Getting Back to 10 Miles

Well, I fell off my running goal for a few weeks there, but I'm in a position to get back to 10 miles run this week. The biggest factor in getting the 10 miles is getting a long run done on Sunday, and this past Sunday I did a nice long run of 5.3 miles. 

The weather was quite cold, but I tried out my new brushtail possum socks, and they kept my feet quite warm. I also wore gloves, but they kind of backfired. The gloves made my hands sweat, which made them extra cold and I couldn't get them to warm up until I took the gloves off and just used the sleeves of my shirt and jacket to protect them. 

It would have been a nicer run if the sun had been out, but at least the wind wasn't too awful that day. My Tuesday run had sun, but the wind was blowing quite fiercely. And I didn't wear the possum socks, so my feet were a little colder. But I can handle cold feet for shorter runs, and this one was only 2.35 miles. I didn't want to run at all on Tuesday, I felt more like taking a nap, but I got myself out the door. I kind of had to make myself do it, but I did it. 

Now I just need to do at least 2.35 on Thursday and I'll hit my 10 miles for the week. I believe I've got that in me, especially because we shouldn't be seeing any precipitation this week. Running in the kind of cold we get here in Boise is hard, but not impossible. When I run in the cold, I'm talking 20's and 30's. I'd have to bundle up more for temps lower than that, but it generally doesn't get that cold here. 

And then start all over again on Sunday, when I'll try to run 6 or so miles. Might need more insulation for that run, since it's long and slow. 

Diet

I've actually been focused on losing weight with calorie counting lately. Not something I love to do; in fact, I can't remember ever doing it this long before because I dislike it so much. But there's something different about it this time. I've already reduced my food options so much with trying to avoid "natural flavors" that it isn't nearly as much of a burden as it used to be to track those calories. 

I'm seeing some weight loss, though nothing significant yet, just over a month in. That makes sense to me, because I know that weight loss is not linear. Our bodies do respond like perfect automata to the stimuli that we give it. That has to be in part because there are parts of that digestion cycle that we not only don't have access to influence, but don't even completely understand. Science around the microbiome is still in its infancy, but we know it matters. 

It can be hard to stay positive, but, as Ambrose said, our bodies are our allies in this fight. We shouldn't get mad at them because we don't understand why our weight is up, despite diligent calorie counting. We might look at other things, like macro ratios, if we get super frustrated, but I know that I need to especially be prepared for a gain of about 5 pounds around my period. It's almost not fair that men don't have that cycle to be able to see when their hormones are out of whack. Men cycle, they just don't get the red flag of warning. 

I had a thought that, if our bodies are our allies, then what exactly is the enemy against which we are aligned? My first answer was despair. Doubt. We must fight with our bodies against the idea that nothing we do actually makes a difference. Fight to stay the course. Fight to remain calm as we are buffeted by the waters of the rushing river of life. 

I talk to my body. I ask it to try and become the shape that I'm asking it to be. To try and lose the weight that it (and I) have clung to since high school. To show off the muscles we've built at CrossFit. To lower our base weight for backpacking. 

Getting Back to Fitness

The cold finally left me alone! I'm so happy to be getting back into running and CrossFit. It felt like I would never be well again there for a bit. I'm used to a three to four day cold, not a ten to fourteen day one. 

On Sunday, I planned for a 3 mile run. A short version of my long run. I figured it would warm up my iliotibial bands and let me know if my breathing was good enough to go to CrossFit on Monday. The weather was cold, but I dressed for it. I borrowed a warm shirt from my husband, which I wore over a tight tank top, and under a windbreaker. I put plastic bags over my socks to help keep them warm in my mesh shoes. 

The run started out well enough. I was slow, but comfortable. Breathing felt good. There wasn't too much ice on the sidewalks. In fact, most of the sidewalks were well cleared. Only a few sections had been neglected enough to ice over, and at those points I would move over to the street (assuming the street was better) or slow down. The last thing I wanted was a fall. 

But as I ran along, I started to feel a rumbling in my gut. It was right around mile 2. I thought that it was just some cramping at first, but my body soon made it known that I needed to use the bathroom. Rather urgently, in fact. And I was still at least half a mile from home by the most direct route. I made it home before I had an accident, but that run definitely worked something loose in me. 

On Monday, I went to CrossFit for the first time in nearly two weeks. It was hard, but good. I got excited on Sunday night when the workout appeared to include my favorite weightlifting movement (the snatch), but it was a mis-post, and the actual workout was overhead or front squats. That was probably for the best, because snatches were back on for Wednesday, and it would be better for me to do snatches after having a couple days back under my weight belt. 

Tuesday was a lot of movement. Tons of burpees. Okay, I got through 80 burpees, but it felt like tons. And I did a short run during the lunch hour. The original plan was just a mile, but I felt good enough on the run to add another half mile or so and get my total run time up to 20 minutes. 

I won't be hitting my 10 miles of running this week, but I am on track to get back on that for next week. And I might only do 4 CrossFit classes this week, just because I am still getting back to it, which means I'm pretty tired from all the extra work I've added to my week. 

I'm happy to be getting back in my routine.

Ugh Sick

And I've started off the new year with no exercise whatsoever, because this cold is dragging along. Last week, we had some lovely snow, but I didn't go hiking in it, again, because being sick. I am officially sick of being sick, but I actually got worse yesterday after starting to recover on Monday. 

Once I'm feeling better, I do plan to get back on track with my 10 miles of running per week and 5 days of CrossFit per week. For now, it's all about being patient and getting well. 

I just hate having to be patient while my immune system figures out how to flush whatever it is I'm fighting. I don't think it's Covid, but from what I've read about the Omicron variant, that is a possibility. If not the initial cold, then perhaps I managed to pick up Omicron while already ill. I probably won't be testing, but I'll continue to avoid people, because even if this isn't Covid, I don't wish it on anyone else.