I had my first official planned run tonight (instead of just jogging when I'm in the middle of walking somewhere). The hardest part about it is getting out the door because when I get home from work all I want to do is crash. On trainer days, I have resolved this problem by coming home, immediately falling into bed and taking a 20-30 minute nap, then waking up and throwing on my workout clothes so I can go catch the bus to my trainer's. That seems to work really well for those days, so I tried it today too. It worked like a charm. When my alarm went off I just kept thinking about that quote on the bottom right of this page about workouts just happening because the decision has already been made. So I didn't even entertain any thoughts of not going, I just got out of bed, threw on my workout clothes, and took off.
There's a wilderness trail about a quarter mile from my house so I headed in that direction. I had talked to my trainer about running on my own and she said the most important thing was to keep my heart rate between 120 and 160, so I strapped on a pulse monitor I bought a few years ago and got started. I walked for a little while to warm up, then stretched and got to jogging. It wasn't hard to get my heart rate above the max since I'm still pretty far from the ideal fitness level, but it was really nice to have some guideline for when I should push harder and when I should ease up. Most beginning running programs go by time (like run for 90 seconds then walk for 60) but I think it worked so much better for me to go by my heart rate because I knew I was working at the right intensity level for me and I didn't have to feel like I was either killing myself or not working hard enough.
One thing I learned while I was running is that my workout pants are now too big. That was kind of awkward....:D The other thing I learned is that people you run into when you're out running are kind of surly assholes. I made a point to be friendly and say hello to everyone I ran into and the most I got out of anybody was a self-conscious grunt. Well that's not true. There was a homeless man sitting under a tree when I ran one way and when I came back past him he asked "well how'd it go?" I told him it went well and his response was "you're doing great, sweetheart! Good job!" Which was surreal, but actually gave me a nice little boost at the end of my workout. :)
The last time I bought groceries I tried to get some more fresh veggies and things, with the intent to cook in the kitchen again (for those of you who don't know, I've been living off of microwave dinners and sandwiches in the basement so I wouldn't have to deal with my roommate). Tonight when I got back from running, I totally cooked! I made a delightful stir-fry with baked tofu, zucchini, and red bell pepper and I made a sauce with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil, then I served the whole mess over spaghetti. It was lovely, and I have leftovers for lunch and dinner tomorrow. I also cleaned every dish I used and put it right back where it was so my roommate will have nothing to complain about (I don't know why I feel compelled to walk on eggshells around her, but I do, so there you go).
So kind of a kick ass evening! I hope yours rocked hard as well :)
xo,
C
2 comments:
way to go. that meal sounds pretty good. and don't worry about selfish runners. they're out there no matter what level you're at. they can't be bothered w/ saying hello. whatever
Here's a hot tip for you: always keep your hands open when you run or job. Don't make fists, because that restricts the amount of swing you get with your arms as opposed to when you run with your fingers loose or your palms open. Bigger strides with your arms means bigger strides with your legs, and you don't have to work any harder.
You may already have been aware of this fact, but i digest...
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