Boo Legs

So so tempted to run today. My shin is feeling better but I can tell that its still not 100%. I'm trying to be smart. .... but being smart is hard sometimes. I keep reminding myself that I don't want to suffer later so let it completely heal now. (whatever it is...I still don't know. I'm thinking it was just really bad shin splints?) Still compressing and icing like a champ.

Did body pump today at the gym followed by 20 mins on the elliptical.

While I was training for the marathon, I could eat anything I wanted cuz I was logging a lot of miles. I got into the habit of having some sort of treat at least once, sometimes twice a day. It didn't matter cuz I burned it off like crazy and my weight didn't change. Without realizing it, my simple sugar/carb intake was increasing. (not necessarily a bad thing when logging a lot of miles).  In the last two weeks my mileage and training has significantly decreased yet I've noticed that I still crave those simple carbs. I don't want to feel like I need to have a treat after every meal, so last week I told my husband I was cutting out treats for a week to lessen my cravings for it.

Sure enough at the BBQ I went to yesterday there was a dessert. I politely refused it and my friend seemed to take offense. I just told her I wouldn't care for any and she immediately started asking me why, and why do I think I need to lose weight. I explained to her that I wasn't necessarily trying lose weight I just don't want to be craving sugar so much. Then her husband got in on it too and they started saying how crazy I am how I should just have dessert, blah, blah, blah. The point of this is that I'm just frustrated because I don't like feeling pressured. I shouldn't feel bad for wanting to pass up on dessert for one night.

By no means am I "giving up sugar." I love my ice cream too much for that. I just want to lessen my need for it. I shouldn't feel guilty for that. Rant over.

Wow, that is a novel. Sorry if your eyes hurt. Mine kinda do.

I gave in.....I ran. oops?

Actually it wasn't that bad. My shin kinda ached but it warmed up like it did right before the marathon. Whereas last week, it never got warm and always hurt.

Not gonna lie, it felt great to get the legs moving again. Ran 4 miles at 8:15 min/miles. I'm itching to do speedwork but again...trying to be smart. I did upper body weights after the run on the treadmill.

30 min elliptical followed by.....1 whopping mile. Intense, I know. Followed by lower body weights. I love working legs. They are so much stronger than my upper body. (In fact my 60 year old mother can totally cream me in an arm wrestling match, I've tried several times.)

I ran down to Sugarhouse Park, around the park and then back home. I didn't take the Garmin with me but I'm pretty sure I was around 8-8:15 min miles. It felt ....just okay. I am surprised that I still feel sometimes sluggish and slow. Today I felt like I was putting in more effort than I usually do to maintain that pace. I was surprised when I came home and saw what my actual time was. Kinda disappointing. It has taken me FOR-EH-VER to recover from this marathon. Please tell me this is normal.

I've decided not to do any fall marathons. For lots of different reasons, but overall I think my body just took a beating with this last training cycle/marathon. Hmmm... Maybe I'm not as tough as I thought. (or hoped) Also, my husband has decided he wants to do a marathon! So fun. This came with no pressure from me whatsoever. We've done races together before but he's never really been all that in to them. He just did them with me to impress me while we were dating. :) But I think being at the finish line at the UV marathon did something to him. He came home saying he wanted to do it. He asked me to create a training plan. I was skeptical that he'd actually follow through...but three weeks later, he has completed every run and is starting to look forward to it. I'm proud of him and excited to be on the supporting end this time. If I can't do it, darn it, I'll live vicariously through him!

I'm easing back into running. It seems like at the beginning of every run lately, my legs won't go as fast as I want them to go. The turnover seems to take a while to really get going. But overall my run felt good. I warmed up for a mile @ 8:30 followed by some quicker (for me :) miles between 7:15-7:30 followed by a mile cool down.  And then I hit the floor for some good ol push ups, tricep push ups, and ab work. 

Its hard to believe that I wanted to run 26.2 miles @ 7:10 or better. I'm realizing that was such a huge goal. Maybe even a bit unrealistic. Welp, go big or go home right? I tried going big and the wind (and my head) made me go home. The good thing is, I've definitely learned from this marathon experience. But I'm still shooting for a sub 3:10 next time! (whenever "next time" is....)

Wow, so not a good run today. I started out feeling blah, hoping the feeling would get better as I got into my run. Usually it takes about 2-3 miles to start feeling good. The blah feeling got mildly better around 5 miles, just downhill from there. It just was hard all around. I felt sluggish, my shin ached, my knee started aching. WTH? Not a fan of the run today, not a fan at all.