Friday Five: 10K, Fitness Check and Food

The belly rules the mind. 

~Spanish Proverb

1. Last week's 10K was spectacular! My body handled it well. I didn't run for time, but confident if I did that both my legs and lungs were up for the challenged. I stuck with my buddy.  She let me fly on the downhills, but I'd wait for on the flats and she was kind to me when she tackled the uphills.

I really love my new hot pink arm sleeves.

2. So while my legs and lungs were ready for that 10K, they were not ready for a Kettle Kore workout I did the day before. I thought a little core cross training wouldn't hurt the day before. I was wrong. The squat twists, obliques while in a squat and the single leg dead lifts made recovering from the 10K brutal. So far eating and running has not been completely effective in regaining a fitter version of myself and it is time to incorporate for strength to my routine. Super Hubby scored a great group on to a newish fitness studio in town, so my hope is to hit a kettle bell work out 1x per week for the next 10 weeks and see how that helps. Ideally, this will supplement what I should be doing at home in terms of core and general strength training.

3. This week was supposed to be an easy week with only 2 miles on the schedule for both Tuesday and Thursday and 2.5 tomorrow and an easy 25-30 minutes Sunday. So far I have done nothing. Zero. Zip. Zilch. I am ok with that. My next 8 week training cycle starts on Monday and it is easy with my week day runs at 2-2.5 miles and my long run at 3.5 miles. I am training for another 10K and I am really happy about the time that 10K training affords me and my family. It is a great distance, not too imposing on life, work, family etc..

4. Um, ok...silly question. How do I eat right? Plant based? Whole food? Organic? Yeah, those answers are no brainers, right? My body is normally very responsive. Cutting out fast food, fried food and sweets are normally a great way to drop those nagging pounds. Well it hasn't been working for me lately. (People who know me personally ignore the way you have seen me eat these last three days)

So now I venture into details. I hated detailed eating, I wish I could mindlessly eat exactly what I need when I needed it and only what I need. Now I am listening curiously to people not eating bread more than one meal a day, cutting out dairy to lower inflammation, eating 35 + grams of fiber, eating within an hour of waking, topping off glycogen stores every two hours and taking every vitamin known to man. I have juice fasted for 2.5 days once. It was funny. Not hard, no immediate results and no desire to do it longer. I know there are 1 day, 3 day and week long fasts and versions of others that last much longer than that. I am not a fan of fad diets because I have very little drive or committment for that kind of thing. I am not into meal replacement shakes because it is not a sustainable idea for me. Right now I am just trying to figure out how to get all I need, easily and within my 1200 calorie weight loss budget. I only want to lose about 10 pounds. Yes I said only, but damn it it is tough!

5. Good news! The new fitness studio I am visiting for Kettle bell also gave me a fitness assessment including a calipers body fat test. I actually have less body fat than where I was last year mid season. It is obvious that aside from my top heaviness, I am carrying my weight in my middle like most and I know I can overcome this with a little effort. Ugh, effort, bleh!

The Big Picture: Long term, I understand eating well and nourishing my body is a life long commitment, short term I know weight loss will take effort.
Why I Kick A$$: For working hard enough to be able to take a couple days off guilt free.

How I enjoy down time to myself...sitting in the sun.

Thankful Three:

1. For a night away in SF with Super Hubby.
2. For Duder having a great first sleep over with his uncle and aunt.
3. For so much time off work lately to recharge.