, and I also beat my PR for a 5K. I'm feeling better.

Tonight I'm going to a spin class for the first time ever. I get free gym classes as part of my employee gym membership, so I'm trying to take advantage of them. Hoping these classes will keep me from tiring of running. I just haven't been feeling it lately. I'm always careful to pay attention to when I'm not as excited about running. I want to protect it and keep it as something I look forward to, something that sustains me. I don't want it to ever be a chore.

These last couple of weeks reminded me that life is always a work-in-progress. I've been feeling a little worse for the wear. I am trying to remember to be gentle to myself, to take it easy when I need to. I am trying to be more vocal about who/what I am grateful for. I am trying to remember how much my loved ones sustain me. I am trying to remember how much running sustains me. I am trying. I suppose that's what matters, on tougher days. On better days, it's the doing that counts.

Goals:

• Go to a couple of gym classes. This will help with cross-training and keeping me interested in working out during these shorter, drearier fall days.
• Set up a time to meet with a personal trainer and nutritionist (also free, courtesy of my gym membership).
• Cook the meals I said I'd cook (mostly fancy hot sandwiches and fish tacos). 
• Get at least one shorter, tempo run in.

Move/make: Week 3, Take 2

Today's weight: 175.0.

Workouts:
Monday: Hill sprints (11)
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Tempo run (2 miles in 22 minutes)
Thursday: Ran 30 minutes
Friday: Hill sprints (10)
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Ran 35 minutes

Thoughts on food:
My original goal was to go out to eat twice. I went out to eat four times, but two of those times were Indian food, which is healthy and delicious. The other two times were beer and bread-based snacks -- not so healthy, but good cold-weather comfort food.

I spent tonight making quinoa, oatmeal and hard-boiled eggs. I've got a rough idea of meal plans for the week. I've been drinking kombucha and kefir, which has made my stomach feel much better. And I've been eating a lot of chia seeds, and taking vitamins. I'm still feeling good, despite my new addiction to dark chocolate bars with cayenne pepper and cinnamon in them (amazing).

I had a Diet Coke today -- my first since last Sunday. It tasted OK, but I don't need another one for a while.

Overall reflections:
Had a rough run today (don't know what it is about Sundays), but I am getting faster overall. An 11-minute mile is probably nothing to write home about, but it's a minute faster than my previous average. I want to get down to a consistent 10-minute mile, or I'm going to be miserable running longer races. I'm happy to see the speed training is making a difference, even after only doing it for a couple of weeks.
I've always thought I was a slow runner (and I am), so it's been nice to chip away at my times.

I'm also happy that I worked out five days last week.

Goals:
I met two out of my three goals from last week. I'm traveling at the end of this week, and the next couple of days are shaping up to be very busy. Because of that, I want to:

• Work out only three (but ideally four) days this week.
• Keep taking my vitamins, especially since I'll be traveling and run down.
• Eat healthy, home-made meals for all meals but one.

Move/make: Week 2/Take 2

Today's weight: 172.6.

Workouts:
Monday: Hill sprints (10)
Tuesday: Ran 25 minutes
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Hill sprints (10)
Friday: Off
Saturday: Ran 38 minutes
Sunday: Ran 38 minutes

Thoughts on food:
My eating wasn't as great this week as last week, but I have been eating lunches at home, and eating real food. I've been making food on Sundays for work, which has been helping. Tonight, I made cold oatmeal/Greek yogurt/Chia seed mixes for breakfasts, and I made Greek quinoa salad for lunches. I'm trying to make at least one recipe a week. It's not a lot, but enough to get me cooking and not be overwhelmed. I have a serious mental block when it comes to the kitchen, so I'm feeling pretty good about these baby steps.

Overall reflections:
I'm feeling good. Today, I had a Diet Coke and it didn't taste good. And lately, when I eat bread or carbs, I just feel bloated and weird. I don't buy snacks at the grocery store anymore, either. I'm definitely over snacking/eating junk every day. This is a first for me.

I've been working out a lot (these hill sprints are kicking my ass). I feel good. I have a lot more energy, and my emotions are much more even-keel.Today's run was pretty rough, but I also went right after I got out of bed and had only eaten two Oreos on my way out the door. My body is definitely not OK with junk anymore.

I'm looking forward to runs getting easier again. I think continuing to mix up the kinds of running I'm doing will help.

Goals:
I made good on my goals from last week. I worked out five days this last week, did speed work twice, and fairly burned myself out on junk food.

For this coming week, I want to:

• Not have any soda or bottled juice at all. I have a weakness for chai with soy milk and pumpkin syrup (I make it myself and bring it to work), so I'll still have that. It makes my mornings better.
• Do speed work twice -- either hill sprints or shorter, tempo runs.
• Only go out to eat twice.

Move/make: Week 1/Take 2

Today's weight: 179.6.

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.

Move/make: Week 19

Weight (as of Tuesday afternoon): 172.0.

Workouts:
Monday: Ran 30 minutes, walked 30 minutes
Tuesday: Helped friends move (ran boxes up two flights of stairs for three hours)
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Ran 55 minutes
Friday: Ran 30 minutes
Saturday: Ran 25 minutes
Sunday: Hiked four hours at a state park 

Thoughts on food:
Better than the last couple of weeks. I've been going out to eat less, and eating more fruit and smoothies. I still haven't cooked much, though I have baked a lot. I figured out the secret to cookies that stay chewy for days (something I've never been able to accomplish until now), so I'm feeling good. I found two simple, meat-free recipes I want to try. I've got a shopping list and I'm headed to the store shortly. I'm craving simple, home-cooked meals and lots of fresh fruit. This might be the first time this has happened in a while. 

Overall reflections:
I'm feeling much better than I was last time I wrote. I deep-cleaned the house, got caught up on laundry, and started tackling that to-do list. I still have a lot of things on my mind about jobs/money, but I'm slowly getting on top of everything else. Working out has helped a lot (as always). I'm on schedule to run a 10K for my birthday, too, so I'm feeling good. My weekends have slowed down some, too. I'm trying not to overbook myself, and it seems to be helping.

I know I have to listen to my moods, and go easy on myself when I'm feeling overwhelmed.  What helps most is just knowing I'm accomplishing a little bit each day. 

Goals:

• Grocery shop and make the two recipes I found (Greek salad with quinoa and huevos rancheros with avocado and black beans). 
• Stay on target for the 10K (that means running an hour this week).
• Keep making progress on that to-do list.