Week 4 of training

Last Sunday just before I published my first blog I was so nervous about the process since all this is new to me. I thought I would start off the new week by sticking to my clean eating diet but at that moment I decided I would just go to Five Guys and get a cheeseburger with mushrooms and fries for dinner and yes had sweet potato cake too for dessert. The sweet potato cake from the DC Sweet Potato Cake is amazing just in case you have never tried it.  I realized later that am an emotional eater and get temporary satisfaction from delicious food which is exactly not good for you.  In any case this is only one meal and won't be the case all week long.  I thought I would be guilty and beat myself up with the choice of dinner but oh no I was a happy camper until later on that night that guilt set in and that was no fun.  After beating myself that night I decided that I would make better decisions during the week and try my best to deal the realities about life while making the right choices.  My week in review:

Monday:
I started off the week feeling empowered and determined to stick to my clean eating plan and told myself I will not be breaking my own rules.  My breakfast that day was an egg white scramble with sausage, mushrooms, spinach and a little cheese.  Had the right snacks for the day  between fruit, roasted soy beans and almonds, I was so confident that I am on the right track and nothing is going to stop this young lady. My dinner that night was zoodles and baked chicken and made sure that I had prepared enough for the next 4 days to take for lunch as well as packed snacks for the week.

I bought new cycle shoes so I tried them out for the cycle class I did on Monday evening.  The feel of new shoes made the class more challenging compared to when I was wearing regular trainers and I felt different types of muscles burn and left the class feeling like a super hero.  Best part about this class is that I went with 4 of my friends and it felt like we were at the club dancing in one spot while exercising.

Tuesday:
Am still on a roll and feel am conquering the world with all my cravings and no one can stop me now not even my negative side.  Well I did pretty well, enjoyed the leftovers of the day before, felt energized and since it was not too cold went for a walk during my lunch break.  The barbell class was fun and is always challenging and we got to sweat, moan and groan during the class but got it done.  On my run training schedule, Tuesday night is when we are scheduled to do a 2 mile tempo run.  So after doing lots of squats, strength training and was all sweaty and exhausted I knew I still had to do my run homework.

The thing about running just like anything else in life is that you have to do the work in order to be successful.  So with that in mind and some whining about how I don't like running on the treadmill aka dreadmill I was joined by a friend and off we went running.  I really don't know how people are able to run on a treadmill and for a long period of time.  Running 2 miles on the treadmill felt like I was running 100 miles and the tough part is when you think that you are almost done with the run and you check the time and it is only 5 mins and you haven't yet done half a mile and wonder when will this end...arrgghhh.  While I watched the mileage increase very slowly and the clock looked like it was not moving at all all I could do is try and focus on my music. I was able to finish and felt great after I was done because that run on the treadmill is what I called mission impossible but it was done...woot woot.

Wednesday:
The night of hill repeats.  I guess this is the week of wearing new shoes and it takes a while to break into new shoes.  I bought a pair of new running shoes since I felt that the ones I had on previously were hurting my feet and knees so it was time for change. Have you been in a situation where everything isn't working for you the way you planned it and you just feel like you would rather just go home, chill, watch TV and eat some good food?  Well that was Wednesday afternoon, I had so much to do and for some strange reason didn't think that my baked teriyaki chicken with zoodles will be enough and bought some fries to add onto my lunch (see emotional eating again)   Clearly that is what one would call over eating but I convinced myself that I was "carb loading" for the hill repeats that night...yeah right...that is just eating for the sake of it.  Any runner would get a kick out of this comment.  The rest of the afternoon I felt so full and uncomfortable and started to regret my choices but the decision had been made and the food tasted good.

Just before training I realized I had forgotten my water bottle and flash light and at that point made up my mind that nothing was going to work for me that evening and doing these hill repeats was going to hurt  whether I had the right attitude or not.  I complained about how I don't like running outdoors, how it is dark outside, it is cold and how everything is so hard as if this is my first time running outdoors.  It ended up being a nice night, great running weather at about 46 degrees F.  Despite the negativity I was able to do it which is all that matters.

Thursday:
I decided to make this a rest day since I had to meet friends for dinner.  For somebody who had said they would not have any alcohol before the race I ended up having 2 glasses of white wine (don't judge me). I think this "live a little" attitude needs to be put in check because it seems am finding any excuse not to be disciplined and yet my days are going by fast.  The only form of exercise I did was go for a walk since am on a Fitbit work week challenge and needed to get my steps in for the day.  My highlight for the day though was the amazing company I had for dinner.  Nothing beats friends you haven't seen in a while and catching up over good food and conversation is a great pass time.

Friday:
This is the official rest day both from my gym routine and also my training schedule.  It was a pretty windy and cold day so I was determined to rest until when I remembered Friday is the last day of my work week challenge and my competitive side still had to come in a little.  I had convinced myself that I was really going to relax and looked at the number of steps that I had taken most of the day and they were only 357 steps.  How do I get to 10,000 steps as my daily goal while on a rest day? With extra push from my best friend who reminded me that I have no choice but to get up and do something I had to go for a walk.  This reminded me that having a support system is also important because it keeps you accountable.

Saturday:
Reality set in on Friday night after I got my run schedule for the half marathon training which meant that I was going to do more miles compared to the majority of people in the training program.  Most of the runners in the training program are training for a 10 mile (16km) race later this spring however, there are a few of us in the program who will be running half marathon races before the 10 mile race. Saturday morning started off when a few of us had to meet earlier than the rest of the crew to do a either 1 or 2 mile runs before the scheduled 6 mile run with the group.  It was cold with temperatures in the high 20s so one had to get ready with layers, gloves and hat and off we went.  I only had to do 1 mile but ended up doing a little over a mile after missing the turn around point.

We met up with the group to start out our 6 mile run and all I can say is that course was really hilly.  Whenever I went down a hill I didn't have enough time to smile and enjoy any flat course because we would end up going up another hill. I think the mental part was a little tough because every time I looked up and saw that I had to go up a hill I assumed that was the end of the hill but no not at all. One went up and down and up and down again until when we were done with the 6 miles.  In so many words many of the runners called this brutal and those who liked it well I didn't get to talk to them...LOL.   Despite the challenging course we all did it and finished strong.  Yes I run 7.4 miles on Saturday woot woot.  We were able to enjoy breakfast after our run and enjoy great company.  The rest of the day was spent chilling and that is all I could do since I was exhausted.

My week might have had it's challenges and I might have had some set backs with my eating and even my attitude when it came to running but am glad this week is over.  The best part about this journey is having a great support system and even when you don't want to go out and exercise accountability plays a big role in this process. Off to the next week and hope it will be better.