Step Away From the Cake

It's official. Today was my last day of rest. I actually did (almost) nothing for 6 days. I do not even remember the last time I did that. It's easily been years. During this time I've worked out a new training schedule that will (hopefully) not kill me. I've scheduled in 1 full day off every week. I may go for a hike or something on that day but it will be for fun. So what did I do today? Not much. I cleaned house, did laundry, went out to lunch, did a little shopping. Oh, yeah!! I stopped in a running store that I never go to just to see what they had. I've been using stability shoes but with my new orthotics the chiro said I may not really need a stability shoe. The only way to know for sure is to try. Since I'm having some knee issues I decided I'd try a cushioned shoe. So I told the clerk that and this guy could not have been less helpful if he tried. He acted like I didn't know anything about running (he actually asked me what I wo

Yea!! Well, apparently there is something in the air tonight, some kind of change in the weather. Some where some demons mixed some fire and ice together. Whoops!! Got lost in Jimmy Buffet there for minute :) But seriously. This afternoon I snapped at work. Some stuff came up and it I just snapped. Hey, it happens. But it seems Iron Matron Mary has a similar incident. Weird, huh?? Last night at cycling I had an issue. We went to an area and did some hill repeats. The hill was pretty steep but not all that long, so it was completely doable. The problem I had was that every cycling group was at this hill last night. There were easily 100 people going up and down this hill. This is a quiet residential area, I know if I lived there I'd be pissed off. At one point 3 people came flying by me at around 30 mph without a word. Scared the hell out of me and I almost went into a parked car. My problem is this, since we all know that every training group shows up on Thursda

Time off is good!! Rest is definitely what my body needed!! But now I'm getting bored. I woke this morning at 3:30 am and just laid there. I listened to the dogs snore. I listened as the birds started getting restless in the trees outside my window. I kept thinking I should just get up, but then said why?? I wasn't going to work out and if I got up and got involved in some project I'd be late for work - I know myself!! So I laid there. Tossed and turned. Finally, at 5 I got up. I'm pretty sure I'm rested. But I set a return to workouts date of Sunday and I'm sticking to it. I am going to go to cycling tonight though - I have to do something. In my early morning musings, I made some goals and some plans. I'm not sure when I'm going to share them here but I have some very specific goals in mind. They are kind of pie in the sky and I don't want to look like an idiot if I don't make them. Maybe once I make some progress towards them

last night on my cycling training. When I looked at the schedule I realized we were only going to be spinning in the park. I can spin at home. So home I went. I am definitely getting into this relaxing thing. It's kind of funny though how long it's taking me to 'catch up' on my rest. I've never really experienced this before so I really don't know what to expect. What I do know is that I'm sleeping better (hadn't realized my sleep was compromised); I'm more interested in doing the things I need to do; I'm not near as grouchy (which I'm sure makes everyone happy :). I never really seriously considered I could be overtraining since I know lots of folks who workout way more than I do (you know who you are). But I guess I was pushing the envelope, for me. Anyway, I'm feeling better and I'm sure by the end of the week I'll be climbing the walls :) That's it. I've been working on other things. I'm putting togeth

I was looking through my workout logs for the past few months. Except for a couple of days here and there, I have taken no real break in about 5 months. Even on days that I say I did nothing, I generally rode the stationary bike for at least 30 minutes. In my mind that doesn't really count so I would say I did nothing. When I saw that this morning I knew what needed to be done. So a decision has been made! I'm taking this week off. I will only go to my cycling clinic on Tuesday and Thursday. That's all!!! Nothing else!!! Interesting phenomenon. For the past 2 weeks my neck and shoulders have been bothering me. They have been super tight and nothing seems to loosen them up. As soon as I made the decision this morning to take the week off, my neck and shoulders stopped hurting. Related??? Maybe :) I should have realized I was way to stressed just by looking around. My desk is a mess (much more than normal). I haven't put my workout stuff away in 2 weeks, I ju

A giant, brick wall This is what I ran into this weekend and I think it fell on me. Thursday and Friday I was feeling pretty tired, as I posted previously. Friday night I came home in a foul mood. I actually got into a fight with hubby! I mean, come one, after a certain point in a relationship you don't fight anymore. I don't remember the last time we got into a fight. Anyway, I knew things were not good when that happened. When I woke up Saturday morning I just felt blah!! Just blah!! I was scheduled for a run but there was no way I was going. I did talk myself into doing some strength training and some intervals at least. Then I had to run to work, run some errands, take the dogs to the vet, blah,blah, blah........ By the time I got home at 4 pm I was literally wiped out. I felt like a dishrag, I was so tired and weak. After dinner we sat down to watch Pirates' of the Caribbean At World's End (or whatever it called). Within 10 minutes I was sound asleep.