I forgot to post last week. Oh yeah, Memorial Day and all that. Hope yours was good.
Week 7 felt very successful to me. I had plenty of energy on all of the runs. We were rewarded with a short “long” run of only 5 miles, which anymore feels quite short. I did cross training at CG twice. The only yuck factor for the week was that the Texas heat is upon us. High humidity and warm mornings. Sweatfest.
While I’m here, and while I have the benefit of knowing that week 8 went well as well, I’ll risk documenting why I think things were easier for me. First, I’ve continued to lose pounds, and every pound makes a difference in the “pounding” that I have to take. Second, I think the cross training has been very helpful in strengthening my body all over. The squats and lunges, and even the sprinting have all helped. I completed 5 weeks at CG, going only twice per week, and even that little bit has helped to strengthen everything I use to run 4 times per week. Finally, I gave in to a bit of a mix in my macros…[STOP] Let me explain.
[BEGIN RANT]
First off, talking macros annoys the crap out of me. It is also a potentially dangerous trigger for an overeater. I don’t want to get into this too much right now, but put simply, if your problem is overeating and/or eating for the wrong reasons and/or compulsive eating and/or food addiction and/or compulsive dieting (that should cover lots of us), then diving into nutritional analysis, calorie counting, elimination diets, and micro tweaking are potentially dangerous. Why? Because they are all forms of continuing to love and focus on food. They’re sort of the other side of the coin. In other words, I can continue my love affair with food as I think about it all the time, analyze it, dissect it, weigh it, etc. etc. So, I gotta watch myself. My goal is to relax about food, enjoy food as God intended, eat when I’m hungry, and stop when I am (or should be) satisfied. My plan includes being mindful and intentional about eating and getting to the bottom of issues rather than soothing stuff by eating. If this makes no sense to you, you probably don’t have the issue that many of us deal with, so skip this and go have an ice cream or something. I won’t and don’t argue this anymore. [END RANT]
Back to reluctantly jacking with macros. CG suggested that I up my carbs a little. These days, that kind of advice sends shivers down the spine of just about everyone. However, I agreed to do so. I’m not putting the numbers here, because you will lose focus if I do. Suffice it to say that I increased my carbohydrates a little bit, to more than I was used to, trying to be somewhat healthful in my choices. You know what I mean.
Here’s what I found. I had increased energy and better endurance on runs. And, I continued to lose pounds. When running, I just felt better. I was afraid that upping my carbs was going to equate to a gain on the scale. So far, not true. I know not all carbs are equal, so please know that I’m keeping them as healthy and varied as I can.
That brings me to Week 8
During week 8, we increased our run time on the run/walk method to 6:1, and continuing to make one of the runs non-stop. This is for the purposes of varying things and building endurance. This week’s long run was 13 miles. Honestly, I was a little nervous about the 13 miles because I struggled a bit in the last mile and a half on the 11-mile run. However, we committed to running slowly, and we had to slow down a few times in the early miles. We GU’d three times, and we had hydrated well for the previous three days.
We both got through the 13 miles feeling strong. Ready to stop at 13.1, but not feeling spent. We both felt we could have run a little faster, and that is exactly what we set out to do. For me, the last mile and a half was fine. I was glad to be done, but more than that, I was proud that we achieved our goal. We were patient, and we hit our marks. We were blessed with a slightly cooler morning and glorious cloud cover. That makes a huge difference. I got through this one still anxious about dietary changes but committed to continuing the plan.
I’m going to post up a link on Facebook today with my fundraising link and put it out there that I’m really doing this. I’m going to appeal for money over there only once per month. I’m going to direct people who are truly interested to come here so that people don’t have to hide or unfriend me because they get sick of hearing about running.
This next week, we have an easier week with a shorter long run. Looking forward to a good one. I hope that you have a great week as well. If you want to talk with me about anything you’ve read here, I’d love to have that conversation. DM me or get in touch with me. I’m not hard to find.
AND FINALLY, PLEASE SUPPORT MY EFFORTS TO RAISE $3,000 TO BRING CLEAN WATER TO PEOPLE WHO DESPERATELY NEED IT. GIVE TODAY! HERE’S THE LINK.
greggorunner 