Today's run: 3 miles
Week to date: 3 miles
Month to date: 7 miles
OK, blog. I have a lot to talk about, and a Spring Break day off to do it. Get some coffee and settle in.
1. I am really really really really working on my eating. I'm not going to say diet just because of the connotations behind it. I'm going to say eating. I, like just about every other person of the female persuasion, have struggled with food, eating, and body issues. I fall in to the classic trap of interpreting calories as pounds, and eating healthy = eating as few calories as possible. I would play with this all the time during undergrad and, OK, I got the number on the scale down. However, I felt like garbage most of the time. I was sick constantly, I had no energy unless I constantly downed caffeine, and really? I didn't look all that good. I looked as sick as I felt most of the time. Moreover, I was not happy at all. I was pretty miserable, and you could tell. There were other factors figuring in to that, but that was a big player.
Now, being in a better place overall with my life, I'm really working on getting past that. Should I be eating a 2,000 calorie diet? At this point, probably not. I'm active, but not active to that point where someone my size would really need that kind of calorie volume. However, I need more than the 800-1000 I would allot myself back then. And, moreover, I'm trying to shift the focus from the numbers attached to what I'm eating over to the actual foods I'm eating. Fruits, veggies, lean proteins, whole grains, you've heard all this from every nutrition/healthy eating source ever. Being definitely on the poorer end of things, it is SO easy to fall in to the cheap foods trap, just to walk out with more in my bags. However, am I truly being nourished by that bowl of ramen? Do I feel satisfied? What am I really putting in my system by eating that? OK, I can spend $2.00 and walk out with 10 meals of noodles and salt. Or, I can spend a bit more, invest in some healthier options, and truly feel satisfied both in terms of being satiated but in being nourished as well, knowing I put something better in my system.
(Side note: the boyfriend and I have a tendency to eat out a lot together, usually fast food. However, we officially took McDonalds off the list, after my last two experiences of eating there completely destroyed my stomach. Jimmy Johns as well is on the list to be cut unless it's a very special treat.)
2. My mother is a track and cross country coach, and my sister is about to graduate with a degree in Movement Science. I've been talking to the both of them, and the more I do, the more I'm thinking that the half marathon might be pushed back to 2011. Why? Well, the overall consensus has been that ramping up my mileage that quickly could be a potential disaster, especially given my particular physiology. Could I train for and complete a half marathon this year? "Absolutely," said Coach Mom, "but I could see you having a more positive experience with it if you spent the next year slowly increasing your mileage to where you're consistently putting in 25 miles a week, and maybe doing a few 10Ks first." She has a great point. So, what now? On to part 3...
3. Starting to look at races for the summer season. I've found 2 5K's I'd like to do, one in early May and one in late May, both with interesting aspects.
The first is on May 8, and it's the
Hope Starts Here Challenge. It's traditionally been a cycling event, but they're adding running races this year. This hits close to home because one of my uncles had a brain tumor (he's been cancer free for 10 years next year!), so this is a cause that means something to me.
The second is on May 22, and it's just a bit more fun than the first. It's a race fundraiser for the United Way in my boyfriend's hometown of Merrill, WI. The fun part is that the athletic club that is essentially putting it on is right across the street from his parents' house. That just makes it fun in that I can wake up, get dressed, and walk across the street to the race area/starting line.
From there, who knows. My summer plans got a little hazy in the last few weeks, so I'm going to figure out things after that point. I know that if I can make it home in July I'd like to do the
Cherry Festival races, but that is TBD at this point as June is going to be CRAZY in terms of travel with my Brother's high school graduation and my roommate's wedding a week later.
So, yeah. That's all I've got at this point.
