After BlogHer, I was a sloth. This isn’t a new thing, though – I usually come home from BlogHer so mentally, emotionally, physically and any other -ally exhausted that even falling into bed takes effort.
A week and a half later, I’m starting to emerge from the fog, only this time I have the reminder of hey you, you’re supposed to be getting healthier, remember? You’ve done your best imitation of a rock all week – it’s time to get moving again.
So after three nights of telling myself I will run tonight – no excuses! – only to then find excuses, I tugged on my sports bra, laced up my shoes and went outside for a run. I wasn’t ambitious, choosing to go back a week on the Couch to 5K program and do the Week 6 Day 1 intervals.
Starting my first run, my body seemed to click back into sync, and soon I was gliding along at a steady jog. But my brain then got cocky and decided oh yeah, this is a breeze! and my pace immediately sped up as I ran past neighbors, smiling and waving as if I was the freakin’ queen of running.
It took about a minute and a half for my body to realize it couldn’t keep this pace up, and the last three minutes of the first interval were agony as I slowed down, gasped for breath to get oxygen to my pissed off muscles, and tried to remember I like running, right? RIGHT?
I used the first walk interval to catch my breath and reevaluate my strategy. When it was time to run again, I forced myself into a slower pace with far better results. Finishing the entire run, I felt good. Still tired, still dripping sweat, but I didn’t feel like I used my last ounce of energy.
I’m going to try jumping back into week 7 next time and see if I can get back to a 25 minute run again. And I know that I need a goal to keep myself motivated, so I’m scouting out new 5K races in my area to sign up for. If any locals want to join in, let me know!
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But wait – here’s the really insane part of the story this week. For a week and a half, I didn’t exercise, I slept a lot and watched a lot of TV, and despite efforts to eat well, still ate a lot of junk during that time, including a steak from Outback (yum), a bowl of ice cream, a slice of Bob Evans’ Strawberry Supreme Pie (yummmm….) and at least two fast food trips.
Normally, this behavior would result in a 3-4 pound weight gain, as my body usually sees any slip as a chance to jack up the number on the scale. But after a week and a half of slip ups, I somehow LOST TWO POUNDS. I’ll gladly accept the loss, but after working so hard to force that number down for months, a week of no exercise and delicious treats takes it down effortlessly? How is that possible?
So here’s to being two pounds lighter and running again. Let’s keep it going.
Keep me posted if you find any. Like I said before, I’m running in the Central Ohio’s March of Dimes night 5k on Sept 17th if you’re interested in that. 🙂
Glad to hear you are running again. I am going to build up my stamina riding my bike, then onto the run.
I have, even with all of the eating out while we deal with the dog, managed to maintain if not lose. Sometimes your body needs a break to heal and will keep burning based on previous activity levels. The key is to not give it too long of a break.