Feelin' Funky

I've been in a bit of a running funk lately. It actually started right around my half PR last month, but it's really been hanging around.

Every once in a while I hit this wall with running where I feel like I will never run fast again, and that I will never enjoy running again. It's nice to be able to take a break when I get in these moods, but I had already signed up for the Hook Half before I hit the slump.

Now that I have a bit of a break (my next half is in June), I'm trying to mix things up a bit. I am planning on doing more strength training (2x a week), running 4 days a week, and doing yoga most days. It is surprisingly easy for me to fit 15-20 minutes of yoga in when I put my mind to it.

I'm hoping the variety will help my running and help me get out of my funk.

I actually had a good run today. Ok, so I had three kind of blah miles and one mile that felt great at the end, but that more than makes up for the other three.

Buddy and Tom ran 5 miles today. Buddy has barely moved since they got home, but he is always so excited when he gets to go running. Soon he'll be up to enough miles that I will be able to bring him with me on some of my weekend runs.

Movies and Training Changes

We had a relaxing post-race weekend. Mostly we lounged at home and watched movies.

First up was Interstellar - long, but infinitely more interesting than Gravity. Plus we only made Matthew McConaughey/Lincoln jokes for the first half hour or so ;)

Last night was Night at the Museum 3 - super cute, like all the Night at the Museum movies, but sad to watch Robin Williams.

I'm trying to get myself to run outside more. I'm getting the miles in, but running outside is so different from the treadmill. Changes in weather, hills and running surface just can't be properly simulated on the treadmill. I've made a few changes in my training too, so hopefully when race day rolls around again I'll be able to keep up the pace I know I should be able to maintain.

Before each run I am doing the lunge matrix and leg swings  and I have started following Coach Jay Johnson's 8 week general strength training plan. These extra steps only add about 10-15 minutes to my workout, and hopefully they'll help my overall fitness. Fingers crossed!

I ran a few easy miles around the neighborhood this afternoon. They weren't fast by any means, but they were easier than I expected them to be this soon after the race this weekend. Plus I went into a different neighborhood than I usually run in, and it was much nicer - less traffic, and better views!

Have you seen any good movies lately?

Lazy Runner, Party of One

Right, so, strength training. I really just need someone to make me do it. Only that wouldn't work either, because when someone tells me to do something, I want to do the opposite. I'm really mature like that.

I was listening to a Runners Connect podcast in the car this morning (which I found because MB of Tutus and Tennies posted about podcasts today) that talked about why strength training is important for runners (injury prevention!) and how to incorporate it into your schedule.

What I took away from it is this: even adding 5-10 minutes of bodyweight exercises before and after a run can make a huge difference.

You can check out the podcast (or just the transcript) HERE.

Inspired by the podcast, I started my run with a short routine known as the Lunge Matrix.

I ran 4 easy miles while I finished watching Blackfish (have you watched it? It's so sad.), and when I was done I ran through a few bodyweight exercises - 3 sets of 12 reps each.

Bridges
Backward Lunges
Squats
Plie Squats

I used an app because we all know I'm incapable of making myself do more than 3 squats before deciding that's enough. Lazy runner, party of one.

It's Cinco de Mayo, so we're celebrating with tacos, chips and guacamole and beer.

Buddy is very excited for the festivities.

Are you doing anything fun for Cinco de Mayo?

Oiselle Roga Shorts and a Lazy Sunday

It was absolutely beautiful here on Sunday. Buddy and I hung out on the deck with some iced tea and my kindle for a while. It doesn't seem like too long ago that I was wearing my jacket to go running, now I'm relaxing on the deck in a sun dress!

Buddy is psyched for spring weather.

I actually had to make him go back inside to cool off at one point, he was just laying there, panting like crazy. He won't drink any water I bring outside for him, so he gets sent inside for his own good.

I had an easy 5 miles on the plan for the day, so I decided to test out my new shorts. The shorts are really lightweight and super comfortable, I really like them! That being said, there was Body Glide involved to prevent chafing. It's not the short's fault though, the problem seems to be my thighs.

It may have motivated me to do some strength training to tone some areas that constant running doesn't tone. Of course, I've made such declarations before and have yet to stick to any strength training program, so there's that.

Why is strength training so boring?

Enter: Running

I'm so behind. I keep meaning to post and then time just gets away from me.

Sunday I was randomly super grumpy. It was one of those I don't like any of my clothes, everything is stupid and I don't know why kind of days.

Enter: running.

I hit the basement for a few miles (and some sprints thrown in for fun) and felt about a million times better after I was finished. Isn't it crazy how a good run can turn your whole day around?

On Monday we had an insane amount of rain. It down-poured all morning, which divided all the usual hyper-aggressive New York drivers into two groups: those who continued to drive as if everything was normal (way too fast), and those who drove 25 miles an hour on the freeway. It was fun.

The parking lot I was in flooded, so I had to fully submerge my shoes in several inches of water to get in my car. Also fun. I drove home barefoot.

My run was supposed to be an easy 4 miles, but I was feeling it, so I ended up running 5 instead. I also managed to remember to do some Post-Run Power Exercises - they're feeling easier, so that seems like a good sign.

Today I was psyched to run all morning and then when it was finally time, I dragged my feet. What is that about? I had an easy 3 miles with the Gilmore Girls and then Buddy and I hung out on the back deck while I cooled down.

It's definitely looking springy around here

Dinner tonight was salmon (from Kodiak, thanks Mom!) with a worcestershire/butter glaze, broccoli and green beans. You should be jealous.

What's for dinner at your house?

Some Early Thoughts on PiYo

There was a decent amount of snow falling this morning. Buddy and I felt that it was much too early to have snow blowing in our faces.

I made a super delicious breakfast with an English muffin, guacamole, greens and eggs.

It was a good way to start the morning. Much better than the snow in my face.

I did two PiYo workouts today. The first one was Define: Upper Body. It was a short one, about 20 minutes, and honestly, it didn't feel like it even counted as working out for the day. Next up was Sweat. This one meant business. It was about 35 minutes and I was definitely sweating! I liked the variety of moves, and the fact that it has a countdown on the screen so if you're in a tough segment you can check it and decide that yes, you can actually do that for another 30 seconds. The two combined made for a good workout!

Some things I like about PiYo so far (as I have done 3 workouts I am now clearly an expert):

• The pace: it uses a lot of yoga moves that I was already familiar with, but is more up tempo. Plus, the variety of moves makes time go pretty quickly. 
• It's low impact strength and stretching. The style of workout is so different from what I'm used to, but that's why I think it's a good complement to my running. I already feel like my muscles are less tight than they have been.
• The feeling I have when I'm finished. It's a relaxed soreness that kind of reminds me of how I feel after a massage.
• I like the instructor. She doesn't yell at me or want me to throw up (I'm looking at you Jillian Michaels). She wants you to work hard, but is more worried about keeping correct form than killing yourself.

Some things I don't like:

• Every workout ends with an ad for Shakeology (a Beachbody meal replacement shake) or some skincare product. I paid for workout program, not the home shopping network on dvd.
• The cost of the program. I actually found my PiYo on Ebay for about $30 (please don't hate me if you're a Beachbody coach), but if you buy it through Beachbody it's around $73. That just seems insane to me (and this is one of their cheaper programs), especially since they're still trying to sell you more things even after you buy the program. 
• There is such a thing as PiYo burpees. Need I say more?

If you do decide to poke around on Ebay (or another site) just be aware that there are a LOT of fake copies of Beachbody programs floating around. 

I managed to convince myself to do some laundry and the dishes this afternoon, but otherwise have had a pretty mellow day. 

And if anyone has control over these things: Buddy would like the snow to please go away now. Thanks!

 What's your least-favorite workout move? Mine is burpees, hands down.

My Mind Goes Weird Places

Buddy was very tired this morning from all the sleeping he does. 

I had an easy three miles on the plan for today. I felt great for the first mile or so and then things tightened up a bit. My leg is definitely improving (for real this time!), I just have to wait a little bit longer to get back to normal. Right, patience, I'll work on that...

Apparently, I magically won a giveaway that I didn't enter:

Because this appeared on my front step this afternoon.

Not quite sure how that works, but hey, I like olives. And free things.

The first thing I thought of was that the lunch box is exactly the right size to carry ice cream in. You know, for all the times I need to carry my ice cream with me.

My mind goes weird places.

I also got this in the mail today:

PiYo is a combination of pilates and yoga that is geared at improving strength and flexibility - both of which I want to work on. I've heard good things, so I'm looking forward to checking it out.

Hope your weekend is off to a good start!

Red Curry, New Workouts and Fun Mail

I made super tasty red curry for dinner last night. I pretty much followed this recipe and added cooked chicken, broccoli and a bag o spinach.

It's SO good! We eat it over rice and topped with chopped peanuts, green onions and some toasted coconut (because I randomly decided to toast coconut yesterday).

I'm back to my training plan, which means no run today. I have speedwork on Thursday, so I wanted to save my legs. The other day I was reading a blog (I can't remember which one) and they were talking about Fitnessblender. 

Fitnessblender is another video workout site and as an added bonus: it's completely free! For real.

Since I want to be able to rock my run tomorrow, I didn't want to do anything too crazy today. I ended up finding a core/back workout that was a nice, easy workout. It made me focus more on form and muscle control.

I'm actually thinking about doing this after a run, I think the stretching and core work would make a really nice cool down.

I also did a quick arm workout.

Buddy was more than ready to go upstairs by the time I finished.

I got fun mail today! 

I pretty much live in this purple sweatshirt, so (with the help of a Christmas gift card) I decided to get another one in a different color.

I got this one in black. 

I also grabbed this tank while I was at it.

Merry Christmas to me! 

What's the last fun mail you got?

I don't like grape-flavored things

I don't know why I bought this. I like grapes, but I generally don't like grape-flavored things.

This was not an exception. The grape flavor was really mild, but had a bit of a fake grape aftertaste. Not my favorite.

I have discovered that the grocery store is not busy at all if I go a little before lunchtime. And I actually remembered to put gas in the car before the light came on. It's the little things, be proud of me.

I was really excited at how cheap it was to fill the tank - it's been a while since the number was that low!

Since the weather was decent (read: the wind chill wasn't -4) I took Buddy for a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon.

He enjoyed smelling everything and staring thoughtfully into the distance.

My right ankle decided to randomly be really tight today. I don't remember hurting it, but I've clearly upset it. Rather than do nothing, I gave my arms a good strength training session. I did 3 sets of 15 reps of pretty much every exercise ever (ok, there were 17). I found this list to give me ideas and keep me from doing a few bicep curls and stopping.

Not like that's ever happened before...

I made beef stroganoff for dinner tonight. I mostly followed this recipe from Gimmie some Oven. It turned out really good - though I accidentally went a little pepper-heavy.

Do you like grape-flavored things? 

Buenos for days!

It's rainy and gross out here, which I guess is a nice change from freezing and windy. Maybe the change in weather will make my insanely static-y hair calm down.

Tom is back at work today, so he was up early and out the door. Buddy is so used to having us both home, he's been pouting and ignoring me all day - except for when I was eating cuties, he loves those, so he came to say hi and see if he could mooch a piece or two.

I decided I should be productive today, so I started off my morning with a delicious egg sandwich for fuel.

It was an English muffin with guacamole, eggs, baby spinach and kale - I could eat egg sandwiches every day.

I followed up breakfast with some dishes and then hit the grocery store to grab some things for dinner.

I'm making this slow cooker Creole Chicken and Sausage from Pinch of Yum - if you haven't been on this site, you're missing out, they have some amazing recipes! The slow cooker is bubbling away and the house smells really good!

Dinner in progress:

This strength training business is sticking around (so far) and I hit the basement for another round of Jillian Michaels No More Trouble Zones. I did it last Monday and was sore for days, hopefully it doesn't last as long this time around. Some exercises felt easier than last week, and some still made me want to fall on the floor and quit - working muscles you don't normally use is hard!

I also added some planks for the Sweat Pink #NoExcuses challenge - day 1 was to do at least a 30 second plank.

I broke open one of my favorite Christmas presents today. Tom's the best. :)

Buenos for days!

The key is to not eat all of them at once ;)

Now I'm off to do some laundry and catch up on some blogs.

Do you ever make egg sandwiches for breakfast? What do you put on them? (I'm always looking for new ideas!)

- My go-to is just eggs and Sriracha - so good!

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Some Saturday Randomness

I meant to write yesterday, but I got home later than I thought I would last night.

Friday we woke up to snow, which I didn't know we were getting.

Rather than do anything productive (ok, I did the dishes), I decided to make cookies instead - snickerdoodles!

I really didn't want to work out, but mostly because I was feeling lazy (which I decided was not a good enough reason), so did a little 30 day shred with Jillian Michaels. I may even make it past level 1 one of these days! ;)

I got a little caffeine boost from some Nuun Energy before heading off to babysit for one of the kiddos from my old class.

I intend to use this holiday glass all year round, and you can't stop me.

I didn't end up getting home until 11:30, and since there's no way I can just go straight to sleep, it was yet another Saturday morning where I woke up way too tired.

It was a little brisk this morning - check out that "feels like" temp!

We had about 14 runners show up this morning for our run. Most of yesterday's snow is gone from the roads, but the trails still have about an inch on them. It definitely slowed us down a bit (especially on the downhills where you don't want to suddenly lose traction), but other than my frozen face, it was a really good run! My gps says we went 6.61 miles in 1:00:32, a 9:09 pace. Not bad considering the weather and the trail conditions.

Any exciting plans for the weekend?

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Shorter Hair and a Scary Elevation Chart

I finally did it. I made an appointment and got my hair cut.

I know you were all wondering. ;)

If I had waited another two months, I would have gone 2 years without a haircut. That's a little extreme.

I managed to not get it cut as short as I sometimes do (I tend to get it cut to my chin and then I hate it after a day or two).

My hairstylist was disturbed by how long I had gone without a hair cut. I was disturbed by the half hour she spent blow drying my hair.

She would have been absolutely horrified to see it an hour after I got home. I had already shoved it up into a ponytail while I let Jillian Michaels yell at me some more (30 day shred this time) before I ran a few easy treadmill miles.

I'm really trying to keep up the strength training (you know, since I've done it twice this week). I know that I need to push through the first few days of feeling sore (really sore) and that if I just stick with it, it will get easier. Thinking about how that added strength will help my running is my main motivation.

It's especially helpful to think of the hills I'm going to face at the West Point Half.

Did I show you this yet?

That's in meters, not feet!

I think I need to go do some more squats or something.

Buddy was trying to get to the sunshine and got tangled in the curtain today.

Good thing he's cute.

Do you run mostly flat races or hilly ones?

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Race Sign Up, Strength Training and Crab

I took my rest day on Sunday very seriously. Mostly unintentionally.

I was ridiculously tired from not sleeping well on Friday and waking up early on Saturday to run, so I ended up sleeping in. Really sleeping in.

Ok, I woke up at 10:58.

The day mostly consisted of catching up on blogs and digging through boxes in the basement for all of my workout dvds - I did manage to do some laundry though!

And we watched Divergent. It was cute - Hunger Games is better though.

I also signed up for my first race of the year - the West Point Half Marathon at the end of March. It's hilly. Crazy hilly. One of my weekend running buddies ran it last year and is running it again this year, so we are now planning to harass convince some our other weekend runners to join us.

Good thing I got my new training journal in the mail over the weekend!

Today I reinforced the knowledge that while I can run for hours, I have really minimal muscle strength when it comes to anything else.

I did a Jillian Michaels dvd and wanted to die for about half of it. I guess that means I should do it more than once a year.

She's so mean.

You should definitely be jealous of our dinner tonight. For Christmas, my mom sent us a big box of fish and some king crab.

Merry Christmas to us!

Buddy's had an exhausting day of napping. It's a rough life.

Do you do any workout videos?

Are you a cardio addict or are you good about strength training?