3 Weeks to Alpharetta Women's Half

Week-beginning Thoughts:

Meh. Idk. 

Monday

Planned: lift
Did:  20min yoga (AM), MBF Full Body Week 2 (PM)

Didn't feel like intensity this morning, and opted into yoga instead of a cardio/fast-paced workout. 

Tuesday

Planned: Solid 10KTuesday (8:45-9:10 pace), MBF Week 1 Core 2
Did: Solid 10KTuesday = 6.55mi @ 8:55/mi avg

Thank goodness for friends. I'm glad I declared my intent pre-run, because I totally would've backed out if no one knew I was "supposed to" run solid. The first mile of WU went by far too quickly for my liking, and I felt like slowing down the entire "solid" part... but I was also comfortably talking the whole time, and my training mate for today loved reminding me that meant I was totally in my comfort zone regarding pace. 

Had a work deadline that took my evening up, so I skipped core, but plan on doubling up tomorrow... maybe? 

Wednesday

Planned: MBF Week 3 Lower Body, 4mi easy
Did: 4.05mi @ 10:14/mi/avg

Really tired this morning and just didn't feel like getting up quickly enough to lift pre-run. Then I really liked the idea of having time to calmly get ready for the day pre-kid-wakeup post-run, so I did that instead. 

Thursday

Planned: 1mi WU, 4x1mi @ 7:30-8:00/400m, 1mi easy, MBF Week 2 Core 1
Did: run as scheduled = 7.26mi @ 8:50/mi avg

I think I've learned that I was really too ambitious with this "strength workout every day" plan for this week. I'm not sure when I thought I would actually do this core workout, since track days mean a 3:45am alarm anyways, and there's just no getting up earlier than THAT to work out (funny story: a few years ago it was "no way am I ever setting an alarm earlier than 4:30", so obviously that isn't set in stone). 

Like Tuesday, I struggled again with my workout, mentally. It was so much easier to run fast/hard when I was just running as company for my training partner. Doing it for me is harder. 

The 10:49 pace for the warm-up was faster than I wanted to go, and I was grateful I'd given myself wiggle room on the mile pace. I knew I could hit 8:00, but was hoping for something closer to 7:30, especially since I knew I really should have been hitting 7:15-7:20s if I want to actually be training for the half. 

Mile 1: 7:49

I felt decent through this one, and enjoyed the mental game of breaking the mile into four laps.

Mile 2: 7:49

Really wanted this one to be my last one after the first lap, but kept grinding through. It wasn't a hard pace, but I had to concentrate, and that required mental effort.

Mile 3: 7:40

The lights on the track came on a lap into this one, and I picked up the pace unconsciously. I was pretty pleased with the split, especially since I hadn't really noticed just how even my first two had been. 

Mile 4:  7:40

After #3 being 7:40, I thought, "sure would be nice to have a 7:30 last one", but I wasn't willing to put in enough even effort up front to make that happen.

At no point during the workout was I truly pushing myself. I never felt out of breath, pushed myself to the line, or anything like that... but it was one big mental "blergh", and I definitely took my recovery 400s at snail pace. 

Workouts like this leave me wanting to run the half as a fun stroller event instead of trying for something that seems crazy out of reach, like an 8-flat pace half. Yeah, it's back to 100% humidity, I haven't been on the track for a month, I've been stressed with work/family/health, and my body's reacclimating to strength training... but I've been pretty discouraged by how running has felt since my marathon. 

Friday

Planned: MBF Week 3 Lower Body, 4-6mi easy
Did: 3.26mi @ 10:04/mi avg, MBF Week 2 Core 1

I struggled to get out of bed again today. I set my alarm the night before telling myself I'd get up, do an MBF, and then run an easy 4. Instead, I laid in bed an extra ten minutes, sent a message to my therapist, and forced myself to get out and run some miles. It was so insanely moist this morning. 

I kept mentally bargaining with myself, kind of wanting to do 4mi, but also knowing I didn't have the time to do that and the MBF workout I'd told myself I really ought to do. I ended up turning around early and telling myself I could only run 3 if I did the MBF. I finished the run absolutely disgustingly drenched (we're back to 96% humidity... in October), and really did not want to drip on my floor... but I hadn't run four miles, and had enough time, so.... no excuses.

I put a yoga mat on the floor and pushed through a core workout... and felt good for having done so, even though my right achilles was bugging me during the workout. I'm hoping it's just a result trekking around a construction site in steel-toes yesterday for work. It didn't bother me at all on the run, so guess we'll see? 

Saturday

Planned: 10-12mi easy run, MBF Week 2 Core 1
Did: 10.09mi @ 9:50/mi avg, 3.24mi stroller walk with little one @ 18:16/mi avg, 2.11mi stroller walk with big one @ 17:37/mi avg

Taped ankle, and it help up alright today. While I had a little soreness, I'm confident it'll go away soon. Had a great run with my training partner, had a little time at the park with my family before heading over to the greenway to support my chorus director in her walk for Spasmodic Dysphonia with one kid, and then back to another part of the greenway with the other kid to cheer for some friends doing virtual Boston. What a day. 

Sunday

Planned: 2mi WU, 2x2mi @ 7:30/5min jog, 2mi CD, MBF Week 3 Upper

Did: 1.5mi WU, 2x2mi/7min, 1mi CD = 6.97mi @ 8:54/mi avg

Felt kind of blerghy this morning, but got up and got it done on our family outing to the riverside trail. I opted for a shorter warm-up to facilitate family time, and then got into the workout. 

I really had no confidence that I'd hit 7:30 for a single mile, much less 2. I thought I'd be lucky to make it around an 8 flat with how I felt, and was already mentally planning on cutting the workout before I started. My first mile was a 7:45, and it was h-a-r-d, but I was able to rally and hit a 7:34 for the second. 

OK, I thought, maybe I'm not as crazy out of shape as I thought. I had to walk the first bit of my 5min recovery, and was grateful I had a full five minutes between intervals instead of only three like we'd had in marathon training. 

The second set was much harder. I locked into a 7:30 for the first quarter mile, but it was awful, and I couldn't hold it. My breathing was tough, and I was just totally spent. It was a mental victory to not stop after a mile and to push through the second one. 

I could tell I was really ready to be done because I got through a one mile cool-down and then decided to just walk it in. I never walk it in, even when I've already hit my cool-down mileage. 

Set 1: 7:45/ 7 :34

Set 2: 7:45 / 7:45

Total Weekly Mileage: 38.2

Week-ending Thoughts:

• I feel out of shape and icky and don't really see anything great happening at the Women's Half at the end of the month.

MBF: Week 2/3

Week-beginning Thoughts:

I feel like I've reached the point in this pandemic where I'm just kind of existing in a weird sort of limbo. Blergh. 

  

lots of veggies this week: roasted squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and celery took center stage for most of the week in various forms (straight up, quesadillas, omelets, and on avocado toast)

Monday

Did: MBF Lower, MBF Core, 2mi 

Up at midnight thirty with baby, up again at 2am because of baby, and then up for real at 4:15 to workout. Got both my workouts done, and definitely feel like something's working because I'm sore :)

Also treadmill walked during a conference call for a few miles. 

Total Cal: 2089 (net 1318)

Tuesday

Did: 6.34mi @ 9:24/mi avg

Uggghhh. I was up at 1:30am with baby... who was up until 3:30am... and then I got about 45min of sleep in before a 4:50am 10KTuesday... and then walked all day at a site visit for work. Sweet, sweet bedtime could not come soon enough. 

Total Cal: 2050 (net 1393)

Wednesday

Did: MBF Lower, MBF Core

Decent night of sleep followed by lower + core Muscle Burns Fat workouts. I'm really loving the way I set these up. My old LIIFT4 workouts always had a core component at the end, so pairing lifting + core in this order most weekdays doesn't actually feel like two workouts, just one elongated one. 

Total Cal: 1855 (net 1533)

Thursday

Did: 5.06mi @ 9:25/mi avg

Nice and easy early run with a friend. Felt good. 

Total Cal: 1943 (net 1580)

Friday

Did: MBF Total Body, 2mi walk, another 2mi walk

Another 2:30am-4am "awake" block thanks to the munchkin... and then the cats... I really need to put them in the basement overnight. Uggghhh. 

I enjoyed today's workout, and went heavier on all my weights from last week. Unfortunately, I think I'm getting to the point where my 25lb dumbbells aren't heavy enough for me on a lot of these exercises. I could really use a pair of 30s and 35s, but also don't want to spend $300 on dumbbbells.

Did a light walk through the neighborhood at lunch, another one on a call in the afternoon, and a bit of yoga before the kiddos got home. Here's to the weekend!

Total Cal: 1887 (1300 net)

Saturday

Did: 11.0mi @ 9:32/mi avg, MBF Dynamic Stretch, 1mi stroller walk

This was the first night I can remember without a MOTN wakeup from baby in the past two weeks. Hallelujah. That said, it was tough to get out of bed for my run. Hooray for training partners and for sleeping in my running clothes. We had a nice giant loop for today's route, with a ton of hills, but along some streets we haven't run in awhile. It's always nice to change it up a bit. 

Did some dynamic stretching later in the day (I still don't really love this workout in MBF, but it's better than nothing?). 

Total Cal: 2595 (1678 net)

Sunday

Did: 5.65mi stroller tempo run @ 9:19/mi avg, MBF Power Ignite, 1.15mi stroll

Oof. It's been a long time since I've done a tempo run (two weeks)... and even longer since I pushed my bigger kid (~50lbs) for one. This was tough, and I only averaged a 7:54/mi pace for the ten minutes of tempo. 

Fought my way through the MBF workout (really dislike this format of doing a set number of reps of the same exercise for each of 5 minutes, back-to-back, but making it happen), and then finished the day with a stroll through the zoo.

Total Cal: 2149 (1540 net)

Total Weekly Mileage: 28.09

Week-ending Thoughts:

• I'm working with a registered dietician to help me figure out what's going on with my body and how to make sure I'm getting what I need. First appointment is coming up next week.
• Based on what I'm seeing in my "net calories" this week, though I'm thinking the Beachbody plan may not be allowing me enough food? Still doesn't explain why I gained so much weight last year when only focusing on net calories and not the UPF nutrition plan, though... 
• My employer switched insurance carriers this year, and it is an absolute PAIN to re-connect/sync all my devices to get credit for physical activity, and have to sit through more videos of "how to start an exercise/fitness program", "how to stop eating so much takeout", and other irrelevant topics, in order to earn rebates... 
• I'd planned on starting a Miler Method cycle after this round of MBF... still on the fence about that... 
  

MBF: Week 1/3

Week-beginning Thoughts:

All doctor test results came back normal, so they don't have a clue. Great. 

Going into the next three weeks of a new Beachbody-on-Demand program (Muscle Burns Fat) and we'll see how that plus the Ultimate Portion Fix container diet goes. So f---ing irritating. 

Monday

Did: MBF Lower, MBF Core

Got up at 3am with a screaming baby who took an hour to put back down. At that point, why bother attempting to sleep? I doubled up on my MBF workouts today so I could "just" run tomorrow.Awww, yeah. I'm soooore and loving it. It took awhile to get through this morning's workout with the baby struggling to adjust to daylight savings time, but it got done. 

Food

• 1 scoop protein shake, black coffee, 1/2c unsweetened almond milk [1R, 0.5B]
• 1.5oz beef jerky [1R]
• 1 sprouted grain vegan bagel [3Y]
• Flat white from Starbucks (off-book here, but I've been up since 3am and this was my treat to myself) [unsure about container count, maybe 2Y?]
• 1c nonfat plain greek yogurt with 1/2oz blueberries and 1/2oz strawberries [1R, 0.5P]
• 2c spinach/mixed greens with 1/2 roma tomato, 1.5oz sliced ham, 1 hard-boiled egg white, 1/2c baby carrots, 1/2c roasted yellow squash/celery/zucchini mix [3G, 1R]
• 1 medium gala apple [1P]
• 2c spinach [2G], 1/2 tomato + 5 baby carrots [1G], 8oz oven roasted turkey breast [2R]
• Rx bar [2P, 1B] -- really just wanted this and thought it was worth going a liittle over

I had more carrots... but ate them earlier

Total: 1950 eaten (1652 net)

Tuesday

Did: 10KTuesday @ 9:26/mi avg

Whelp, crashed at 7pm last night and got a decent night of sleep before my alarm. Run felt a little hard to start off, but we kept amazingly consistent splits until the last mile, which ended up at 9:18. 

Food

• Banana [1P]
• 1.5oz beef jerky [1R]
• 1 scoop protein shake, black coffee, 1/2c unsweetened almond milk [1R, 0.5B]
• 1/2c whole milk with hot coffee [0.5Y]
• 1c nonfat plain greek yogurt with 1/2oz blueberries and 1/2oz strawberries [1R, 0.5P]
• 2c spinach/mixed greens with 1/2 roma tomato, 1.5oz sliced ham, 1 hard-boiled egg white, 1/2c baby carrots, [2.5G, 1R]
• 1 medium gala apple [1P]
• 1c broccoli, 1 Rx bar [1G, 2P, 0.5B]
• 2c spinach + 5 baby carrots [2G], 3oz 93/7 turkey burger with a little egg, worchestire sauce, and seasoning [1R], 1/2 whole wheat bun [1Y]

Total: 1782 eaten (1295 net)

Just didn't feel very hungry

Wednesday

Did: MBF Week 1 Days 3 (Upper Burn) & 4 (Core)

After a rough MOTN wake-up with the little one (and then self-induced insomnia), my alarm came too early today. Still got it done...

Food

• 1 scoop protein shake, black iced coffee, 4oz unsweetened almond milk [1R, 0.5B]
• 1/2c whole milk with hot coffee [0.5Y]
• 1/2 spinach wrap [0.5Y], 2oz sliced turkey [1R], 1 egg + 3 egg whites [1R] 
• 1c nonfat plain greek yogurt with 1 peanut-butter oat bar, 1/2oz blueberries and 1/2oz strawberries [1R, 1B, 0.5P]
• 2c spinach/mixed greens with 2oz sliced turkey, a few carrots, some broccoli, 2T sunflower seeds [2G, 0.5P, 1O]
• 1c broccoli [1G], 1 apple [1P]
• 2oz ham [0.5R], 1/2c broccoli + 5 carrots [0.5G], 3oz sweet potato [0.5Y], 1/2c corn [1Y]
• 5oz chardonnay + 0.75oz each bourbon cream/chocolate whiskey [2Y]

Total: 1665 eaten (1184 net)

Thursday

Did: 5mi @ 9:07/mi avg

I listened to a podcast this morning, and really enjoyed it. It's been a long time since I've run with an earbud in, but I was solo this morning and wanted to both get a run in AND catch up on yesterday's insane events at the Capitol. 

Food

• 1/3c oats with 2t brown sugar [1Y, 1T]
• 1 scoop protein shake, black iced coffee, 4oz unsweetened almond milk [1R, 0.5T]
• Rx Bar [2P, 0.5B]
• PB Oat Bar [1O]
• 1c roasted squash [1G], 6oz oven roasted turkey [1.5R, 1T],
• 1/3c oats with 2t brown sugar [1Y, 1T]
• 1 spinach wrap [0.5Y]
• 1/2c whole milk with hot coffee [0.5Y]
• 2c spinach + 1c zucchini [3G]
• 1.5oz jerky + 1 spinach wrap [1R, 0.5Y]
• 1/2c whole wheat pasta [1Y]
• 4oz 93/7 ground turkey [1R]
• 1/2c Prego no sugar added marinara [0.5G]
• 1c broccoli [1G]
• 5oz merlot [1Y]

Total: 1798 eaten (1460 net)

Friday

Did: MBF Week 1 Day 5

This was a fun workout. I'm finally settling into the structure of MBF. The MWF workouts go like this:

• Warm-up
• Block 1: asymmetrical weight lifting (first half of move, second half of move, then 4x combo) x 2
• Jump rope cardio burst
• Block 2: symmetrical weight lifting (2-3 exercises, 3x)
• Jump rope cardio burst
• Block 3: different asymmetrical weight lifting (first half of move, second half of move, then 4x combo) x 2
• Jump rope cardio burst
• Block 4: symmetrical weight lifting (2-3 exercises, 3x)
• Jump rope cardio burst
• Cool-down

Knowing the structure helps me stay focused, and I like having a place to write my weights down too. Another perk of this program is that, unlike LIIFT4, there's no real rest period. Your rest is either when you're doing the "other side" of asymmetrical lifts, or the cardio bursts. 

Food

• 1/3c oats with 2t brown sugar [1Y, 1T]
• 1 scoop protein shake, black iced coffee, 4oz unsweetened almond milk [0.5R, 0.5T]
• Rx Bar [2P, 0.5B]
• PB Oat Bar [1O]
• 2c cauliflower [2G], 1 egg + 4 egg whites [1R], spinach wrap [0.5Y], 4oz ground turkey [1R]
• 1/2c whole milk with hot coffee [0.5Y]
• 1c broccoli [1G]
• 1 scoop protein shake, black iced coffee, 4oz unsweetened almond milk [0.5R, 0.5T]
• 5oz chardonnay [1Y]
• 1c roasted squash/zucchini/roma tomato blend [1G], 1.5 slices ham [0.5R]
• 1c grapes [1P]
• 4oz roasted turkey [1R]

Total: 1726 (1601 net)

Saturday

Did: 10.09mi @ 9:26/mi avg , MBF W1D7

My training partner wasn't up for our full route, but I'm pretty proud of the way I still got it done. I planned on running 2.5mi from my house to meet her for a 4.5mi route, then run 2.5+ home for the full 10. That was much more palatable than trying to run 5+ solo on either end all together. Enjoyed the run, though I was also glad I wore what I did to combat the 10mph winds, which were almost constant.

Came home, stretched, and did MBF's Sunday workout, which is more of a dynamic recovery one than Saturday's higher intensity workout, which I'll do tomorrow. 

Food

• Pre-run: Lara Bar [1.5P, 0.5B], In-Run: Honey Stingers [1Y]
• 1 egg + 4 egg whites [1R], spinach+diced tomatoes+diced orange bell pepper [1c total = 1G], 3/4c chopped ham [1R], 1 shredded wheat biscuit [1Y]
• 1/2c whole milk with hot coffee [0.5Y]
• 1/2c oats with 1t brown sugar [1Y, 1T]
• 2c cauliflower w/1/6c shredded cheese [2G, 0.5B]
• 1 1/4c spinach, 4oz ground turkey, 1/4c no sugar added marinara sauce, 1/2c broccoli [2G, 1R]
• 5oz merlot [1Y]
• PB oat bat + 1/2 banana + 1/2c strawberries + 3/4c plain nonfat Greek yogurt [1P, 1R, 1O]

Total 2125 (1858 net)

Sunday

Did: 5.13mi run @ 9:20/mi, 3.25mi stroller walk, MBF W1D6

Got up early and got a nice, cold run in with my teammate before the family got going (well, too much-- little one was up just before I left at 5am).Took little one out for a stroller walk mid-morning, which facilitated a much-needed nap after the early wake-up. Got my MBF workout done with another little helper after lunch. I didn't like today's format-- it was a very repetitive workout, with lots of back-to-back repetitions of the same exercises. Blegh. Finished off with a 10min yoga session. 

Food

• banana [1P]
• 1 scoop protein shake, black iced coffee, 4oz unsweetened almond milk [0.5R, 0.5T]
• PB Oat Bar [1O]
• 1/2c whole milk with hot coffee [0.5Y]
• 2c roasted veggies (yellow squash, zucchini, cauliflower, and roma tomato] [2G]
• 1 blueberry cake donut [2Y?]
• 1 scoop protein shake, black iced coffee, 4oz unsweetened almond milk [0.5R, 0.5]
• spinach wrap [0.5Y], 2 egg whites [0.25R]
• 1/2c strawberries + 1/2c grapes [1P]
• 2c spinach + 1c total mixed celery/carrot/tomato [3G], 1 wheat bun [1Y], 2-4oz salmon burgers [2R], 1/2oz goat cheese [0.5B], 1 ring pineapple [0.5P]
• 5oz merlot [1Y]

Total 2549, Net 1152

Total Weekly Mileage: 26.6mi

Week-ending Thoughts:

• The dietary changes were a bit of a rude awakening this week, but I was able to catch on and get back on the wagon relatively quickly. I'm still struggling to find a good way to track everything (and, consequentially, tracking food in four different places to figure out which works best for me), though. 
• I feel better when I'm lifting too. I was a little worried about starting a seven-day-a-week program, but I really like how I've scheduled it:
• Monday: MBF Days 1 and 2 (lower body and core)
• Tuesday: 10KTuesday (run)
• Wed: MBF Days 3 and 4 (upper body and core)
• Thursday: easy run
• Friday: MWF Day 5 (full body)
• Saturday: long run and MBF Day 7 (stretch)
• Sunday: MBF Day 6 ("every minute on the minute" HIIT)
• I definitely feel like I can keep this up for the next two weeks, which will help me hit one of my 2021 goals (stick to Beachbody diet for three weeks min). 
• I'm not ready to launch into mile training yet (still figuring out a lot of stressful stuff in my non workout-areas of life), but maybe after I finish MBF in two weeks?