B2B Training Log: Week 1

With 8 weeks remaining, I find myself at a comfortable weight (5'2" 123-125lb). It is time to train for the sub-60 12km I've been pining after for two years since my first B2B in 2014.

I've come a long way since May of last year, when I was just 6 months post-surgery. I was 6-10lb heavier and far less fit from a cardiovascular perspective. 2015 would be riddled with colds and overuse injuries (foot, shin, and knee problems) that put me under goal times (which were, admittedly, unrealistic). You live and you learn, though, and in 2016 I've been more diligent about avoiding sickness and injury.

Week 1 (03.20.2016 - 03.26.2016)

I had an anatomy practical and exam this week - so I held off on my March commitment of not eating out and chose not to stress about dieting. I didn't anticipate the stress of the exam week in my March commitment plan so that is something to consider in my next monthly commitment.

I've got to get more serious about strength and core training. Gonna challenge myself to plank every day starting in Week 2. The good news is I've noticed my reverse pull-ups getting easier and I'm coming very close to a full pull-up from a dead hang!

I ended the week with ~47-miles of biking plus a 4-mile hike in Mt. Tampalaias State Park (Old Mine Trail-Dipsea-Steep Ravine). I had been yearning for a long ride since I had been so focused on exams and work and that Saturday felt like a day off. :-) Not to mention, I had overeaten the past two weeks and I wanted something challenging and, admittedly, depleting. Unfortunately, I was reminded that overtraining often weakens your immune system. Not only did I feel very cold after working out, but I also ended up with a headache and mouth ulcers the day after, making it painful to eat and swallow anything tough. Hopefully my immune system jumps back quickly before I get exposed to any illness-inducing pathogens. Until then, I'm eating right to sustain myself.

Workouts this Week

• Hills, Easy ~6km | This local run included some light hill work. (31:52 @ 8:30 pace)
• Full Body Strength and Core | lightly weighted squats (10-12 lb dumbells), lunges, a few minutes of inversions, and arm work, including reverse pullups, dead-hangs, and hanging leg raises.
• Long Run ~10km | I biked 4.5 mi to Ocean Beach as a warm-up, ran the 3+ miles of the Ocean Beach strip at an easy-ish pace (~8:30) and turned around to do a tempo'd pace back (~8:00). This run seemed a bit more difficult to stay at 8:00 pace despite the flat course. I'd guess because I was heavier at ~126lb and because I was lacking sleep.
• Long Bike Ride (Cross-Training) | 47 miles of biking, plus a 4-mile hike in Mt. Tam at mile 26. 1500ft climb over 7 miles (miles 19-26). Ridiculously difficult. I did have to stop a couple of times going up since (1) I was biking more than I'd ever biked in a single ride before and (2) biking up with a hybrid bike is SO MUCH HARDER than a roadie. One day I will get a road bike.... ONE DAY. I really enjoyed this long ride but I need to develop a better energy strategy.

Totals 

Run: 10.35 mi
Bike: 55.32 mi

Rain Run Therapy

I don't remember the last time I ran in the rain before last night. But I do remember how therapeutic running in the rain is.

Running in the rain... is one version of compassion to myself. 

At times, I'd just close my eyes and feel the coolness of each droplet as my legs turned over on the soft polyurethane. I'd feel the kick of droplets onto my calves and the slick of my Columbia rain jacket. The air was cool and had a beautiful, crisp quality to it.

My mind whispered my running mantra: "Quick. Smooth. Relaxed." again and again. 
My cadence steadied with each instrument of thought.

I am on a track and I know exactly where I am going--into the present. I'm not anywhere else but in the rain, running.

And I know I never want to go back. I look forward towards a better me while remaining present.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all found compassion for ourselves?

MapMyRun app and GPS kept crashing. I'm not even mad.

Currently Listening: The Killers - All These Things That I've Done

Fitness Journey Hurdles

My Anatomy professor gave me an excuse to check myself out:
Look at that GASTROCNEMIUS

I've lost six pounds in eight weeks since coming back from the Grand Canyon thanks to running, cycling, and a monitoring of carb and protein intake. The use of MapMyRun and MyFitnessPal has helped significantly.

But as I progress, there are many hurdles on the fitness journey!

1. People questioning your motives. Why put yourself through so much self-denial, pain, and unhappiness? Just because I think skinny is beautiful? Why complicate my life for a superficial reason? First, I understand that I have been influenced by media to believe "skinny is beautiful." But I'm turning away from that and I'm focusing on performance and fitness. I think I'd be truly unhappy with my body if I was skinny but wasn't fit. I love when I can run a 7:30 mile for four miles straight--being lean is a nice benefit and losing weight has drastically helped my performance thus far. Second, self-denial is not always painful. It is really difficult. But it doesn't mean it's painful. No one got to where they wanted without utilizing self-discipline!
2. Not letting compliments get to your head. It feels great when people notice your results and it makes you want to have cake. But the journey isn't over! The journey. Isn't. Over!!
3. INJURIES. Overuse injuries are the bane of my existence. I do a good amount of legwork focusing on muscle imbalance. I do a lot of stretching focusing on myofascial release. I give myself 1-2 days off my feet (but I still take the stairs to get to work...). But things always seem to hurt in my legs and feet. In particular, I have average to high arches and I still feel weakness in my left leg since surgery. Injuries are the most annoying part of this journey but I really think it's more about understanding my limits and going at a pace my body can handle. Things I am actively trying to prevent or working on:
   * shin splints - calf stretching, massage
   * peroneal tendonitis - peroneal stretching, massage
   * burning arches - calf/peroneal stretching, foot message
   * post-op knee, anterior pain and flexibility - quad and hamstring strength and flexibility, knee scar tissue massage
4. Muscle Soreness. I'm getting stronger - there's no doubt about that. I'll feel it in my pecs after a swim, in my abs after a downhill run, in my quads after difficult runs and rides... but the price to pay is muscle soreness. And like in hurdle # 3, I sometimes don't know how much rest I need.
5. Time/energy. I feel distracted from work all the time because I get obsessive over exercise and nutrition. Often, I'll also feel tired during the day because of tough workouts. Sigh. Sometimes I wish I could just take 3 months off from life and focus on getting fit. But only Olympic athletes are allowed to do that. And I should really learn how to better my work/life balance. 

I've found what works at the moment is allowing myself a weekend to chill out on dieting and eat what I want. However, I do have the tendency to binge and I want to be able to get past that. 

The binge doesn't just happen with food. As always, the running lifestyle is a reflection of life in general. I've always known myself to be an "all or nothing" type of person and while there are merits to that, it's less effective in the slow-burn marathon parts of life. I'm slowly learning how to deal with myself as a person. 

"To keep on going, you have to keep up the rhythm." --Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

As an emotional person (an ENFP), I tend to surround myself with Rationals to keep me calm and secure. I admire how many of my friends are so relatively unfazed by the emotional ups and downs of life. My boyfriend resets every day - even when life rhythm gets interrupted. He's steadfast and diligent and outwardly unswayed by emotions even though I can sense when he's stressed. 

In contrast, I'm not a scheduled type of person and I abhor routine. Emotions hit me hard. I can get obsessive about things - bad or good. Like a sprinter, I go all in or I go all out and I don't have a medium in between for the tedium. But I would certainly love to find a rhythm to the madness. And not only that, I'd love to train myself to quickly recollect when said rhythm gets interrupted. 

I believe that when I mature to this level, I can confidently say "I am going to make a change in my community," remembering that we all start with the [wo]man in the mirror.

So, life. I'm training myself to make healthier choices.

That's part of the reason why I'm starting up monthly commitments. (Update: In March, I've missed my 6:30am wake up time once after staying up late to do work two nights before. And so far, I've been successful at not eating out at restaurants.)

Currently Reading: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (Haruki Murakami, 2007)