We’ve only got 3 months to save the world

Okay, maybe not “save the world.” But there’s exactly 3 months until my race, and I have that song ’4 Minutes’ by Madonna and J.Timbs stuck in my head. Love that song.

This weekend I took it pretty easy on the training:
Saturday:
• 20 minutes on the cross trainer
• 25 minutes on a recline bike
• 15 minutes strength training

Sunday:
• 4.5 miles- 44:09
• 9:48 average pace

Total HBBC points for the weekend: 10 (including 2 for fruits and veggies)

I definitely think that taking it easy helped my run yesterday. I ate a craptastic (but soooo delicious) breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast and hash, so my motivation to run was low and desire to become a potato in my bed was high. But I got to the gym, and lo and behold, they had Food Network on as one of the TV stations. Ahh! So I watched Paula Deen as I ran. I very often feel like having to exercise after watching her show… it’s like all the butter she uses passes through your TV and into your bloodstream. So that was a win-win. Oh Paula, I see you making that buttery, buttery English toffee. Excuse me, I’m going to turn up the intensity now.

I’ve started listening to some podcasts on my commute to work, and today I listened to my first episode of RunRunLive, a (shock!) running podcast. I listened to the 11/26 broadcast (it’s out once a week), and there was a great guest piece about product endorsements. For those of you that don’t know, I’m a Marketing Coordinator, so I squealed with delight at the merged discussion of running and corporate branding. Such a nerd, so not caring. The podcast is really great, though. It’s full of excellent information, a bit of music here and there, and insightful commentary. It’d make a great listening item for long run days.

Enjoy your Monday, everyone!

Everlasting Food Coma

I was so good on Thanksgiving. If I were a puppy*, you would have given me so many Beggin’ Strips because I was that damn good.

Two mile run: 19:21. Not my best time, but I think I overdid it on the bike the day before at the gym. Energy levels = 1.5 out of 10 during that run. Whatevs. It’ll happen now and then. The Thanksgiving meal… I kept a super balanced plate, and covered it mostly in veggies. I would have taken a photo, but I would have been laughed out of the family. So you’ll just have to take my word for it.

My numbers for HBBC were:
2 points for 2 miles
1 point for 7 fruits/veggies (apple pie totally counts as a fruit on Thanksgiving)

Today… I was not so good. If I were a puppy*, I would have gotten a smack on the nose with a rolled-up magazine. Rest day, so pretty much no movement on my part (whatup morning movie marathon), leftover pie for breakfast, and a Thanksgiving dinner part two. And I was not as generous with good portioning tonight because I simply didn’t care. And that’s okay now and then. Homemade clam chowder? Heck yes. Stuffed mushrooms? Gimme. And it was all topped off with an entertaining 4 year old and an adorable 18 month old that says “omnomnomnom” whenever she eats. I accidentally taught it to her one day months ago. She still does it all. the. time. And I die of laughter a bit each time.

HBBC for today… 1 point. Veggies. Whatevs.

Hitting the gym tomorrow morning and not caring how slow I move from turkey and squash overload. I hope you’re all as wonderfully food coma’d as I am. Enjoy it while it lasts, kittens*.

what is up with me and animals this entry?

Spin Cycle

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

5:15am. I want to sleep. No, I have to go to the gym. I’m going out tonight. There will be no other time for me to go to the gym. But my bed is so warm… okay, I’m getting up.

It’s a good thing I have my alarm clock at the foot of my bed so I’m forced to at least sit up when I wake up. This morning was fairly difficult. It’s been grey, cold, and drizzly for the last few days, and I was craving the sanctity of my comforter for another 45 minutes. But a training schedule is a training schedule. It must be done. Besides, the half marathon starts at 6am and I have to get there at 4am. Might as well get used to it now and be adjusted come race day.

So I ate a banana, drove to the gym, and plopped down on a spin bike for 35 minutes. That’s by no means a long time (and probably much easier in comparison to the spin class that started around the same time as my arrival. But at 5:30am, that’s all I could muster (fortunately, it was also all my schedule called for today). I managed to get about 14 miles in during that time; a good, solid ride. And I felt pretty great afterwards, too. So from here on out, I’m going to try to do most of my training in the morning.

Please note that I said “try.” Don’t hold me to that.

In other news, I’m up to 11.7 points for the HBBC for this week. Shout out to my teammates Alisa, Genesis, and Lindsay (her blog link isn’t working :\).

Have any of you ever participated in non-race challenges before? If so, what was it, and what did you think of it? Did it motivate you to work harder?

Happy Wednesday!