November 26, 2013

Catching Fire

Yesterday was my long run. It felt kind of weird to do it on a Monday, but I think I'm going to like the change from Fridays to Mondays. Yesterday's long run was only six miles, so it didn't really feel like a long run regardless.

I decided to do an out-and-back route, at my long run pace of 8:53/mile. It was really cold and pretty windy, and I wish I'd taken the wind into consideration when I decided what route to do. My typical out-and-back goes down a road that is mostly open fields, which means there is nothing to block the wind.

It felt SO HARD. I thought, "It's too windy for this pace! I should just forget trying to hit my target pace, and run very easy. Running six miles like this is going to be grueling." But yesterday was the first day of my winter training, and I didn't want to start out like that! So rather than thinking of the fact that I had to run six miles at an 8:53 pace, I thought of the fact that I only had to run three miles at that effort level. The wind was killer on the way out, and I was really struggling to maintain pace. But I reminded myself that once I turned around, it would be a cake walk home.

And sure enough, at the three-mile mark, I turned around, and my effort level went way down. The same pace felt ten times easier than it had on the way out. I don't ever remember it being as windy as it's been here lately! Anyway, my first training run was a success.


Last night, I went to the movies with my dad. My mom was having some ladies from her church come over, so my dad wanted to get out of the house while they were there. He'd read The Hunger Games book series, so he asked me if I wanted to see Catching Fire with him. I loved those books, so I was excited to see the movie!

The movie ended up being really good. I couldn't remember much about the book, so it actually felt suspenseful to me. I think I actually liked Catching Fire better than The Hunger Games. Now I'm really excited to see Mockingjay when it comes out!

Today was a tough day as far as food goes, because I only had 27 PointsPlus to work with. I used up the rest of my weekly PointsPlus on Sunday (except for one). Yesterday, I earned 8 Activity PP, so I had 34 to work with (26+8), which isn't bad. But today was my rest day, so I didn't earn any Activity PP, and I only had 1 remaining weekly PP. It's hard to only have 27!

Tomorrow is my weigh-in day, so my week starts fresh. I'm going to go back to dividing up my weekly PP so that I use 7 per day, giving me 33 to start with, adding in my Activity PP each day. I find it much easier to stay on track when I divide it up evenly at the beginning of the week like that.

We're going to my parents' house for dinner on Thursday, but Thanksgiving dinner has never really been a problem for me. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and all that is okay, but the only food that I really look forward to is sweet potato casserole. It's loaded with butter and sugar, so a small portion of it is pretty caloric. But I'll plan out my meal before I go, so I'll be prepared. Anyone have big plans this holiday weekend? My kids have a half-day of school tomorrow, and then they don't go back until Tuesday! When I was a kid, we never got that much time off for Thanksgiving.

8 comments:

  1. My husband and I are doing our first Thanksgiving at our place as a married couple! We are still having lunch with my family, but coming back here to make dinner for us and some friends! I just came across your blog today after googling running blogs and came across the Fitness magazine post about your blog! I'm loving it! Congrats on all of your success, I'm looking to you as motivation to start training for some races again! I'm just getting back into the running groove. :)

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  2. The kids around here have all of tomorrow (Weds) and next Monday off. A five day weekend. You know how many five day weekends I had as a kid? ZERO. Bullshista! Okay, maybe I am just jealous. :(

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  3. I'm a teacher and we get the entire week off in our district.

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  4. I want to see Catching Fire so bad! Everyone says they loved it, but Japan doesn't get movies until months after they're released. Arg!! Man, that's a long turkey break! I just got 2 days off!

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  5. My daughter was out of school this whole week. She was happy! We always go to my grandparents house and do a Thanksgiving lunch, then in the evening we go to my MIL house. I'm going to try to keep my eating in check this year. I like how you make a plan before you go! I need to do that as well!

    I also read The Hunger Games books and LOVED them! I cannot wait to see Mockingjay. They are doing it in two movies (part 1 and part 2).

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  6. Hi-
    Just curious.. on the low point days, like 26 or 27, do you eat a lot more veggies and/or fruit or do you just pick meals that are more filling? Thanks so much!

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    Replies
    1. I do a little of both! :) I definitely add some more fruits/veggies to fill up, and I also choose lower-PP meals. Usually, I like to have an English muffin with peanut butter for breakfast (7 PP), but on the day where I only had 27 PP to spend, I had an egg + egg white + cheese and an orange (4 PP). I just try and save a few PP per meal. But it's rare that I have a day that is so low in PP! Usually I have about 40 per day.

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  7. I know this probably goes against the grain a little, but how would sweet potato casserole as a savoury sound? You know, baked like regular potato??? We never eat pumpkin or sweet potato any other way than savoury in Australia, and it is sooo yummy!

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