Monday, January 05, 2009

Back to the grind

After two wonderful weeks of vacation, I am back to work today. As difficult as it was to crawl out of bed this morning, I am relieved to be getting back into a routine. Being home so much has been detrimental to my weight loss. I allowed myself to indulge and probably have a couple extra pounds on my mid-section to show for it, but I enjoyed every minute of it and now I'm back on track.

I did manage to follow my run schedule over the holidays... mostly. Last week looked like this:

Mon: off - did 60 mins. cardio
Tue: 5K - done
Wed: 9K w/ 25 mins. steady state - done (treadmill)
Thu: 5K - done
Fri: 7K w/ 6x strides @ 25s - done
Sat: off
Sun: 24K - only 12K

I met my friend P for the long run yesterday and right off the bat, we both felt off. As we started running, we each confessed that we had considered canceling, which is usually not a good sign! We slugged along and just couldn't get in the zone. It didn't help that it was bloody freezing. I usually warm up pretty quickly, but not this time - my skin was actually stinging beneath my clothes and our water bottles froze in <30 minutes. Half way through, we bailed and called P's sister to rescue us. And that's about all I have to say about that! If either one of us had been feeling stronger, we would have gotten through it, but with both of us dragging our feet and complaining the whole time, it just wasn't happening. Amazingly, it was easier to run 24K in a snow storm a couple weeks ago.

My plan for this week is as follows:

Mon: off
Tue: 5K + HOT
Wed: 9K w/ 35 mins. steady state + HO
Thu: 5K?*
Fri: 6K
Sat: Boot Camp or Spin
Sun: 26K (I will win this time!)

My Running Room marathon clinic is starting on Thursday, hence the "?". Once I get the program, I will have to merge it with my own training schedule to somehow make it work. This also means I will no longer be able to make it to Thursday night Spin classes. The only other class that works is Saturday morning at the same time as Boot Camp, so for now I'll rotate back and forth between the two.

And with that, I'm back to the grind!

ETA: Almost forgot! I got some good news a couple days ago when I found out that I was the December winner of free shoes from Running Shoes Reviews. I decided on a pair of Adidas AdiSTAR's, in my ongoing effort to find the right motion control shoes for me (I have only once purchased the same type of shoe twice).

24 comments:

BeachRunner said...

Nice job last week.

And about yesterday, all I can say is - knowing when to quit is an underrated skill. Sounds like it was a smart move. Good luck with this week's plan.

Aron said...

i am back at work today too :( but yes it is nice to get back in a routine! great job last week... GAH freezing water bottles?!? no thanks :)

Janice {Run Far} said...

I have never had my water bottle freeze while running, it must have been super cold. I would have wimped out and ran on the treadmill.

Marci said...

It was brutal yesterday, I used every mental trick in the book and still barely slugged my way through my run. I was thinking of joining my local RR clinic as well-but it is hard when you have your own training plan, let me know how that goes. Great job on your cross training!

Heather said...

I know how you feel when you just are not into a run. Way to get in some distance despite feeling like that!

Marcy said...

OK less than 30 min and your bottles freeze?!? FORGET THAT!! HAHAHA

Mel-2nd Chances said...

it's hard getting back to normal eh? Great job on the runs, and congrats on the shoes! YAY!!! :)

joyRuN said...

Geez - cold enough for your water bottles to freeze?! Inhuman conditions is what THAT is.

CONGRATS on the new kicks!!

Denise said...

Sweet!! Free shoes!!

I'm with you. I'm happy to be back to my routine. Although I will miss my insanely long workouts...

Stacey said...

Yikes! I would have wimped out and got on the treadmill!
I know what you mean about getting back into a schedule...my son went back to school today. Routine is good for everyone.
Congrats on the free shoes!!

Shoe Running said...

I'm glad you had someone to rescue you from the arctic :) I'd have thrown in the towel too...yesh! Frozen skin & water, brr!!! Congrats again on winning :)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the win! At least you got out there and ran some, when you didn't want to. It is nice being back in a routine!

Felice Devine said...

Congratulations on winning the shoes! That's awesome! And, I totally agree w/BR.

macnic said...

Good for keeping to your schedule over the holiday's. I did as well... kinda. I know what you mean about things being easier once you're back at work. Congrats on the shoes.

Unknown said...

Congrats on being the December winner!

Great job for keeping it up during the holidays. I was so not on the road! And now it's so hard to get back in the mood for running.

Unknown said...

looks like you did a great job over the holidays.

and congrats on the shoes!

Run Mommy said...

Way to go on the shoes! I am always amazed at the great things people win on these blogs..I have to figure out how to do that!

Your workouts look strong - good job!

Jess said...

Yeah, I thought it was kinda nice to return to the normal routine too. Plus, all that time at home with the hubby made us want to tear each other's eyes out at the end.

Brian said...

Thats funny how you both were gonan cancel, but at least you both admitted it. I wouldve been the person who wanted to cancel but never say anything, haha.

Welcome back to work (ugh :-/ I cant say it with a straight face because I am back to work)

littlesack said...

i wish I had access toa running room type clinic down here. It sounds like an awesome plan. And yeah, the Garmin is great. I'm pretty sure I read about it on your blog- you causually mentioned your Garmin watch. I didn't even know they made such a thing!

Lindsay said...

frozen water? umm good thing you cut it short!! that is just crazy. great job sticking (mostly) to your holiday runs/workouts. you did extra on an off-day and only cut 1 run short - while it was vacation! :) congrats on the new shoes and hope you are able to jump right back in the ol' routine.

Vickie said...

We're having the same cold weather. Stinging cold. You can avoid water bottle freeze by adding a tablespoon (or 2!) of your favorite schnapps beverage. Peach is good! And you won't get drunk on a tablespoon.

X-Country2 said...

That's why it's good to run with a buddy. Keeps you from canceling even when you really really want to.

Nitmos said...

Congratulations on a great 2008! And, once this weather clears, a great 2009!