I woke up feeling much better today than I did yesterday. It had to have been Jerry's Chicken Casserole Surprise ;)
I wanted to get my run out of the way first-thing. My running schedule got a little screwed up since I did my long run on Sunday instead of Friday. I'm going to have to do this week's long run on Sunday as well (unless I want to run 18 miles on the treadmill... HA!). So today, I did the run I was supposed to do Monday. And on Friday, I will do the run I was supposed to do today.
Today's was intervals--ugh. I have a love/hate relationship with intervals (actually with running in general, but especially with intervals). I love that intervals go by quickly, because you change pace so frequently. But I hate that they are so TOUGH. Today on the schedule: 20 minutes easy running, then six repeats of (3 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy), then 10 minutes easy. A grand total of 66 minutes.
The first 20 minutes went by pretty quickly today--I set the treadmill at 6.0 and just watched The Biggest Loser until my Garmin beeped that it was time to start the intervals. My plan was to try doing 8.0 for each 3-minute hard segment. I pressed the '8', and the speed shot up. Toward the middle of that sprint, I was thinking, "Well, maybe 8.0 is just too fast today".
I finished out that first sprint at 8.0, but decided to cut back to 7.5 for the rest. I didn't think I'd make it through 5 more intervals at that speed. Even the 7.5 was feeling tough toward the last minute of each sprint, but I fought through it and kept reminding myself how good I was going to feel when I was done. I love getting uber-sweaty, where there isn't a dry spot on my clothes; and I love having my muscles feel tired and a little achy for the rest of the day. But I hate feeling like I'm going to die during the run ;)
For the last sprint, I decided that I was going to try 8.0 again. I told myself, "If I can do 2 minutes of 8.0, then I am allowed to cut the interval short and go back to 6.0." See the mind games I play with myself? I ran at 8.0, and as soon as I hit 2 minutes of that, instead of pressing the 6, I kept running. I told myself, "You can do ANYTHING for just 60 seconds..." "...30 seconds..." "...10 effing seconds left!!" I was totally spent.
Unfortunately, I still had to run 13 minutes easy, so I set it at 6.0 and caught my breath. Those last 10 minutes were the longest part of my run, honestly. But to my delight, I was drenched in sweat.
Today's workout was a true testament of my love-hate relationship with running. To summarize:
I LOVE--dripping sweat, torching calories, using my muscles, feeling a little sore and spent, being able to eat yummy treats with the calories burned, sleeping better, relieving stress, doing something I never thought I could.
I HATE--running.
See? I was born to run. ;)
Speaking of running, all hope is running out the door (see how I did that?) about the documentary's Kickstarter page. I was so confident before the page launched that the film company would raise the funds needed for the film. We're about $43,000 short right now, and only have 24 days to go ;) If you've pledged money, THANK YOU SO MUCH. Ihope to will do you proud in Key West!
Angela (one of the producers of the film) made a few changes to the preview of the film, and I think it's awesome!! Check it out:
Every time I watch this and hear Rik's voice breaks a little, I can't help but get teary-eyed. Even if I had nothing to do with this film at all, it's a documentary that I would love to watch! So I hope lots of other people (about $43,000 worth of people) feel the same ;)
I asked the producers why it costs so much to make a film, and I was really shocked at the costs of everything. They said that $50,000 is actually a pretty cheap budget. By comparison, the Hood to Coast documentary cost between $500,000 and $1 million (source)!! I'm so glad I'm not a producer. When Jennifer and Angela came here to interview me, I realized just how much work goes into everything, and I think I would lose my mind.
True to my word, I logged my food into SparkPeople today. I kept really busy all day, so my calories were actually pretty low (1300). I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow for my annual physical, and I'm bummed because I think my weight is up about 5-10 pounds from last year at this time. I don't remember exactly what it was when I went, but I was hoping it would at least be the same this year.
Getting back to counting calories is HARD. I haven't counted consistently since I broke my jaw in 2010. But clearly, this summer I haven't been doing so well, and being 10 pounds up from my maintenance range does not make me happy. So my main focus right now is getting back to counting on a consistent basis. It would be awesome to be back at my goal before the marathon; and if not then, for sure when I go to Florida for Ragnar!
Do I sound like a broken record yet?
I wanted to get my run out of the way first-thing. My running schedule got a little screwed up since I did my long run on Sunday instead of Friday. I'm going to have to do this week's long run on Sunday as well (unless I want to run 18 miles on the treadmill... HA!). So today, I did the run I was supposed to do Monday. And on Friday, I will do the run I was supposed to do today.
Today's was intervals--ugh. I have a love/hate relationship with intervals (actually with running in general, but especially with intervals). I love that intervals go by quickly, because you change pace so frequently. But I hate that they are so TOUGH. Today on the schedule: 20 minutes easy running, then six repeats of (3 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy), then 10 minutes easy. A grand total of 66 minutes.
The first 20 minutes went by pretty quickly today--I set the treadmill at 6.0 and just watched The Biggest Loser until my Garmin beeped that it was time to start the intervals. My plan was to try doing 8.0 for each 3-minute hard segment. I pressed the '8', and the speed shot up. Toward the middle of that sprint, I was thinking, "Well, maybe 8.0 is just too fast today".
I finished out that first sprint at 8.0, but decided to cut back to 7.5 for the rest. I didn't think I'd make it through 5 more intervals at that speed. Even the 7.5 was feeling tough toward the last minute of each sprint, but I fought through it and kept reminding myself how good I was going to feel when I was done. I love getting uber-sweaty, where there isn't a dry spot on my clothes; and I love having my muscles feel tired and a little achy for the rest of the day. But I hate feeling like I'm going to die during the run ;)
For the last sprint, I decided that I was going to try 8.0 again. I told myself, "If I can do 2 minutes of 8.0, then I am allowed to cut the interval short and go back to 6.0." See the mind games I play with myself? I ran at 8.0, and as soon as I hit 2 minutes of that, instead of pressing the 6, I kept running. I told myself, "You can do ANYTHING for just 60 seconds..." "...30 seconds..." "...10 effing seconds left!!" I was totally spent.
Unfortunately, I still had to run 13 minutes easy, so I set it at 6.0 and caught my breath. Those last 10 minutes were the longest part of my run, honestly. But to my delight, I was drenched in sweat.
I LOVE--dripping sweat, torching calories, using my muscles, feeling a little sore and spent, being able to eat yummy treats with the calories burned, sleeping better, relieving stress, doing something I never thought I could.
I HATE--running.
See? I was born to run. ;)
Speaking of running, all hope is running out the door (see how I did that?) about the documentary's Kickstarter page. I was so confident before the page launched that the film company would raise the funds needed for the film. We're about $43,000 short right now, and only have 24 days to go ;) If you've pledged money, THANK YOU SO MUCH. I
Angela (one of the producers of the film) made a few changes to the preview of the film, and I think it's awesome!! Check it out:
Every time I watch this and hear Rik's voice breaks a little, I can't help but get teary-eyed. Even if I had nothing to do with this film at all, it's a documentary that I would love to watch! So I hope lots of other people (about $43,000 worth of people) feel the same ;)
I asked the producers why it costs so much to make a film, and I was really shocked at the costs of everything. They said that $50,000 is actually a pretty cheap budget. By comparison, the Hood to Coast documentary cost between $500,000 and $1 million (source)!! I'm so glad I'm not a producer. When Jennifer and Angela came here to interview me, I realized just how much work goes into everything, and I think I would lose my mind.
True to my word, I logged my food into SparkPeople today. I kept really busy all day, so my calories were actually pretty low (1300). I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow for my annual physical, and I'm bummed because I think my weight is up about 5-10 pounds from last year at this time. I don't remember exactly what it was when I went, but I was hoping it would at least be the same this year.
Getting back to counting calories is HARD. I haven't counted consistently since I broke my jaw in 2010. But clearly, this summer I haven't been doing so well, and being 10 pounds up from my maintenance range does not make me happy. So my main focus right now is getting back to counting on a consistent basis. It would be awesome to be back at my goal before the marathon; and if not then, for sure when I go to Florida for Ragnar!
Do I sound like a broken record yet?
