Starting the Week Off Right

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Happy Monday! I'm happy to report that I did not skip my long run yesterday and I did a Body Works Plus Abs class at the gym this morning.

In my previous post, I skipped my run Saturday because I was busy and unmotivated later in the day and I was actually doubting myself that I'd get it done Sunday, considering Sundays after church are normally lazy days for us.

With only a little less than 2 weeks left before my 10k, I figured I may as well. I knew postponing until today or the following weekend would mess my taper week up. So...I sent a text to a friend who is running the same race (benefit of running buddies) and we met up. Come to find out she's been busy due to work and hadn't run in 3 weeks, hence the slower pace. I didn't mind being there to motivate her, because I almost skipped myself like I said.

We just wanted to get the miles in, so we did run/walk intervals.

Sorry for awkward angle. I'm not into taking gym selfies in the mirror, lol

My training plan calls for a rest day, but I hadn't cross-trained in over a week. My son had off and on low-grade fevers last week, so I didn't want to send him to the Kid's Club all cranky, etc. I didn't do anything at home either. 

There was a substitute teacher for this morning's hour long class. She was pretty good. For the first half of class we did high intensity interval training (HIIT), the next half we did supersets with the free weights (my arms were on fire), squats, lunges, and the last part we worked our abs.

I thought I would've lost a little strength since I hadn't been to a Body Works class in over a week, but I did pretty good...comparing myself to others in the class anyways. I try really hard to push myself to my limits and visualizing my goals honestly does work...that and looking in the mirror and not wanting to look goofy or want to give up (benefits of group workouts, for me). :-)

This picture is the epitome of #momlife and #fitmom. When baby is hungry, everybody better stop! He had two ounces of breast milk leftover, but he still had to nurse afterwards in order for us to have a pleasant trip home. My classes always cut into his first nap of the day. Thankfully, he didn't miss much of it and slept until we got home. And I sat in the garage and answered texts and emails. :)

Anyone else take the long route home when baby's napping? :-)

-Tiffany

The Tortoise Catches Up With the Hare

Don't you hate it when you show someone how to do something and then they do better than you? :-)

By no means is this post meant to throw anyone under the bus. I guess I should be thankful, but I nagged  reminded the Hubs of how important it is for him to become physically active again for several obvious reasons. He was growing out of his clothes, he was extremely lethargic, etc. etc. Well, fast forward to 8 weeks later, yes EIGHT consistent weeks later, my husband is back to running consistently. Matter of fact he is up to a 10k and will be running the Peachtree Road Race on the 4th with me. 

Why am I salty you ask?

Well due to circumstances that are too lengthy to mention, I was unable to run with my group this morning to practice the route or run period this morning. My plan was to finish all of my errands and run this evening when it cooled down, solo. Uh, yeah... after the morning I had with other folks kids, and several volunteer tasks, once I sat down on my couch around 5 this evening I knew my running shoes would not be moving from it's current spot. 

I feel like such a slacker for skipping my long run today. I can do it tomorrow, but I know how I am. How likely am I going to willingly go run 6 miles solo, after church, after cooking dinner, after that Sunday afternoon nap, after meal planning for the week. Hmph. :-( 

This would happen to be the only part of racing that I don't like. I don't like the feeling of being required to run a particular day. I like running just to run, not so much because I'm scheduled to. This feeling is what made me take a break from racing besides my last half marathon before I became pregnant. I just need to get it done. BUT, I know that in order to perform as well as I want, I need to stick to a training plan.

What do you do when you feel like a slave to your training plan when you just want to take a quick break? Have you ever trained someone to do something and they became better at it than you?

-Tiffany

10k Training Woes: Will I be ready for the heat, hills, and humidity?

3 Things:

1. Sticking to my training plan to the "t"
2. Comparing post baby performance to pre- baby performance
3. This HEAT!

Okay, reality is, I have a baby now. Some weeks I actually CAN stick to my training plan, but sometimes I just can't. If you know any Type A folks or you are one yourself, then you may understand where I'm coming from. I like things to be done in order, on schedule, and complete... and if I'm off by a millisecond of my goal, I like to be able to "trace my footsteps" to the culprit. Sounds a tad bit anal when I read that aloud, lol.

Last week was an off week, not because of lack of effort, but because of the weather and schedules. It rained a few times here last week. I only like my son to go to the Kids's Club in the mornings. The teacher is an older lady and the mornings are when other younger kids near his age are there. The afternoons: younger teacher, bigger kids...um, I ain't sending my baby to get neglected and trampled over. (sn: no judgement towards young teachers, because I was once was one. But one evening, I "observed" her browsing the net while the kids were running a muck) So, anyway!

I had a pretty decent long run at the end of that week, considering I didn't have "great" training runs and a couple were on the treadmill. Below is a comparison picture from 6 weeks ago when I ran the same route in similar weather. The top run I was just starting back to running consistently (besides before my last 5k in January) and as you can see I ran an average 11'02 pace. The bottom picture was a significant difference in average pace and almost the same distance. I'm pretty proud of myself that I was able to shave off that much time. I've been doing something right. :)

Now, as for this Atlanta heat. I usually don't race in the summer because of the humidity and heat. It has nothing to do with not wanting to try it, but I don't feel my best running in the heat all of the time and it can be dangerous. With a baby, I can rarely make it to the early morning group runs like I used to or run in the evenings (trying to keep him on his bedtime schedule). BUUTTT, in true "I love to run", "I am a runner" fashion, I don't want all my hard work to go to waste, so I'm starting to think about what race I can do after the Peachtree so my mileage won't go to waste AND to keep my miles up for the fall half marathons I'm eye-ing.

I wish myself luck on the rest of this journey. The race is in almost 2 weeks, I think, and I ran for the first time this week today (Wednesday) lol. Uh, yeah.... I'll be putting in twice the effort for the remainder of the week. I've just been SO BUSY lately.

In other news, I'm planning an updated grocery haul and I've tried a few new food items I want to share. Until next time.

Tiffany

Peachtree Road Race Training Begins!

I haven't posted in a while, but I have ran one race since giving birth to my son in October 2013. That was the Hot Chocolate 5k in January. My time was great considering majority of my running had to be on the treadmill. I think I ran an 11:30 pace? And every runner who's ever run in downtown Atlanta knows about those hills, so that pace was pretty good for me post-baby.

Well, the opportunity has finally come to run my first Peachtree Road Race. I remember back in the day, I used to volunteer for this race and I didn't even know what a 10k was. I've only run one 10k in my running life and actually don't prefer the distance for a race, but I want to participate in this one, just because it is an Atlanta tradition. I haven't decided whether or not I will set a time goal, but I do want to finish strong, for me meaning run the whole time.

Although my running has been slighted since that January race, I have worked out every week since. I honestly thought I could go back to working out as normal even with my son, but that just isn't possible without a babysitter readily available, not to mention I'm still breastfeeding (6 months strong, woot!). So my workouts have been mixed. I do T25, Jillian Michael's Hard Body, the elliptical, tabata workouts with my my jump rope and Nike Training Club app. As you may be able to tell, I need programs that will keep my attention.

I'm about 3lbs away from my pre-preggo weight, but I really want my endurance (jump roping helps) and I want to lose another 10lbs after I reach pre-preggo weight. Sometimes I log my workouts, runs, and foods I eat on Instagram (@seetiffrun).

As far as diet, I'm still eating as little processed foods as possible, but this go round, I've amped up my protein intake. I can't take artificial protein supplements while I am breastfeeding, but I am focusing more on foods naturally higher in protein.

So, so far so good with me. Mentally I am there, but schedule conflicts regarding the baby don't always allow me to physically do what I want. I am still learning that sometimes I just can't do it all and that's okay. That realization came when I had to forfeit doing the Chic-fil-A half marathon last month. I just couldn't get out to train consistently. Thank God I hadn't registered for the race yet. I'm counting on the fact that 6.2 miles isn't as bad and if anything it will turn into a fun run, since I will have to fight the heat, hills, and humidity in the largest 10k in the nation on the fourth of July.

How is your fitness journey, especially if you have kids?