Move on rouge

Move that body: 3.32 mile run (using 4:1 interval)

I am a morning runner.

I am not an evening runner.

And I’m certainly not an afternoon runner.

This is why:

You come back looking like your half-blind grandma attacked you with the rouge before junior prom. And you get a side stitch because you ate zucchini bread, chased with decaf coffee, an hour before you left.

I didn’t get much sleep last night and had no desire to run this morning. None. At. All. However, I want to commit to three runs a week as I look toward Fort-4-Fitness, and I had been hoping to fit in a run today.

So it was an afternoon run for me.'

Once Mark (aka Hop Along, but that’s a different story for a different day) got home from school, I left Miles with Dad, leashed up Denali and headed out.

A moment of silence, please, for my first run without the BOB.

I’m still working on finding a good interval so I thought I’d start out with a 5-minute walk to warm up and try a 4:1 throughout. It was manageable but not easy and challenging without being exhausting. It felt GREAT compared to those first couple runs. My legs actually MOVED (relatively speaking, that is).

The only problem, if you can even call it that, is that I somehow timed my intervals so that I had to run up the two big hills on my route. Yeah. I’m awesome like that.

What time of day do you like to run/exercise?

What I Ate Wednesday: Cutting the cheese … again

Eff it.

That’s what I said to that whole dairy-free thing this weekend. I ate pizza. I had fro-yo. I had cheese. And then, on Monday, Miles had one of his worst days in a long time. Non-stop fussing and discomfort. Was it the dairy? I don’t know but I’m back to being dairy free just in case.

Three cheers for soy milk … YAY! Yay! Uh …

Now, on to my eats for WIAW.

Breakfast

Multigrain English muffin with Artisana pecan butter and tart cherry butter with a peach on the side

Lunch

Low-carb wrap with a Morningstar Farms spicy black bean burger, veggie “cheese” slice, guacamole and salsa with sweet potato fries. I washed it down with an Ocean Spray Diet Sparkling Cranberry – LOVE THESE.

Snack

Apple and a Larabar – obviously I was very hungry come snack time

Homemade zucchini bread (recipe from Eating Well). Hooray for Miles taking a nap!

Dinner

Leftover marinara with Ronzoni SmartTaste penne and Brussels sprouts

Evening snacks

Half-cup Private Selection Northern Black Cherry sorbet – BEST. STUFF. EVER.

Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal (got a free sample in the mail) with light vanilla soy milk

Come again

Move that body: 4.02-mile run

It’s been five days and three runs later since my underwhelming (and disappointing) comeback to running after having Miles six weeks ago.

And, as many of you told me it would, it’s getting better. Don’t misunderstand me – it’s not wonderful. I still feel heavy and slow but I feel satisfied after each run. OK, very satisfied.

The key has been taking a page out of my preggo running book and adjusting my mindset.

Healthy Strides’ (Preliminary) Guide to a Comeback

1. Running is fun … and you should make it that way. On a run Sunday, I joined a pal and some of her friends for a jaunt around the park. Well, the jaunt around the park turned into a near 6-mile outing for me. I was so excited by new company and great conversation that I couldn’t bear to make my turn off for home. A reasonable walk/run ration made the hour-plus feel effortless, and I was sad that I couldn’t join them for the rest of their run (it neared 9 miles).

2. Change your expectations. When I signed up for the Fort-4-Fitness 4-mile run, I estimated that my pace would be 10-minute miles. After all, I had been pulling some decent paces late into my pregnancy and being 20 pounds lighter should help me rock it. Right? Right!

Except not.

It was nearly nine weeks between runs. Nine weeks is a long time, and it was naive to think that I would just get right in.

3. Walking is OK. My first run back was a slog fest because I was determined to run as far as I could without walking. It didn’t matter that I would have fared better (and probably my pace, as well) had I given myself breathers at regular intervals.

4. What goes up must come down. I spent 7 months or so watching my pace climb and climb, and I bet I’ll spend the next 7 months watch the pace go down and down. It’s OK for me to be slow right now. I’m taking the Garmin on all runs so that I can see what I’m doing and celebrate success as I get back in the groove. Already, my pace was 30 seconds faster today (on a longer run, to boot) than it was Thursday on that first run back.

5. Create a plan. I’m working on this one but I plan to come up with a schedule that uses run/walk intervals to build up to (hopefully) 4 miles non-stop just in time for my September race. The plan will give me focus and help me to regain endurance smartly and slowly.

6. Cross train. I’m sort of sucking on this one right now, I’ll admit. Cross training not only makes you stronger and less likely to get injured but allows you an opportunity not to get caught up in just running and gives you the chance to achieve success in other ways. Riding 10 miles on the bike and speeding past runners is a great high ;)

7. Sign up for a race. Having a tangible, realistic goal will keep you motivated. You can’t just say, “I want to run an 8:30 mile.” It might take a while, or you risk injury doing so, to set such a goal. By saying that I want to run my 4-mile race non-stop, even if it’s slow, on Sept. 25 is a well-defined goal that I am sure I can do with the right training.

8. Remember: You will have your moment. It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow. But one day, you’ll cross that finish line with a rockin’ PR and you’ll know that you earned it.

9. Don’t get caught in the comparison trap. There will always be someone thinner, someone faster, someone with more endurance. You do what you can do that day and that’s that. After all, every single run – long or short, fast or slow - is a victory.

Baring it all

Move that body: 2.3-mile walk

Walking.

That was the only thing I ever intended to do in my Vibrams. I understand there are benefits to barefoot running and that people really enjoy it but it’s not just something I’m interested in. I am, on the other hand, interested in preventing injuries and thought walking in Vibrams would provide some of the benefits of barefoot running without actually barefoot running.

Of course, that all changed tonight when a little someone woke up about a third of a mile from home and let me know he was hungry. Very hungry, I gathered from the, err, volume of his request. Some moms might be able to listen to their young one scream as they finish their walk but Miles’ cries make my blood curdle.

So I ran. I ran the third of a mile home in my Vibrams.

How did I like it? Umm … let’s just say I didn’t love it.

I enjoy walking in my Vibrams because they are lightweight and easy, offer my muscles a chance to work on a walk and remind me of playing kickball barefoot in the cul-de-sac as a child. (Yes, I was the girl with the black feet all summer long. I’m pretty sure my mom hated me.)

Running that short distance in my Vibrams wasn’t an experience for me the way walking in them is. Sure, it could have been the reason I was running in them. I mean, no one like a run motivated by an unhappy child. But … I don’t know … it just didn’t seem, well, me.

What’s your stance on barefoot running?