Tonight’s to-do list includes tallying up my points Friday – Monday. I had planned a week 2 recap, but since I was traveling and I’m traveling this weekend, I think I’m going to hold off until June is done.

With that said, I was also able to visit teh kittehs and, of course, I took some pictures.

So today you get cat pictures, because cat pictures make everything better, right?!

It wouldn’t be a trip to a pool without a picture of my toes!

Unrelated:

I’d like to redesign my blog – I’ve had the same template and layout for two years, and I’m feeling it’s time for a change, but I am certainly not design savvy, nor do I have a zillion dollars to pay for a redesign, so what are your suggestions?

I’d say this plan worked pretty well for me, as I ran the fastest half marathon out of the six I’ve ran since.

That said, I’ve decided to train by myself, using a completely different training program (designed by lululemon instead of the Running Room).

After successfully running with a group for so many races, why am I now choosing to train alone?

• I’m a pretty solitary person. When studying for my certification exam, I studied by myself; the majority of people studied in pairs. I’ve always been one to go off on my own and it’s worked well for me.
• I was unimpressed with the lack of knowledge of the last leader of the running clinic I participated in. She wasn’t able to explain the importance of allowing ones heart rate to come down after hill repeats or speed intervals.
• I’m wanting to incorporate more cross training into my training and to do so, it means I needed to alter my running schedule a bit
• I’m doing a 10 week training program instead of a 16 week training program
• While 10:1 worked well for me, I’d like to try running longer intervals and taking minimal walk breaks on upcoming races

I started my athletic career in swimming and was a competitive swimmer from 7-19, even swimming a semester at the University level. I’m also a certified coach in swimming, synchronized swimming and water polo, as a result, I have a pretty good handle on why I do 3 different run workouts a week (steady, hills or speed, long, and recovery) and why cross training (strength and yoga) are important.

And, as a wonderful bonus, I know if I’m really struggling, I can always check in with Krissie, who is a wonderful running and life coach!

Although I’ve been struggling with fatigue, I do know how to fuel my body. I think this is part of the reason I’m struggling with the fatigue so much is that I do know how to fuel my body and I am getting enough sleep (just check RunKeeper!) so the reason I’m so tired is bothersome to me.

Now – all of the comments about wanting to train alone – should (rather when I decide to run a marathon, I will likely train with a group again. Running 30+km by myself just doesn’t appeal to me.

Do you prefer to run alone, or in a group?

Fairly soon after posting, I decided I’d have my pre-run nutrition. Since I plan on using it for race day, and eat lunch late on the days I run (1pm compared to 11:30am) I’ve been taking Vega Pre-Workout Energizer before morning runs. I find it easy on my stomach, which is key for me. It may be the placebo effect, but I really did notice a difference in my energy level after taking it, so I decided to go ahead with my run.

I also decided to track what I ate on Wednesday, just to see how I came in calorie-wise. I’ve primarily moved away from counting my calories since I noticed I’d refuse to eat, even when hungry, if I was nearing my goal; or I’d use excess calories as an excuse to eat anything and everything in sight. Both are bad. Right now I try to listen to my body, if I’m hungry, even if it’s 10pm, I’ll have a snack. If I’m not hungry, I’ll stop. This is far harder to do than it sounds, and it’s something I’ve struggled with a lot, so I’m working on learning this instead of tracking calories.

HOWEVER, I wanted to see just how much I was eating today, so here it is.

(You can see the details of my diary on MyFitness Pal)

In the old days, I’d have eaten every last one of those 517 calories, but the thing is – I’m just not all that hungry.

I also used RunKeeper to determine how many calories I burned.

Since I was feeling so tired, I really wanted to focus on how I felt while running. I was scheduled to run hills, so I wanted to take it easy and focus on finishing my hills well, and not worry too terribly much about my total distance, as I know burning myself out with 8.5 weeks before race day is a bad idea.

And now, at nearly 9pm on Wednesday night? I feel great. I definitely don’t feel like I’m about to fall asleep on the couch like I did on Tuesday night (hence crawling into bed at 9:30pm on Tuesday night) and I feel like I did a good workout.

In all honesty, I feel fitter (and probably am!) than I have in years!

Tomorrow I plan on running 13km. This is actually scheduled for Saturday, but I’m away for a girls weekend and I just know that isn’t going to happen. I was planning on running on Friday – but it’s now supposed to rain and I surely don’t feel like running 13km in the rain only to hop on an airplane. So, pending how I’m feeling tomorrow (and possibly even if I’m tired) I’ll be heading out for 13km after work.

As a result, I rescheduled my workout plan a bit from the original – here’s how it looks as of this evening:

Also pictured: the difference a productive day and a tired day make in the terms of my mind and body points. Wowzers.

I’m interested to see how I do points-wise over the next two weekends. This weekend is a girls weekend away, which will include much eating and wine drinking. Great for mind points, I’m sure, but probably not so great for body points.

For the past 2 or so weeks (since I started training) I’ve been royally exhausted.

Sunday and Monday I did back-to-back runs because I did my long run on Sunday instead of Saturday – total combined mileage was 16km.

I felt awesome on Monday and made sure that I refueled well after my run (whole wheat pasta with tuna and nuun to rehydrate) and ate a good balanced dinner (chicken breast, bun and veggies). I even managed almost 8 hours of sleep on Monday night.

Tuesday? Freaking exhausted. Like bone tired exhausted. Again, I ensured I was hydrating well and eating well and was in bed before 10pm and managed close to 9 hours of sleep.

Today? I’m still tired.

Definitely not as tired as I was on Tuesday, but I’m definitely still tired.

If I were running excessive distances, or training everyday, I’d be inclined to say these are symptoms of overtraining, but I really don’t think that’s what it is.

In May I had a cold that took me nearly 2 weeks to get over and after going to hot yoga last week I felt under the weather for a few days as well.

In an hour I have a 45 minute run with hills scheduled and I really can’t decide if I should run it or not. I’m tired, but I also know there’s a chance a run will energize me (it may also make me crash harder).

So, Internet, what gives? Why in the heck am I so exhausted lately?

Krissie and I talked briefly and my comment was, “I’m not good at following through” but after the Krissie’s totally awesome post about goals (and my response) I knew I was going to do it.

I’m definitely an out of sight, out of mind kind of person, so it’s key for me to remind myself of my goals and my plan on a daily basis.

Organizing my desk and putting up my wipe off boards was key for me in remembering to get my workouts done <– the area where I’m most likely to slack. I walk past those boards multiple times per day and eventually, I’ll see my ab plan, sigh, and finally do it. It may be a pain to get down on the floor to get sit ups and push ups done, but I’m definitely glad once they’re done.

I’m also trying to plan ahead – my evenings tend to be somewhat full with fitting in friends, organizing and spending time with The Cowboy, so I’m going to try to do my two weekday runs on my lunch – especially since I now have a job where I can actually take my lunch hour!

As my day goes on, I also write down what I’ve accomplished and what I have yet to do throughout the day. I’ve tried to make my daily habit items 10 points, so I get in the habit of just doing them, and items that will be more challenging, or even one-offs, in the 100 or 500 range.

In the past, I tend to start strong and peter off, especially when life gets in the way. I’m coming up on two personal trips in two weekends (one girls weekend and one weekend to visit my grandparents) and it’s super important for me to stay focused on fitness and remember my Super Summer plan.

How are you staying motivated during Super Summer?

In some form or another I’ve been running for the past 13 years.

Actually, the first day The Cowboy showed up at my place of work to officially ask me out, I had run a 10k race that morning.

I’ve gone through times where I haven’t ran as much, mainly during school and getting my certification in accounting.

Once I was done with that – it was back to running.

Three years ago I ran my first half marathon and have been running in some way or another since.

I must admit, aside from that first half marathon, I’ve never done so well at that training thing.

Sure, I’ve always had a training plan, but……I didn’t always follow it.

Part of the problem is the majority of my contract job is during weekends in July and August – prime training time, especially when you live in Canada and have all of 4-5 months without snow or cold weather interfering with runs.

In nine weeks I’ll be running a half marathon. I started training a week ago.

Normally I do a 16 week training plan to prep for a race, but this one is only 10 weeks.

I’m not allowing myself to worry or freak out. This race is about finishing and not so much about time. I want to have a good base built up, and I want to hit my 4 runs a week, even with two weekends (in a row!) of travel and marking exams nearly every weekend in July.

It’ll take planning, but I know I can do it by planning ahead.

Below: this weeks plan. Friday at 11:30 I’m flying out for a girls weekend, so the 13km run will be completed before I head to the airport. Done. No excuses

Today I tackled my first long run in ages. I’ve been running 5k pretty regularly, but haven’t ran long, so today was…..interesting.

I’ve noticed I’m naturally quite a bit faster, which is proving challenging. I really want to run slow on my runs, but I’m struggling to find my new pace, and I definitely started off too quickly today.

I’m also re-learning how to fuel. Previously, I’d just have a glass of juice and take off, but around the 3k mark today I definitely felt underfueled. I decided to take a gel to see if that would help, and after it kicked it, I felt much less woozy and was able to continue on with my run. However, I did turn around on the chance that the gel didn’t help, so my 11k run was just under 9k. Good, but not great.

I’ll need to figure out how to properly fuel as a go, and hope I don’t have the same issues when I tackle my 13k run on Friday.

I’ve also started using RunKeeper instead of my Garmin. I found having my watch made it so I was constantly checking my pace, and my goal right now is to better listen to my body, so I only know my time and pace every 5 minutes when it’s announced.

I’ve never ran with music before, so now that I’m using my iPhone to track my runs – what are your go-to songs for running? I’m thinking I’ll need to create a 2 hour playlist to keep me going once my runs get really long. What songs keep you motivated?

If you were to ask me how I was doing on Wednesday, I’d have said AWESOME!!! By Thursday, I was tired and run down (thanks hot yoga), so my body points tally was less than stellar.

Friday I pulled up my socks and did my cross training workout to get myself back on track. This morning I woke up tired and congested so I opted to clean and run errands instead. The Cowboy and I went for a two hour motorcycle ride after, so I’d say I got a bit of a workout in there

Tomorrow? 11km run. NO EXCUSES.

It’s been a bit up and down. Some amazing days, some days that weren’t so amazing, but I know it’s important for me to remember that’s how life is. With anything (job, fitness, friends, relationships, you name it!) there will be amazing days and not-so-amazing days. And really? We wouldn’t recognize those amazing days without the not-so-amazing days.

I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. I’m feeling great. Where I may not have done awesome fitness-wise, I’ve more than made up for it mind-wise. I’m truly focused on cutting back, getting rest and being wise with my money. This includes selling items that no longer fit (Lululemon and Banana Republic) and no longer use (nail polish, purses, computer) and it feels so good!

So, what did my first 8 days look like?

Take a look below!

How’s your Super Summer going?

Yesterday I woke up feeling under the weather for seemingly no reason. The only difference is that on Tuesday I went to a hot yoga class – my first class since I got sick at the beginning of May. I’m beginning to think this isn’t a coincidence anymore.

I’m pretty sure hot yoga is making me sick.

When I think about it: a hot humid environment is the perfect breeding ground for all sorts of yuckiness, so it’s not surprising that this is happening. It still upsets me though.

I used to get such a high after leaving yoga. My breathing was deeper, I felt more centered and my joints felt awesome.

Now? I just feel sick.

I’ve spent most of day feeling sorry for myself because I have aches and pains and I just freaking got healthy.

I’m so grumpy that I ended up snapping at The Cowboy over nothing and now I just want to go home and have a nap. (Speaking of naps, I enjoyed an hour-long nap last night that ended up screwing with my sleep, so I’m also achy and tried today. Welcome to my pity party).

Right now I’m on the lookout for some good yoga apps so I can still get a yoga workout in without coming home all germy. Because germs. Ew.

Needless to say, my body points for Super Summer yesterday were pretty freaking low. I plan on at least getting my ab workout in tonight and hopefully an iPhone inspired yoga workout.

I very much dislike when things out of my control mess with my exercise schedule. It gives me the grumps.

Has anyone else experienced sickness from hot yoga?

Whoops.

I don’t have a great excuse – I’ve just been busy with work work work.

Which, is great. I LOVE being busy at work!

I’ve also been busy at home – cleaning and organizng and stuff.

I’ve also been very focused on my Super Summer goals.

This weekend I picked up some wall decals to track my life and I freaking LOVE them. It’s my organization and Super Summer corner.

I’m a natural procrastinator and Super Summer has spurred me to do things that I had been putting off. I have these items 500 points because I knew I needed some major motivation to get them done, so far I’ve:

• cancelled my gym membership that I purchased 5 days before I lost my job and never used. Hooray for a refund!
• backed up all my photos from my iMac
• restored my iMac
• sold my iMac 2 hours after posting it for sale! (didn’t sell it for much, but it was a 2008 model, so I’m just glad to have sold it)
• organized my kitchen so I have more room on my counters
• organized my desk (see above) so it’s useful and not all cluttered with paper and crap

Big items still on my list that I’m hoping to accomplish over the weekend:

• organize my storage room (I’ll need The Cowboy for this one since it involves moving a cabinet)
• organize my bathroom (including selling some nailpolish off – my collection is ridiculous!)

I’m definitely making progress and it feels so awesome!

I’m also sticking to my workout plan. I’m sure if I weren’t getting point for working out, I’d have skipped Tuesday and possibly even Wednesday – I’m definitely looking forward to my rest day tomorrow!

I’m tracking my spending and budget like a crazy person. These past 6.5 months definitely had a lot of unexpected expenses come up, and certainly some purchases that likely weren’t necessary, but I feel like I’m really back on track and should be in an awesome place savings-wise in a year. Thankfully my employer gives me 10% of my salary into a retirement plan and I’m contributing 5% of my salary into a savings plan, so all my savings on top of that is for me (like, buying a house and taking vacations).

In the past I’ve really struggled with challenges (see ab challenge from May that I did 2 days of and then got sick, so didn’t finish) but I feel good about this one. The next two weekends will be a bit challenging as I have a girls weekend followed by a weekend visiting family, but all I can do is my best. So long as I get my long runs in, everything else will be just fine.

If you’re doing Super Summer – how are you doing?

Are you loving it as much as I am?

(Again, many thanks to Ann for typing this up!)

You may remember that May started with an ab challenge. Well, that ab challenge lasted all of 4 days until I got sick and then got lazy. So June is 1) half marathon training 2) plyo challenge and 3) ab challenge.

Whew. It’s gonna be a month!

So, here’s what June looks like

Two weekends: June 15-16 and June 22-23 I’ll be out of town, so it’ll be a challenge to get those workouts in. However, I am motivating myself with 100 points for getting them in!

I also downloaded a meal planning app and have breakfast and lunches set for next week – I just need to figure out dinner and I’ll be ready to roll with Super Summer.

And my budget?

DONE!