Last week kind of sucked. I didn't do too well in training and my diet went awry a few times, but I'm determined to be back on track this week. I managed to squeeze in a few miles last week but nothing I haven't done before. The goal is to increase my distance and my speed, not maintain my distance and decrease my speed. I just felt sluggish and in a bit of a rut. However, my cousin and fitness guru was nice enough to take an hour of her time on Friday to give me some free personal training and some exercises to do on my non-training days to strengthen the muscles that will carry me through those 21 kilometers. She has me doing some crazy hip and butt stuff that will increase the mobility in my legs and joints and boy am I feeling it. Turns out if you strengthen your butt then it takes some of the pressure off the legs, (yes please)! So this week's goal is to do two 30 minute sessions as fast as I can and then tackle 4 miles on Saturday.
When I am in control of the situation, I actually don't have a problem staying under my 1250 calorie goal and getting in my training times. It's when you have company over to eat, or you meet a friend for dinner that can really throw you off. Greg met a friend for breakfast on Saturday, came home and entered in his calories and he was 90% done his day...before 11am. To help stay on track I'm just eating exactly what I ate a few weeks ago when I was under my calorie goal.
So I'm waiting for my dad to pop by now and watch the boys so I can tackle another 30 minutes, but this wind is making it hard to get motivated. Turns out I'm not a very internally motivated person. It's hard for me to get up and say, "Yay Audrey! Let's do this". It's more like, "Ug, maybe if I do this I'll treat myself to a Starbucks". I guess I need to find a way to keep myslef externally motivated. As a treat for dropping my first 10 pounds I purchased new running clothes. Pants, long sleeved shirt and short sleeved shirt. I think another 5 pounds might warrant new shoes (which I desperately need anyways). Just need to find $140 somewhere to get some.
There are other things besides gifts and coffee that help me get going on slow times like this. I've noticed the choice in music and time of day contribute to my success a lot. I'm not a good morning runner or walker, and I'm not good with music that is too energetic. You would think something with a lot of kick to it or something high energy would make you a better or faster runner, but it burns me out fast and makes me push too hard too soon. I need just the right album with some ups and some downs to correspond with my heart rate. Some good ones I've found are:
1. Angels and Airwaves
2. The new Lights album
3. Owl City
I recently discovered that although I love music, I actually run the best while listening to talking (sermon downloads actually). they are anywhere from 30-45 min and focusing on the speaking helps take my mind off my heavy legs and tight chest or the sweat pooling. AND my "heart" feels great when I get home, very uplifting. also, I find that my body seems to find it's own rhythm and pace. feels more like every thing is working together not against it self.
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