Long run stats, menu plan, disappointment, and pain. Plus a new strategy!

Wow, could I have come up with a more depressing title?

First, a warning, this post is not 'all about' running or paleo.  It will probably be filled with whining.

The week has been rough.  Nothing's really wrong.  I haven't injured myself.  No one has died.  But, Wednesday I lost my running buddy.

When I first got the wild hair to run the half marathon, I asked someone at work if she would be interested in running a well known local 12k with me, which takes place a few weeks before the half.  It seemed like we had quite a bit in common and I was hoping to make a new friend.  She agreed, we discussed plans to do our weekly long runs together, I shared my training schedule with her and she liked it and decided to follow it.  We had been updating each other on our results via Facebook.  It was nice to have someone to talk running with.    Well, Wednesday she told me that she is having surgery the week before the race and so she's decided not to do it.

Now, surgery is a totally legitimate reason to cancel something.  But since there's so much time between now and then I asked if she still wanted to run on Saturdays and she said no.  Then she mentioned that she's "still following my training schedule!"  and, "has really started to love running!" 

We never actually got to run together because the weather here has been yucky lately, and I am probably taking this far too personally.  But I can't help but feel like I got, uh... honey badgered.  As in, "Thanks for the treats, stupid!"  (this video is not safe for work due to language)



I didn't think it would really affect me as much as it has.  Running the half was my personal goal from the start and I usually prefer to exercise on my own.  Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with running.  Maybe I'm just disappointed that it seems like she didn't want to run with me.

So, along with getting that news Wednesday, the rest of the week has had me in a little funk.  My legs were sore during my run on Tuesday and it was painful.  I still did my press and deadlift workout on Wednesday though I did fewer reps of the assistance work. Thursday I decided to skip my run due to knee pain (okay, okay, I was a little sad, too!  But mostly it was because of my knees) and of course Friday was my scheduled rest day.

Aside from the difficulty with running and my lack of a social life, I've been feeling bingey all week long.  I've had a couple run-ins with homemade almond butter and a little too much fruit.  The scale has been creeping up and I'm about 5 lbs over the weight I was at when I started this whole thing.

I guess that leads me to my new strategy.  Feeling disenchanted with running, for whatever the reason may be, I downloaded The Primal Blueprint.  I've always liked Mark Sisson's take on chronic cardio, and I had it in the back of my mind since before I decided to train for the half.  I haven't finished the book yet, but I've decided to change up my training strategy a bit based on Mark's recommendations.  Basically this means lowering my intensity during my runs, adding in sprints once a week, and continuing to lift weights.  See below:

I tried to keep my hr during today's run between 55 and 75% of my max (105-144 bpm).  This meant that instead of running I was pretty much at a slow jog, with a couple short walk breaks if my hr got over my target zone.  I have to say, it definitely took me longer to do my 4 miles today than it did last week, but I could tell I didn't dip into my glycogen stores as much as I have in the past.  I came home feeling pretty stable and I didn't need a piece of fruit or a sweet potato after my run.

Distance: 4.26 miles
Time: 56:12
Avg HR: 132
Max HR: 157

Along with switching up my training strategy, I'm trying a couple different things with food this week.  No fruit except berries, and no nuts except macadamia nuts.  The fruit is definitely affecting me in the same way sugar does (makes me want to binge, eat when I'm not hungry, and puts me in a nasty mood!) and the nuts are just too easy to overconsume.  I stopped buying almond butter for that reason, but it looks like even the 2 year old bag of raw almonds in the pantry is a trap, the nuts are just screaming to be turned into almond butter (delicious when roasted, salted, and ground up with some coconut oil  *drool*).  Anyway.  The goal is to try the lower intensity running for a bit, and to keep my insulin well controlled.  Hopefully I'll see a bit of improvement with these changes!

This week's menu:

Roast chicken

Carrots and curried cauliflower

Salad

Pork roast

Roasted root veggies

Salad

Meatballs and pasta sauce

Garlic green beans, spaghetti squash

Salad

Leftovers

Carrots

Salad

Macadamia nut chicken

Broccoli

Salad

Leftovers

Broccoli

Salad