Every Wish That We Put Into Motion.... (comments welcome!)

[superchime]

May is *rough*! I think it's smart to pull the plug rather than struggling and beating yourself up over it.

 

[Herding_Cats]

OOF! Well it's been a week! There was way too much stuff going on, and I didn't do any running or working out, but that's OK.

Things I'm telling myself right now: It's OK to not be on a training plan. It's OK to take a break from running while the insanity of the end of the school year approaches. (Our last day of school isn't until June 14th, except seniors' last day is next week.) It's OK if running isn't fun or exciting right now.

There are a lot of things I want to do this summer, like beach days, and fishing days, and kayak/tube-down-the-river days. I live in way too nice of a summer vacation/beach place for my kids to miss out on great outdoor summer activities. So here's my plan. Please, don't laugh too hard. We all know I'm great at coming up with a plan, while my execution of said plan is very hit or miss. I'm trying to make this more of a guide and less of a schedule, because flexibility is going to be needed.

Weight training
My goal for this summer is to lose at least 10 pounds... ...20 would be better, and get me back to my "normal" weight. At this point, I know that [half]marathon training doesn't accomplish that for me in any way, so I'm going back to weight training. This was very successful for me in the past, but I have a really hard time fitting in both running and weights. So I'm going to focus on the weights. That's going to look like BODi programs. I started "A Little Obsessed" yesterday, and plan on just repeating those 5 workouts until June. Those workout are about 35min each, and have slightly simplified moves from the program that comes after it. That should get me through 2-3 times, because the schedule is still busy here, and prepped for the summer program. Starting in June I'm going to complete "80 Day Obsession." The workouts in this are about an hour each. Will I manage to strictly stick to the schedule? I have no idea. But I should finish that up some time in August (allowing for some wiggle room for summer stuff to happen.) That's just in time for school stuff to get back into full swing. This was a pretty successful program for me last time I did it (I don't follow the nutrition plan, and will just count calories and protein) so I'm hopeful it will still do the trick again.

With a side of running
Since I cut back, and only signed up for Dopey , I do need to keep doing at least a little bit of running. IIRC, the rule of thumb is that I should be at 50% of my peak mileage/TOF before I start the marathon plan. That means ~20mi/week by the end of August. I feel like I can make that happen. This is going to mean doing doubles a couple days each week. What I'm considering is a Galloway-type schedule, with 2 shorter 30min/3mi runs and 1 longer run per week. I'm considering running in the morning before DH leaves for work (but UGH, I'm not a morning person) and lifting in the afternoon when it's too hot outside to do anything. Has anyone successfully managed to become a morning runner, when they are NOT a morning person? I'm only a morning person at Disney.


Now, I "negotiated" with DH that if I'm not working this summer, I get one night a week where he's the default parent for DD so that I don't lose my mind. This would be an easy day to look at doing my long run, but I'm not 100% sure that I want my one "night off" per week to become dedicated to running. Getting up at 3 or 4am so I can do a 2hr long run in August before DH has to go to work is NOT happening. It's just not. I'd have to go to bed at like 7pm. Figuring out when to do the long run is going to be the hardest part of this. @DopeyBadger I know you've done this program. Would it make sense to axe Cardio Flow for the long run? If I land that workout on Saturdays, it would be a lot easier to make Saturdays long-run-day and still allow for a "me night" during the week.


ETA: the running is slightly subject to change, based on the "Group Bad-Decision" race that I'm trying to get some of the XC moms to join me for in the end of August. There's a trail half the day after our big invitational meet for XC, and the time limit is NINE HOURS. I promised them lots of walking, and have 1 Yes, a few Maybes, and 2 Nos so far. HAHAHAHAHA! We wouldn't be well trained but would be trained enough to complete it. With lots of walking.

 

[Naomeri]

I can tell you that I attempted to become a morning runner last summer and I completely failed at it and it made the rest of my life miserable too. I had even worked it out with my boss that I could start and finish an hour later on running days so it didn’t have to be quite as early, and it still didn’t work.

My body doesn’t like to go to bed early, which made getting up early nearly impossible. This summer, my weekday runs are mostly speed workouts that are easier to accomplish on the treadmill, so I can do that anytime.

But maybe transitioning to mornings will work better for you because being a mom is a way more active lifestyle than sitting at a desk all day like me

 

[Herding_Cats]

I can tell you that I attempted to become a morning runner last summer and I completely failed at it and it made the rest of my life miserable too. I had even worked it out with my boss that I could start and finish an hour later on running days so it didn’t have to be quite as early, and it still didn’t work.

This is my exact fear.

But maybe transitioning to mornings will work better for you because being a mom is a way more active lifestyle than sitting at a desk all day like me

Oh I spend plenty of time sitting on my butt.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Cardio flow and leg days are the easiest to justify cutting when doing running and 80DO. Although legs are good to do when not in a training plan and toasting your legs. You could also consider doing a shorter long run pre-Dopey training at like 60-90 min instead of 2 hrs. Then just add in a fourth short 30 min run day towards the last 2-3 weeks of summer prior to Dopey.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Cardio flow and leg days are the easiest to justify cutting when doing running and 80DO. Although legs are good to do when not in a training plan and toasting your legs.

I actually kind of enjoy leg day in that program, so I don't want to just cut it out completely. I do NOT like cardio flow, so that's an easy one to get rid of.

You could also consider doing a shorter long run pre-Dopey training at like 60-90 min instead of 2 hrs. Then just add in a fourth short 30 min run day towards the last 2-3 weeks of summer prior to Dopey.

Oooooh. That is pretty much exactly what I wanted to hear. I knew I would be working my way up with the long run, but keeping it on the shorter side (6-8mi) for the long run cap instead of 10-11 sounds soooo much more manageable. And adding in that extra short run would be easy, if I manage to keep the lifting schedule mostly on track, in the second half of August when 80day would be done.

 

[col1]

I like your thinking summers can be short, and Kids grow fast so making that a priority gets my vote.

I would like to think I could be a morning runner but likely only at 9 ish in the morning once retired.

I have had to run before work around 0445hrs, what I observed was those runs compared to those later in the day at weekends were so so much more difficult and not at all enjoyable…… my body was saying hey, it’s middle of the night, I’ve had no food, no sleep What are you doing !!!

 

[Herding_Cats]

I like your thinking summers can be short, and Kids grow fast so making that a priority gets my vote.

I would like to think I could be a morning runner but likely only at 9 ish in the morning once retired.

I have had to run before work around 0445hrs, what I observed was those runs compared to those later in the day at weekends were so so much more difficult and not at all enjoyable…… my body was saying hey, it’s middle of the night, I’ve had no food, no sleep What are you doing !!!

I took a 7am workout class (so I had enough credits to be full time) in college and it was awful. My body just didn’t wanna.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Well. 2 weeks in and I'm already not sticking to things. But to be fair, we have had all of the things going on with sports (as in, games or meets 6 days a week,) graduation stuff with DS1, camping over the holiday weekend, trying to get the new chicken coop finished up, putting the garden in. Ugh. I'm tired just thinking about it, and I took a 4 hour nap on Saturday!

I have new resistance loops coming today for my lifting program, and after this week our schedule should dramatically slow down and I will have fewer excuses of why I can't fit in a workout. State finals for track are on Saturday (DS2 is running in the 4x800m relay), baseball Districts (assuming we win our play-in game tonight) are also on Saturday, graduation commencement is on Sunday, and then it's allllllll just surviving the nuttiness of the end of the school year. SIL has an anniversary trip to Hawaii in August, so she started 80Day last week. It's nice to have someone doing the workouts "with" you so you can commiserate about how unbelievably sore you are, and how did we ever manage to do this while we had 1 year olds? I'm debating if I need to look for a few more dumbbells for a couple of the moves (like some 40-50# ones for stuff like squats and deadlifts) and I'll probably keep an eye out on marketplace for something, but I won't need them any time soon.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

My body doesn’t like to go to bed early, which made getting up early nearly impossible.

This! I have a hard time going to sleep before midnight or 12:30, plus I need some decompress after work, thus the afternoon runs.

The other thing is that I take forever to cool down. I tried a lunch run a few times and was always a sweaty mess for hours. Yes, I showered off, which meant I was simply a clean sweaty mess. Ditto if I try to run before work.

 

[accm]

I am not at all a morning person, but I have periodically been able to get morning runs in. I think it being summer definitely helps, since it gets lighter earlier. I also like to make sure everything is ready ahead of time, so I don't have to think about anything. I noticed the starts of my runs are definitely harder in the morning, when I'm still mostly asleep. After a while, it gets a little bit better, but far from natural.
The problem is that if *anything* goes wrong, it throws everything off, I get off the morning workouts, and then have to start all over again.

What I would not recommend, unless you know it works for you, is preworkout. I tried it once, and spent the whole run incredibly itchy.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Things I aspire to: the complete joy exhibited by my toddler as she completed her 5th lap after her brother’s track meet concluded. She took maybe 3 short walk breaks? And by short, I mean like 15sec maximum. (Also, this picture is a great example of why I’m exhausted most of the time.)

 

[nancipants]

(Also, this picture is a great example of why I’m exhausted most of the time.)
View attachment 864324

All. The. Time.

 

[accm]

Things I aspire to: the complete joy exhibited by my toddler as she completed her 5th lap after her brother’s track meet concluded. She took maybe 3 short walk breaks? And by short, I mean like 15sec maximum. (Also, this picture is a great example of why I’m exhausted most of the time.)
View attachment 864324

With no shoes!! I cannot imagine my feet would be wrecked.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Holy cats you guys. June is getting away from me. I need to find my mojo SOON.

A quick recap: DS2 qualified for and ran in the 4x800 relay, finishing 10th after being ranked 18th. WOO! What a great morning! And then we hopped into the car to drive to DS1's baseball state tournament games. Which got rained out just before that round's championship game, which snowballed into a not-fun-for-parents rescheduling. Anyhow, they made it to regional finals (which would have been immediately been followed by quarterfinals) but our pitching kind of fell apart in the top of the 9th and they ended up losing. Also in there was: commencement for DS1. And the open house for DS1 the day after their regional loss. So that week in between was spend running to the rescheduled baseball games, organizing all of the things for his open house, and cooking waaaay too much food. And then a long-weekend camping trip for father's day, finishing up the new chicken coop, and getting the rest of the garden planted.. We haven't had a normal, nothing extra going on weekend in for.ev.er.

And here we are now. I'm starting 80DO today (please send Ts&Ps for my quads.) And I'm going to figure out running this week. Of course, it's supposed to be in the high 80s all week....something that didn't happen until late August last summer. This is where I'm glad I have a treadmill.


I'm almost a month behind reading everyone else's training journals, so be prepared for a swathe of likes/notifications if you have one of those.

Also, puppy.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

It saddens me that the DIS only lets me pick one emoji to react with, so thatis a for the schedule and a for the puppy.

 

[Herding_Cats]

It saddens me that the DIS only lets me pick one emoji to react with, so thatis a for the schedule and a for the puppy.

if he could only finish figuring out potty training. uuuuuuugh. all our labs figured it out in like 1 week. we are on month 3 and he's still having a couple of accidents each week because he may or may not whine before he pees. if he was doing well with that, I think i'd have a shot at convincing DH to get another one as the breeder just had their other litter for this year. that's all i need.....another thing to keep alive.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Because you will understand:

Today I had my "Cardio Core" workout. Which is 3 sets of [30sec "cardio" move + 30sec HIIT move] and then 10 reps of an ab move on sliders (things like plank mtn climbers, cross climbers, plank to pike, etc.) for ~30min. I haven't done any cardio since early May, so I was modifying the moves by stepping instead of jumping some things, trying to keep myself from seriously overdoing it in the first week.

Anyhow, I got about 2/3 of the way through the workout and hit pause and just laid on the floor for like 10min, trying to figure out why this was so hard, why I felt like I could go puke, and why I was putting myself through this. And then I had a mini freak-out over how in the heck am I going to do the races in January when I can't even get through 30min of this dang workout?! Not fun. 0 stars. Do not recommend. Actively using internal self-talk about how it's still 6 months away, I have lots of time to train still, blah blah blah was not on my list of things to do today.

But. This was also probably the kick in the pants I needed to quit dragging my feet on things training-related. I don't want to suffer through the marathon, so it's time to mean it when I say I'm going to do 3 runs every week AND these workouts AND eat better.

 

[SheHulk]

YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

 

[GollyGadget]

I had a really hard time getting out the door this AM. I had a tough workout scheduled, I was tired, it was wet and humid out, blah blah blah. Fear of suffering the consequences on race day was absolutely what made me go. It’s probably my top motivator overall really. Fortunately, Joy isn’t far behind because I do actually enjoy running most of the time.