2013 Wrapup

No one would call 2013 my favorite year. While some key events definitely took place, I was certainly lacking in major accomplishments. It was my first full year out of school, and I think the mundanity of true adulthood got the best of me.

There were highlights:

• Setting a wedding date
• Running a sub-30 5k
• Starting NROL (and finishing Stage One as of today)
• Becoming confident with not only my weight (low 150s) but my body image (I ran at the gym in a sports bra for the first time ever)
• Starting this blog

But overall, I spent a lot of the year hoping that things would change and be better than they were. When I really should have been thankful that I had a full-time job, healthy life, loving fiance and supportive family. I will do better at this next year. Less pity parties all around.

I've never been one for setting new year's resolutions. I am of the mind that new year's resolutions tend to be very short term and unsustainable. What I learned from the last year is that I need goals to keep me motivated, sane and happy.

In this light, I have many goals for 2014. It is looking to be a much more successful and satisfying year than the last one. 

2014 Goals:

1. Get married
2. Buy a house
3. Run at least 7 races including a sub-25 5k
4. Finish NROL and develop a new lifting regimen
5. Find and start a new job
6. Become a certified personal trainer
7. Throw less pity parties (read: have a more positive attitude about life in general)

Honestly, the hardest part of this list is probably number seven. I read the inlaws' Christmas letter last week and while everyone else had a long list of things they did this year, my note was, "Raven is still working at the college." And I cried. Because that doesn't feel like much at all. 

But really it is, and I just can't convince myself to see it. I have two Bachelor's and a Master's and a full-time job that has allowed me to save a good amount toward the down payment on our future home and get the experience I need to be able to find some other type of work that I enjoy. 

And it is that kind of attitude that I need to adopt predominately next year. Because even while being as fit and healthy as I am now, I can't be truly healthy without adopting a positive attitude about my current living state. And while it may not be what I envisioned, it works for now. And I'm fortunate to have what I do. 

Here's to a happy, healthy 2014 (body and mind).

P.S. I will most likely be absent for the next few days as 2013 wraps up. Expect the first 2014 post on New Year's Day. Have a safe holiday, everyone!

Today was a Good Day

Yesterday I flaked out on my run. I was honestly a little nervous about it and pushed it back and back until I convinced myself it was too late to go out. (It wasn't.)

Today was a different day. I put in a 5k at a PR 28:35. I wasn't expecting it, and it was fabulous. I was still nervous about running this morning, but I have a 10k in four weeks, so we're in the no-joke training stretch. With a week off last week, I was concerned that my muscles wouldn't remember how to push hard. I was wrong. I put in a 9:06 pace while trying to keep it slow.

Basically that means I'm getting faster. And I'm stoked about it. Maybe I can get to a sub-25 in 2014. That might be a bit ambitious, but I don't see why not. If it's only taken me a few months to knock almost five minutes off my time. If I am actually training for speed, it isn't completely unfathomable to get to an eight minute mile.

I still don't anticipate trying for half distance again. If anything that would be a 2015 goal. For now I'm happy running my shorter distances and working on my speed.

Today I also finished off Stage One of NROL. I still have two max out sessions, but the 16 initial sessions are in the books. And I'm glad because that rotation was getting tedious. The rest of the stages are only eight sessions each, which keeps things more interesting. I'm excited to learn some new strength training moves and getting an even better handle on lifting.

Tomorrow will be another run day. We'll see if I can keep the faster pace going. I think I'm officially sub-10 pace, which is awesome. Bodes well for 2014.

I'm Back!

The sickness is officially kicked. And it left me substantially weaker than I was one week ago. Awesome sauce.

But nonetheless, today I was able to get in my last NROL Stage 1, Workout A day. On Saturday I will knock out Workout B, then we are on to the maxouts of Stage 1, which I'm super excited to get to. Though I imagine I would have been much more capable without the week of sadness.

Today is the first day I actually felt good. It is now time to start focusing on good eating through the new year and back on the NROL/Hal Higdon game plan.

Tomorrow I am going to get back into running. I'm expecting it to suck a good deal, but hopefully I can get in a three mile run with minimal difficulty. The good news about being sick was that it gave my shins a good amount of time to heal, so hopefully there won't be any pain tomorrow. I'm very much looking forward to getting back on the road. Wish me luck!

I'm Sick

I'm sorry I haven't posted in such a long time. In addition to some serious shin pain last week, I developed a tickle in the back of my throat on Thursday. And I that tickle has developed into a sore throat and runny nose and general cold awesomeness.

So I've had no exercise since Thursday. And it's killing me. Killing me.

I know that if I tried to work out it would make me worse, but that doesn't make me want to work out any less. For the last two days now I have wanted to give NROL a shot, but I know I'd never make it through the step ups, so I'm holding off until I'm recovered. Killing me.

Nonetheless I am going to try to knock out some pushups before bed so that I can say I've done something. And hopefully tomorrow I will be ready for a short run and NROL. I need to be done with Stage One. And this, in case you missed it, is killing me.

Until tomorrow, let us think healthy thoughts.

Holy Shins

I had every intention of running yesterday. But it was cold, and I was sore. So I made it my official full rest day for this week. I felt guilty about it, but ultimately it was the right decision in order to get anything else done this week.

Today, I went out to run three miles and had the most disappointing run I've had in a long time (potentially ever). I have been very sore in my calves lately. I don't warm up enough, and I don't stretch enough after my runs. I know this, and I kind of ignore it. Shame on me.

No longer. I made it through the first mile slowly with minor pain. I thought it would go away as I warmed up as calf soreness tends to do. But starting into that second mile I could not make it anymore. I did a walk/run interval for the second mile but ultimately called it quits two miles in. 

I did put in an NROL session afterwards that felt good. I also did some serious stretching to try to work out the calves followed by icing. I am going to try to a tempo run tomorrow and will warm up and stretch beforehand. It may end up being modified again depending on how my legs are doing. 

This is not what I was expecting this week after such a nice successful run week last week. But I will listen to my body, and I will not overdo it. 

Moderation, kids. It's important in every aspect of life.

Week Three

This week should be a turning point in training. If all goes to plan, I should get in about 19 miles according to the training plan. This is a really big number for me, and I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous about it.

My body felt great this week. I came in at 17 miles, and I felt good for all of them. Today, I started off the week with a three mile run at a 10:03 pace and followed up with NROL. This was my sixth day in a row of running. I'm going to try to not change up the training program this week so that I have cross training and a rest day before the six mile run on Saturday. My joints may need a rest day before then, but we will see.

I'm a huge proponent of listening to your body, and I went into the intermediate program knowing I am not yet an intermediate runner. Knowing that next week is a light week is helping my motivation for this week. Once we get into weeks five through eight, I may need to start making modifications to account for the increased mileage.

This week, I'm going to start seriously focusing on food. I am in much need of incorporating more protein in my diet and reducing the amount of fat I'm taking in. I'll be looking into protein drinks to help with the 160 grams of protein I should be getting per day. I have been coming in around 100 grams a day, and that just isn't enough to deal with the amount of lifting and running I'm doing.

I absolutely do not want to lose muscle mass, so I need the muscle to have the fuel to heal and build. My ultimate goal is to be stronger not thinner, and my diet needs to reflect that. So much to think on.

17.3

Week two of the 10k training plan is officially done. I successfully ran 17.3 miles this week. This is a huge increase in mileage for me, and I actually feel really good about it. A little soreness and some blisters going on, but nothing crazy and no fatigue (knock on blogland wood).

Thursday and Friday I put in lunchtime workouts because I had afterwork activities that prevented me from the normal routine. B came and ran with me at work on Friday. It was the sweetest thing ever, and totally made my day. Romantic gesture noted.

I had a terrible pain in my neck yesterday that completely went away after the run. It was like magic. I think I slept on it wrong, but the power of exercise is ridiculous. The run calmed me down and took the pain away. Seriously--magic.

Today was my five-mile long run. I definitely wanted to take it slow today because this was my fifth day running in a row, and it was wet from a morning of rain. I ended up at 52 minutes, which is a decent pace although certainly not my best. For the record, I am now considering myself a 10-minute miler, and therefore anything less is "not my best". No pressure, Ray.

Next week we are due for even more mileage followed by a low mileage week 4. I will adjust if necessary, but for now we are chugging along as is.

Tomorrow is a 3 miler with NROL. I'll also be talking a bit about my new nutrition goals. Stay tuned.

California Cold Spurt

It was cold today. Okay, it was California cold, but that's still cold to me. Today was the first run that I was actually cold on all the way through. I had on capris and a t-shirt with a lightweight zip-up jacket. This setup has been completely fine for me the last weeks, but I definitely felt the chill today. Although I do believe this was my first run in the mid 40s.

I think it's time to invest in some gloves and a headband to keep my ears covered. I'm a pretty big fan of Target's Champion brand of exercise gear. It holds up to my general routine, and is decent quality at a very affordable price point. They have a few different headband options, so I may take a trip tomorrow.

The forecast for the next week is chilly, and I'm not exactly stoked about that. But it's easy to convince myself to run while it's in the high 30s and low 40s here because I have some amazing women in my life who are running in actually freezing temperatures. If they can run in the snow, then I can certainly run in whatever California is throwing at me (read: not snow).

Today was a three mile run and a round of NROL. I am very much so over lunges and stepups. I really, really want to move on to stage 2 of NROL. Only four more stage 1 sessions left. I am also consistently running a 10 minute mile now, which is encouraging. I am definitely in a stride. It's pretty amazing what consistency does for the body.

A Slacker No More

Since I slacked off the last two days on running, I was fairly determined to get a good run in today. I am still not feeling 100 percent. But I'm thinking that what I'm feeling really is residual tiredness from the weekend and not the cusp of sickness.

I will not get sick. Traditionally I am a holiday sicky. I've spent many a holiday sniffling and coughing my way through the cheer of the season. It blows. But I successfully powered through last year without much sickness, and I'm determined to not be sick this year either. I got one of those fancy flu shots, and my diet and exercise regimen are simply much better than they've ever been.

Speaking of diet. I need to seriously up my veggie intake. My macros have been all over the place lately (granted that may be due to holiday meals--hello fat!).

Over at the forum, we are doing a holiday challenge to keep on track with our fitness goals through the holidays. This week I really want to focus on running. But I think next week's goal needs to be veggie and macro related.

I did successfully run 4.5 miles today in 46 minutes. I was rocking a 10:21 pace and only stopped to stretch my calves at about the two mile mark. I am pleased.

I am definitely off my training plan, but with a little bit of shuffling around on days, I should be able to jump back on track for this week without issue.

I'm a Slacker

I'm a bad blogger. I blame it on the holiday weekend. I wasn't at home in my normal routine so all of my routine slipped away. *hangs head*

I'm also a bad exerciser. I had a seriously lackluster 3-mile run on Saturday where I  *hangs head in shame* walked part of the way. B and I did a hill and that pretty much wrecked me for the rest of the run. I definitely need to start incorporating some hill training if I'm ever going to run anything but a flat course. Although that may end up being incline training on a treadmill because I seriously live in the flattest community ever.

And today I was tired after the long weekend and it was California cold, so I skipped the run and just did NROL. It was a good workout, but I'm definitely upset at myself for not running today.

Tomorrow is another day. A better day. I'm going to force a long run in there to make up for two days without one. Maybe a 4.5? We'll see.

On a positive note, I ran 35 miles in November. That's pretty huge for me, and I'm expecting even more in December. Bring it on.