Confessions on Marathon Monday

Today’s post will consist of another belated Marathon Monday because for some reason I refuse to get my crap together.

It will also consist of a confession that I am not proud of.

My name is Brittany and I am guilty of being extremely jealous of the success of other people.

I try really hard not to be. Really, I do. But, I can’t seem to make myself feel happy for other people when they are doing good with their weight loss or their running or their life in general. And I completely realize that this makes me a total bitch.

I can’t help but feel angry when I see other people who are so committed, but I can’t manage one day without a cookie. Especially since I used to be so on point with my eating and fitness.

I can’t help but feel jealous when I see other people who are so motivated, but I have panic attacks at anything over 3 miles and completely fall apart. Especially when a 10 minute mile used to be nothing for me.

I can’t help but feel like I hate every single thing in the world when other people fit into their cute clothes, but my 25 pound weight gain prohibits me from wearing nearly EVERYTHING in my closet. (and I have some cute things)

I shouldn’t even be putting these ‘confessions’ out there, because “Hello, I’m not nice.” But, I feel like I need to be honest with myself and, hey, at least I am aware of how bad these feelings are.

Most of these feelings are fueled by the fact that I’m seeing MILEY CYRUS IN CONCERT THIS SATURDAY IN VEGAS and I have nothing to wear and can’t stand the thought of buying clothes that will fit me ‘now’ as opposed to ‘then.’

But, of course, this all could be fixed by actually committing and actually motivating myself. I don’t know why it’s so hard for me to get back into the health game.

Bleh.

This week’s schedule:

Monday: Recovery

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 3 miles

Thursday: 30 min. Fartlek

Friday: 3 miles

Saturday: Rest (AND MILEY CYRUS)

Sunday: 6 miles

Now I’m going to go to bed. But, not before RSVPing to my pity party for one.

(Am I at least a little funny? Yes? No?)

I’m working on it, I swear.

How do you deal with that pesky thing called jealousy?

Belated Marathon Monday

Why hello there!

It’s been a couple days since I’ve checked in and that can all be boiled down to the small, irritating fact that last week was a miserable, awful, atrocious week from hell regarding running, the scale, and my general life. #melodramatic

I could not gather any motivation to put my shoes on and run. I’m now sitting at about 7 miles behind on my training (in the grand scheme of things, not terrible, but..) and I’m just angry with myself. And then the one day I decided I was motivated enough to run I made it .21 miles (ZERO POINT TWENTY ONE) before I had to call it quits because of my damn knees. I still don’t know what was going on with them, but they hated me for a while. After that I had a full blown meltdown on the phone with my mom for about 30 minutes complaining about everything that I saw.

I’m a peach.

And then Sunday came along. I had plans to go see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (for the third time) with a couple friends (one is technically my boss? supervisor?) from the church I volunteer at every Saturday. I decided the night before I would run to the theater knowing I had a 4 miler planned for Sunday. And boy howdy I actually did it! Even with waking up at 12:45 in the afternoon (…I was up until 4am which makes that okay) and the movie starting at 2:30. I left my apartment around 1:20 and set off. I ran planned my route to go through one of the local running trails and the architecturally famous bridge (Sundial Bridge) and I’m REALLY GLAD I did that. It was probably 65 or 70 degrees outside and everyone decided to spend the day outside. It was nice being around active people. I ended up making it to the theater 10 minutes before showtime.

Not too pleased with my time. I guess that what happens when you take 4 lazy days and add mileage. Running is hard. But, I DID IT. And I can’t be upset with that.

And onwards to this week’s training schedule!

Monday: Recovery

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 3 miles

Thursday: 30 minutes of cross training

Friday: 3 miles

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: 5 miles

Fingers crossed that I actually stick to it this week. I can’t keep putting the runs off.

I’m also setting a goal of taking more pictures when I run or when I do things, period. Garmin pictures will just get boring after a while, right?

How easy is it for you to push through a “meltdown?”

Marathon Monday! Part III

Welp.

I didn’t run yesterday. Instead, I slept until 1:45 in the afternoon because I was up until 5 in the am deep cleaning my apartment and then I ate all of the Chipotle and cupcakes and valentine’s chocolate and decided definitively that I was 100% absolutely not going to be running one foot.

So, needless to say, this morning’s run was not at all pleasant. I was tired and my stomach was full of crappy crap crap and I just was not feeling it. But, Boyfriend went with me so that made it a little better. He did guilt me into actually going, but that’s beside the point. It is true what people say, you really never regret getting up and getting a run in.

This puts me off a day + 1 mile behind official marathon training. Which I can easily make up. I’m not too worried about it. Yet. I’m just glad I have Boyfriend around to keep me on my game. He’s pretty alright.

And (drum roll, please) it’s time for Marathon Training Rungenda Week Three!

Monday: Rest/Yoga 3 miles (from Sunday)

Tuesday: 3 miles

Wednesday: 20 min. Fartlek

Thursday: Rest/Yoga

Friday: 3 miles

Saturday: Rest/Yoga

Sunday: 4 miles

Total: 9 miles

And there’s that.

More later, I’ve got a crazy physiology test to study for.

Brittany v. Rain

Drought? Pshh! What drought? (just kidding, two days of rain won’t be fixing much) It’s finally raining here in northern California. AND I LOVE IT. If there was one more 80 degree afternoon smack dab in the middle of January I was going to shrivel up and die from dehydration. I needed the rain.

(source)

The rain, however, was going to make my running nice and challenging. I didn’t run yesterday like I was supposed to. Boyfriend and I were both off of work, we didn’t have school, and we were way too lazy because of it. Also, slightly hungover but that’s besides the point. Because of that my eating was completely off.  A Blizzard, Subway meatball sub, a Trader Joe’s (delicious) hot dog. I felt sick and like “WTF, Brittany?” all day. Excuses excuses, I didn’t run. I decided to use everyone’s favorite word and push the run off until *tomorrow* (today).

Fast forward to now and I was able to make it .96 of a mile before I was like, “Nahh, I’m done. This jacket was supposed to be a rain jacket and now I’m .04 of a mile away from pneumonia. Home time.” Now I’m sitting here, like, “Really, you couldn’t have just done .04 more? Really?”

I’m not too happy with myself. But, I’m only 1 mile behind schedule. That should be easy to make up if I need to.

Tomorrow I have 3 miles to run. And it will most def be a gym date for me.

Loving Numbers

It’s 1:00 in the morning and Boyfriend just finished taking a rolling pin (yes, a rolling pin, that lives underneath our swamp cooler. college.) to my poor, tight thighs. It tickled so much I think I kneed him slightly under 15,000 times. Rolling out my sore muscle have never tickled before so that was new. Anyways, to the point of my post.

This week started out with an easy 3 miler. Three turkey trots ago I ran a 3k in 34:47, so I still have work to do on my stamina and endurance. BUT. I finished my first mile in 10:14 feeling not completely dead and only having to stop twice for stop lights. And I finished my 3 miles at the same pace that I was finishing 2 miles, so I assume that means I’m getting better. Right?

 

P.s. I’m completely in love with my Garmin.

You probably noticed those bright, fancy, new colors all blurry at the bottom of the picture? Yeah, I FINALLY BOUGHT SOME NEW RUNNING SHOES. The Asics Gel-Cumulus 15s and they are pretty amazing. Granted I’ve only worn them once, but I could already feel a difference. My feet felt after completing 3 miles how they used to feel after about 1 mile.

Bright blue. Bright orange. Dark blue. In love.

Now that it’s pushing 1:30, I should probably get some sleep. Boyfriend said he’d run with me, but only if we go in the morning. And he has class at 9:00 am, which means we’ll have to be up at 7:00 am, which is 5 teeny tiny hours from now. I’m not a morning person. I’m sure he’ll end up bailing on me, so I’ll get some sleep in time and will most likely end up running after I’m done with class at 1:00. Self-imposed problem solved.

I have a 20 minute fartlek (that name still makes me giggle when I say it. it sounds so ridiculous.) Run fast, run slow, run fast, run slow. At least that’s how I interpret a fartlek.

Fun for tomorrow!

And on a completely different note. I know I don’t have too much traffic on this blog but I’m sure someone accidentally passing by watched the Biggest Loser finale? I’m curious to know the true story behind Rachel’s win. It alarmed me.

Any thoughts on the Biggest Loser finale?

Marathon Monday! Part II

First week of marathon training can get a big old completed check mark right by it! It was a great week for my running. Even though the mileage was low, I felt good during all of my runs. I feel like I’m geared up and ready for a FANTASTIC AND ANNOYINGLY GOOD 7 month training session.

I’m keeping this short because I’m crazy behind on homework and have procrastinated enough this weekend.

This week’s training goes a little something like:

Monday: 3 miles

Tuesday: Rest/Yoga

Wednesday: 2o min. Fartlek

Thursday: Rest/Yoga

Friday: 2 miles

Saturday: Rest/Yoga

Sunday: 3 miles

Total: 8 miles

What will you do to make your day a good one?

Week One MT Recap and SUPER BOWL!

Well, marathon training is officially in full swing and I LOVE IT. I had no idea how much I missed running and how much I love my feet hitting the pavement. Even though I only ran for two miles each run, it felt so so good. And my times got better with each run. The body is truly an amazing thing. How it can just pick up where you left off and be pretty good to go. I’m probably going to throw in some of my material that I’m learning from physiology this semester because A) that class is one of the most interesting classes I’ve ever taken and B) the body is freaking crazy. Always nice to share information, right?

If you want to catch up on my training:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Tomorrow I’ll post what’s on the rungenda (does that sound too dumb?) and lather, rinse, repeat!

Today is also the Super Bowl! I was hoping I’d be watching a game with the Broncos and the 49ers, but let’s face it. Kaepernick doesn’t know what he’s doing ever so I knew halfway into the final playoff game that the Seahawks would win. (just kidding. that whole last sentence came straight out of Boyfriend’s mouth) Football isn’t really my thing, but I do agree that without Kaepernick the Niners would have another chance at victory!

So, now I root for the Broncos! Because Sherman…grow up. I also recently went through a phase where I wanted to move to Denver really bad. I’ll just test out the fandom waters. And because, Manning.

(source unknown – Pinterest)

On the Super Bowl Menu:

Skinny 7 Layer Dip

Beef Sliders

Reduced Fat Brownies from Trader Joe’s

and Beer.

because, Beer.

Have a good Super Bowl!

Edit: I didn’t post this for some reason and wow, Broncos. Just wow.

A Quick Hello!

Checking in real quick ‘cuz I’ve got a special date with some flash cards and notes and papers and tests. How is it only 3 weeks into the semester?

I’m super proud of myself and how far it looks like I didn’t fall. I convinced myself that I would be struggling for the first month to get some of my fitness back. NOPE. So far, so good.

First mile in 10:49! I clearly burnt my tired little self out and negative split by a minute, but, baby steps. I’m sure one day I’ll learn to not go too hard my first mile.

Right now, I’ll take the 10:49.

Have a good weekend!

(Partial) What I Ate Wednesday and GOOD Training

I didn’t take pictures of everything I ate (you’re welcome) but here is what I felt was good enough.

How did I not find out about the PERFECT PINK HAND PROTECTORS and the new La Boulange at Starbucks? The goodies section looks so pretty and princess-y and I wanted to buy all of the things. Unfortunately, my $10 gift card only let me get a drink for me and Boyfriend and a treat for me. Boyfriend got a grande blended java chip frappucino (because he’s really watching his caloric intake) and I got a non fat green tea latte and a chocolate caramel muffin. It looked TOO GOOD not to get it. And that Starbucks trip ended up being my lunch…so not good but…also good?

And then dinner which is still in the process of being eaten. Chicken breast, roasted sweet potato, and roasted brussel sprouts. I bought a salad at Trader Joe’s the other night and it came with this really good carrot, garlic, ginger, miso (?) dressing so I put a little on dinner, too.

And for what everyone REALLY cares about, my run. Marathon training, day 2. This run felt absolutely glorious. I felt like I could’ve gone on for another 2 miles and I haven’t felt that in a while. My schedule was a little wonky today and I was talking myself out of running all day. Telling myself I could just push it off until tomorrow. Even on the bus ride home, I told myself I would finish my quiz and make dinner and call it a night. But, even though it was cold and dark when I got off the bus from school (still in kindergarten, apparently) I walked up my stairs and immediately put my shoes on. And my bright pink beenie from Forever 21 I got in San Francisco a couple weeks ago.

Post run, red, sweaty face. The best way to end a run.

Already an improvement! More consistent pace, even though I still negative split my second mile, but I’m okay with that. I’m just starting out again, after all.

 

Breaking Out the Garmin

First run, done. Granted it was only 2 miles, but it was hard, y’all. I had no idea how out of shape I was. My pretty Garmin makes it a little better though. Thank you, Santa Mom.

Just kidding, I mean, look at that 7:28 best pace! I clearly can stop training and just run because a 7:28 needs no work. Double just kidding. Hills can kill you and trick you into thinking you’re much better (and a hell of a lot worse!) than you originally thought. I forgot how even going downhill can wear you out. I wasn’t even on that steep of an incline but decided to just go all out and just let the hill take me. And it took me. I was all sorts of breathless by the end of the 30 second hill. Oh well, gotta get that quick leg turnover!

I fell victim to that bastard Mr. Negative Split. I always go out too quick and then get kicked in the ass. Gotta stop doing that. Also, that .01 of a mile? I HATE YOU. STOP AT THE .00 AND BE A PRETTY NUMBER.

There’s no run on the schedule for today. Now that I have a clean apartment and a fridge full of food I have a never ending stack of homework to finish and 45 minutes of yoga to blissfully accomplish. And food. Boyfriend and I made the switch from grocery shopping at Walmart to Trader Joe’s. For obvious moral reasons. Not just because the packaging of Trader Joe’s items is fun to look at.

Any other place in the world > Walmart

I feel like my economic soul has been cleansed.

If you do yoga, what’s your favorite pose?

How easily swayed by packaging are you?