July 14, 2013

Window washing

As ridiculous as it sounds, I was nervous all night about my tempo run this morning. It's so weird that I get nervous for certain runs (particularly long runs and tempo runs), because I've been doing them for over three years now. I woke up this morning at around 6:00, and I looked at the weather on my phone--70 degrees with 94% humidity! It certainly wasn't the amazing 57 degrees I had the other day, so I decided to get out early, before it heated up some more.

When I stepped outside, I could see that all the car windows were fogged up (from the outside), and the water was actually dripping down the car because it was so humid. Everything felt wet, including the air. I briefly thought about going inside to the treadmill, but I had gotten up at 6:00 on a Sunday to run, so I might as well make the most of it.

I wish I could say I loved every second of the run, but tempo runs are HARD, and I was counting down the miles until it was over. The goal for a tempo run is to keep my heart rate in Zone 3 (163-175); I started out by warming up until my heart rate reached Zone 3, about half a mile in.

I ran out until I reached the two-mile mark, then I turned around and headed home. I ran 3.25 miles at tempo pace (er, heart rate, rather), then I ran slowly to cool down until I got home at mile 4. I was exhausted, and SO hot. I actually went right into the bathroom, turned just the cold spigot on in the shower, and peeled off my wet clothes. The cold water was a bit of a shock, but it felt wonderful! I felt amazing when I was done, and when I looked at my splits, I was really happy with today's tempo:

Splits 1 & 6 were my warm-up and cool down, so my actual average tempo pace was 8:05/mi. A great workout!

My parents took the kids to church this morning, and while they were gone, Jerry and I went to my parents' house to wash their windows. My mom had made an appointment with a window washer (her house has 50 windows!!), but the guy canceled at the last minute. She asked if Jerry and I wanted to do it for $100--sure!

It ended up taking us about three hours, and it was a tough upper body workout! My shoulders and arms are going to be really sore tomorrow, I can feel it already. Jerry went around and did the outside while I did the inside. I was pretty proud of our work when we were done--the windows looked great.

I know that I sound like a broken record lately, but I am having such a hard time staying on track with my diet! I'll do great for a couple of days, and then throw all my cares to the wind and eat way too much. Then, of course, I pay the price for it--not only on the scale, but my running feels harder when I've been eating crappy.

There are 13 weeks until the Chicago Marathon, and Andrea suggested we do a little game/bet to help keep each other on track until the race. My goal is to be at my goal weight (133) on marathon day, so I just have to try really hard to maintain my weight (well, lose a few pounds, actually, because I'm up from all the crappy eating). Before I leave for Chicago, I'll weigh in and if I'm over my goal weight, I'll owe her money for each pound that I'm over (same goes for Andrea).

She does Weight Watchers, too, so we're also going to keep each other in check with our food tracking. For this, we'll do the same thing I did with my sister; for each PP that we go in the negative over the course of a week, we'll owe each other $1. Obviously, the goal isn't to earn money from each other, but to have consequences for binge eating or just going way off track. One binge could set me back quite a bit! ;)  I think that turning it into a "game" like this will be fun.

Jerry starts his new job tomorrow. I'm excited (and nervous) for him! I'm sure he's going to do great, but I just really want him to like it and have no regrets about leaving his previous job. Things are going to be a little different while we adjust to his new schedule, but in the long run, I think it'll be a great change.


Just a reminder, tomorrow is Motivational Monday! If you have a health/fitness accomplishment you want to share (along with a photo), feel free to e-mail it to me and I may include it in tomorrow's post. My e-mail is SlimKatie (at) runsforcookies (dot) come. Can't wait to see your accomplishments for the week!

8 comments:

  1. Good luck with your "game" & Jerry's new job, I hope he comes home saying he's going to love it to ease your nerves!

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  2. Only $100! Your mom got a deal. Are we allowed to know what Jerry does for work? I'm nosy!

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  3. AnonymousJuly 14, 2013

    Sounds like your bets could keep you on track! My hubby an I just started WW and it doesn't feel like a chore for the first time. www.delightedbylife.wordpress.com

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  4. Awesome run. I can't believe that humidity. I don't think I've ever seen it THAT bad where it makes your cars all wet and foggy? Crazy!

    Hope Jerry has a good day at work tomorrow. Starting a new job is always scary but in a few days it will be the new norm. :)

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  5. Thanks for sharing your info. I really appreciate your efforts and I will be waiting for your further write ups thanks once again


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  6. AnonymousJuly 15, 2013

    I have been off track with my eating too! I have no clue why but ice been having the darnedest time getting back to it.

    Good luck Jerry!

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  7. AnonymousJuly 15, 2013

    I agree about tempo runs - I dread them like no other. Easy runs are easy and relatively long, and intervals are painful but over before you really have time to suffer. Tempo though is like the worst mesh of these two - relatively long and painful.

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  8. I think it's great that you're paying so much attention to your tracking and everything. You've said summers are very hard for you, so even if you are up a couple pounds, that's better than where you were a year ago, right?

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