If the Pain Won't Stop . . .

Then I guess I shouldn't either. 

I've been pulling back on physical activity the last two months, because I've been feeling physically bad for that time period. Now, some of it was illness. I know I had a cold or three and maybe even some mild bronchitis. But the main thing keeping me from working out has been abdominal pain that just won't quit. 

It even sometimes feels worse with movement, especially the kind of whole body movement that tends to show up frequently in CrossFit (don't get me started on burpees!). But I've tried not moving, and I just feel worse. 

I'm going to push myself to go in to the 5 am class on days when I don't want to because of tummy pain. Illness is another matter, but if it's just the tummy pain that is supposed to come from the IBS, then I shouldn't have any issues other than the pain itself. And if it hurts whether or not I'm exercising, I may as well exercise and get some sore muscles to go with the tummy, put it in perspective. 

Or, as I've seen it put on TikTok, take all the feelings and put 'em in a muscle, they can't see you cry when you sweat ;) 

Run Rest Run

I recently went more than a week between runs. I didn't have to do that. I could have gotten a run the day before my business trip, or even done a run at my hotel, but I chose to not run. I wanted to see how my legs did. 

The last time I went more than a week without running, my legs started to ache. And getting back into running was painful as I stretched out my tight iliotibial bands. But since I've been wearing those natural shoes, my iliotibial bands are not as tight. And I know now that I can go longer between runs if I need to. 

And instead of the run being an exercise in discipline as I ran through the pain, I was just a bit sore and managed to run my last tenth of a mile at a sub 10-minute mile pace. I haven't recorded myself running that fast in years! 

On my last few runs, I've started to really get into the feeling of Chi Running. It's like I'm running downhill even when I'm running on a flat or a slight incline. As long as I can hold onto the tight core, and swing my legs back, I can get there. It was several years ago when I got to my fastest running pace ever, being able to sustain 9 minute mile pace for 4 miles. I think with the combination of Chi Running and natural, foot-shaped shoes, I might reach that again. 

But it takes patience. I just need to let myself continue to progress a bit at a time. If there's anything I've learned from Ambrose about fitness, it's that it's never too late to start - or too early. 

Training

On Sunday when I was running, I was not in the mood to be running. I didn't want to do it at all, but I got myself out the door with stubbornness and I kept myself going with dogged willpower. I was absolutely determined to run 6 miles, even though I was feeling a bit under the weather and I had this nasty lump in my throat that tasted kind of yucky. Pretty much, I was sick and not willing to admit it. 

At one point when I was running, it was as if the world had narrowed to the sidewalk in front of me. My eyes were heavy lidded and I wasn't hearing much of the world around me. It's lucky I didn't run into anyone or anything. 

I was trying to slow my heart rate, because I can feel it pounding in my ears, TUMP TUMP TUMP and I want it to stop hurting my ears so much. So I focused on slowing my pace and breathing and letting my heart slow down. But it just keeps coming back TUMP TUMP TUMP and I just keep pushing myself, wondering if I'm doing the right thing, but determined not to stop. 

Then I felt a sting of pain, like a frisson of electricity in my chest, near my heart, and though the stinging sensation lingered, what took more of my attention was the feeling of coming up from underwater, or waking up from a light sleep. The world around me came into focus, the whole thing, not just what was in front of me. I was hearing better, and the pounding of my heart was no longer painful in my ears. 

I don't know what the heck happened, but it was quite an interesting phase shift. Maybe the pain did it. Like stubbing one's toe on the way to or from the bathroom at night. From half asleep to wide awake in a split second. 

The feeling faded a bit, but helped get me through that last mile of running, after which I sat down on some grass near the sidewalk to eat and try and catch my breath. My legs were rubbery and didn't want to move anymore, and I couldn't blame them. But I wasn't really training my running that day. I was training my willpower. Training my ability to keep going even when my body didn't really want to. Because that's the reserve I need when I'm out in the wilderness, two days from a road in any direction. To doggedly push on, because my body can do more than my mind thinks. 

Back on Track?

I think that the long illness has finally been cleared out by my immune system. I'm getting back into my workout routine, though I'm not fully there yet. I did CrossFit three times last week and I'm going for five this week. I'm on track for that, having already completed three. 

Last week was important, because I was finally able to complete an Open workout for this year. I didn't want it to be my first class back, so I made sure to go in on Tuesday and Wednesday to remind my body how CrossFit goes. I wasn't feeling 100% on Friday when I did 22.3, but I did my best. I made it to the chest to bar pullups of the scaled workout, but couldn't get one. I was happy enough to complete my pull ups in 6 sets of 3. 

I haven't run yet this week. I plan on doing a 2 mile or so run on Thursday and then maybe a short run on Saturday to prepare myself for a long run on Sunday. I'd like to get back to my 10 miles per week and start expanding my long run's distance again. That will be the real sign that I'm back on track - when I've got five CrossFit classes and at least ten miles of running each week. 

My weight loss is also getting back on track. While I'm not down that much from my low at the end of January, I'm starting to see some lower numbers. I just hope that I can keep a steady weight through the next period. I was steady during my period in January, but I bloated up in February so I have no idea what's going to happen this month. 

But I think my approach with calorie counting is working. It's just a slow process that requires consistency in both the eating and the exercising. 

UnOpened

Well, I did sign up for the CrossFit Open this year, as I have most years since I started CrossFit. And the one time I didn't sign up for the Open, I still did all the workouts at my affiliate. But this year, I've been ill. And not the kind of ill I could ignore to sneak in a workout. 

For the first time since I started participating, I have left a workout incomplete, unscored. I don't like it! 

But life doesn't always just give me what I like. My life would no doubt be very different if it did. I didn't end up completing my 10 miles last week, though I tried very hard with a 4 mile run on Monday (the holiday) and a 3 mile the very next day. But my body is just not done being sick. 

My aunt had a similar sickness running from Thanksgiving to Christmas. All kinds of symptoms, just coming one on top of another. I don't think I'm fully through it yet, but I'm through it enough to get back to the office. More's the pity. 

Now I'm facing the possibility that I might miss the next one and I'm just pleading with my body to hurry up and finish off the invaders so we can do 22.2! 

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. 

Break Time

Although I hadn't intended it, I have ended up taking a bit of a rest week this week between Christmas and New Years. This is in part due to a cold that I acquired at some point. Not a bad cold, but irksome enough to prevent me from running in sub-freezing temperatures, which just happened to arrive this week. 

I think it's actually a good thing. While I like creating a streak of running 10 miles a week, I think my body will benefit from a little break in the routine. I'll be getting back to it next week, I hope. And in the meantime, I'll focus more on the kind of work I can do sitting at my desk. 

I've been doing better with my tummy pain lately. I'm thinking that I may have been more stressed about the whole thing than I realized. I recently started paying close attention to what I'm eating, because I'm doing calorie counting. I'd like to lose some weight - not too much, because I still need to carry my backpack, but I'd like to see if I can go from hovering around 150 to hovering around 140. Part of that will come from a renewed commitment to exercise, but the part that will actually get it done is the calorie counting, no matter how much I despise it. 

I mean, despise might be too harsh. I find it troublesome and irritating to not only track what I'm eating, but how much of it. I guess I should be happy I'm not currently interested in the time that I'm eating. My dad has suggested intermittent fasting, but I really don't like how I feel when I've gone too long without eating. Maybe fasting will work for me someday, but that day is not nigh. 

And it doesn't matter how much I eat or don't eat when my period comes around. I'll gain weight at that time no matter what I do, which makes it hard to see progress sometimes. But I do think that I'm seeing progress, so the counting, however tedious, is here to stay. 

Steady Going and the Boot Hunt Begins

I've completed 4 weeks of running 3 times a week for a total distance of at least 10 miles. My long runs are up to 6.5 miles, and if the weather is good this Sunday (relatively good), then I'll try to get to 7. If I'm going to build up to 10 miles at a time by spring, then I need to push my distance gradually and over time. I know that if the weather is truly bad I'll be cutting back to 5 or even 4 miles for the long run, even if that means having to run longer on my weekday runs. 

CrossFit hasn't been quite as consistent, since I was out of town and then they were closed for Thanksgiving. But I got 5 classes in last week and I'm on track to hit 5 again this week. I'm hoping to make Commitment Crew in December, which means getting to at least 20 classes. Lucky for me, the holiday closures are falling on weekends this year, so I can just stay with weekdays and I should be able to make it. It's all about discipline, forcing myself to get out of bed at 4:30 and just do the routine that gets me out the door. 

In other news, I started my hunt for a new pair of waterproof hiking boots at REI last weekend. I got excited when a couple of the boots the clerk brought out actually had women's wide sizes, but I knew from the moment I stuck my right foot in each one that they were not wide enough for me - even the Oboz. I've gotten to be very picky about how my boots fit. I want my toes to be able to move, and for some reason this is not very easy to find. Boots (and shoes) like to squeeze my littlest toe into and under my other toes. I don't like the way it feels, and I refuse to pay a couple hundred dollars for a boot that will actively hurt me. 

Backpacking will "hurt" me enough without ill fitting footwear. 

My second pair of backpacking boots (and my first waterproof pair) jammed my toes together so much that I still have issues of numbness with those toes on occasion. I felt like the clerk at REI was giving me funny looks when I quickly declared each pair to be not a fit, but I can't buy a new pair of feet if I mess those up. They are priceless, and so I will no longer put ill-fitting boots on them for backpacking. 

The clerk also let me know that they didn't carry a lot of inventory, and that I might look into ordering online. If I deliver to store, then I just come by for pick up and I can try them on and return them right away if they don't fit. I admit that option sounds easier than ordering online elsewhere and then having to ship back when they inevitably don't fit right. 

But that's where I might end up landing, since many of the boots that seem to be more specialized for wide feet and roomy toe boxes are not strictly for backpacking nor available anywhere near me physically. I just hate the idea of stretching out the inevitable disappointment, and having to actually mail them back when they don't work. Bah! 

The boot hunt shall continue. 

Staying on Track

Last week, I managed to get to CrossFit every weekday, got 3 runs in totally 10 miles and commuted by bike to work all 3 days that I go into the office. I've started out this week on track to keep up the same activity level, though with it getting colder the bike commutes might be stopping. 

It's really all about getting into a routine, especially for the 5 am CrossFit classes. If I just don't give myself any spare time to think about what I'm doing, it's pretty easy to get dressed and drive out. If I'm feeling like I'll have a hard time in the morning, I'll put my clothes out the night before. When the alarm goes off and I don't want to get up, I just put my mind into the track: ankle alphabet, then restroom, then get dressed, drink a yogurt drink and then it's pretty much time to go. I suppose I could get up earlier, but that just gives me more time to procrastinate and change my mind about leaving the house. 

This morning, since it was in the 20's, I spoiled myself by using the remote start option for my car. It was magical! It won't automatically turn seat heat on, but I leave it on if I know my husband will not be driving before I will. It wasn't really warm, because I didn't start it early enough, but just being warmer than the ambient temperature was nice. I didn't sit down and start shivering, so I'll call that a win. 

This weekend I'll have a bit of disruption to my schedule; I'm not likely to make 5 CrossFit classes next week because of the holiday. The bigger issue was that I can't do a long run on Sunday, but then I remembered I have all day Thursday to get a long run in. Totally doable. 

Overall, I'm liking this level of activity. I'm getting pretty good sleep, and the soreness is there, but not overwhelming. I'm trying to push hard enough to improve at CrossFit without overdoing things; it's a fine balance. I want to keep up a high level of activity like this throughout the off season so that I'm ready for a great backpacking season once the weather turns to summer. I'm hoping to get my long runs to 10 miles by April. 

And for now, I'm on track for that. 

Jumpstart!

How do you start (or restart) an exercise program? I've not been doing as much as I could since the end of backpacking season, or even a bit before that. My running was sporadic and short, and over the last few weeks, I'd been battling a cold that kept me from CrossFit. I prefer not to expose my fellow athletes to any illness so I've been playing it safe. 

I was starting to feel better last weekend, though not quite better enough to dive back into CrossFit. So I decided to do a long run on Saturday and just see how that felt. I've been re-reading Chi Running for the first time since I'd first read it years ago, and I'm finding that I'm better able to apply the principles than I used to be. It makes sense. When I first read it, I was a newbie runner. I never ran as a youth, so I had no base to build on. 

Now, after years of running, backpacking and CrossFit, I have a much more stable and strong core, which allows me to actually use the Chi Running principles instead of just using it to adjust my gait away from injury-inducing styles. And I've found myself more attracted to the meditative aspects of Chi Running as well, in part, I believe, because I've learned about aphantasia. 

Aphantasia is the inability to mentally visualize. Visualization has been one thing that has always been in conflict with me meditating. Most of my exposure had been to the kind of meditation that requires visualizing something, and I just couldn't do it. Without knowing why I couldn't do it, I just had to say I couldn't meditate. But now, I know that I can. I just need to do it without visualizations. Like my dad suggested, I can close my eyes and "visualize" blackness. Or, with Chi Running, I can meditate through the motion of my body. 

I ran 4 miles on Saturday, at a nice, slow pace. I usually try to run faster towards the end of my runs, but for this one I deliberately kept it slow. The goal was not to work on speed, but to work on form, technique and comfort. To focus on my body and what it was doing. Later that evening, I massaged my calves. 

The next day, I had thought about going to CrossFit, but there are only morning classes on Sunday and I just didn't make the effort to make it. But my legs were feeling so good that I decided to do another long run and set myself up to have 10 miles for the week. Again, I kept the pace slow and steady. I ran 5.6 miles. 

After that, my legs were pretty sore, so I massaged them again, in addition to foam rolling. Nearly 10 miles over two days, and I didn't feel too bad. So, naturally, I went to CrossFit on Monday, at my typical 5 am time. 

Now, CrossFit usually posts the next day's workout on their website after 6 pm, but sometimes the post doesn't go up. That was the case Sunday night. Would I have made a different choice about going to CrossFit if I knew that my leg weekend was about to be followed by leg day (back squats, box step-ups, thrusters, and burpees)? I'd like to think not, but I can't prove it. 

I'm diving right back in to my routine. Restarting. And I think what's making it work is my attitude. I know that I'm going to feel good, so I push through the reluctance to get out of bed and the soreness and, surprise surprise, I feel darn good afterwards. I did CrossFit Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with plans for Thursday and Friday this week. I got another 2.2 miles of running on Tuesday, despite the fact that it was raining, with another 2.2 planned for Thursday (I really hope it isn't raining Thursday). 

I'm taking a page from Nike and just doing it. 

So far, it's working. 

Back to CrossFit

I had planned on increasing the number of CrossFit classes I was attending after my vaccination was fully effective, but I went to visit my family first. Unfortunately, I ended up bringing home a sinus infection and ended up delaying my return to CrossFit by a little over a week. 

But I got back on Monday, and returned on both Tuesday and Wednesday! My body aches just about everywhere, and it's lovely. 

I mean, painful, but also lovely. I like the feeling of having worked my muscles hard. Sure, some things become inconvenient, like raising my arms above shoulder height to reach for anything or climbing stairs or really anything to do with my legs... 

I am avoiding running, so far, at CrossFit, but that's mostly because I can run at home (and I do). I try to do things at CrossFit that I can't do at home, when I have the option. Like, whenever we do a choose-your-own tabata, I try to do something with handstand holds, since I don't have a lot of room for that at my home, or something with the pull up bar. This morning I alternated hangs with straight leg sit-ups (because the handstand wall was occupied). 

Getting up at 4:30 in the morning and then driving to CrossFit is not as easy as getting up at 4:30 in the morning and walking to CrossFit. It takes about the same amount of travel time, but the walk was just easier to get myself to do. The car has so many steps! Getting the keys, the wallet, dressing for a cold car, considering whether I will bug the neighbors by turning my headlights on while I'm still in the stall (they got blackout curtains for their parking lot facing window, but don't always use them), picking a radio station with a song that I like and/or tolerate, and then there's the driving part. Stoplights and turns and the half dozen or so other cars on the road at that hour. 

It could be worse, but I used to have it so much better. Just, exit the house, take a right, cross the street, and boom! Time to exercise! 

And, of course, the new location opened during the pandemic so I couldn't even transition smoothly from what I was doing to what I was going to do. But I like the way I feel the rest of the day when I do get up and work out like this, so I guess I'll keep on doing it. 

Running Goal Review

At the very end of November, I added a goal in the app I use to track my running (and hiking, sometimes), Map My Run. It was, I felt, a modest goal of 10 miles per week of running. That would just be 5 miles on the weekend for a long run, then 2.5 on two weekdays, typically Tuesday and Thursday for me. And if I was ever short, there was Saturday to make up some miles. 

I made that goal for 11 weeks in a row. And I thought the app would stop tracking the goal once I failed to meet it - or restart the number of weeks. But the goal doesn't appear to care if I meet it or not. It keeps counting. 

And, in an odd way, that encouraged me to pick it up after I dropped it. I still ran that twelfth week, just not the full 10 miles. And there has been a week or two when I didn't run at all - but there are far more weeks that I met the 10 miles or ran some. 

And that's pretty awesome. Over the course of 20 weeks, starting in late November, when the weather in Boise gets cold (though not very snowy), I managed to run nearly 187 miles. Not the 200 that I would have gotten if I'd kept religiously to the goal, but a whole lot more miles than if I hadn't had that goal motivating me. 

There were weeks when I absolutely did not want to run on a given day. And if that day was a Saturday, and I had miles left in the week, then I pushed through that mental mire and did it anyway. One day, because I skipped Sunday and knew that the following Saturday wouldn't be good for running, I got up early, ran 4 miles at 5 am, and then ran another 3 miles at noon. 

No way I would have tried that without the goal. 

Nor would I have run 4 miles during my lunch break. 

I am going to pause the goal once backpacking season is here. But I will absolutely start it up again in September, because keeping myself conditioned for backpacking is just so much easier than starting fresh every spring.

Mindset

I really, really didn't want to run on Sunday. My stomach felt overfull and bloated. I knew there was some constipation going on, and it would likely be pretty painful to run with. I didn't even feel like eating an omelet for breakfast, so I made one for my husband and then had toast with cream cheese for breakfast instead. Something light. 

I dithered for hours after that. My husband left the house for his run/walk, and still, I sat, and waited to feel better. 

It wasn't happening. The magical time that I was waiting for was not going to come. 

So, I just did it. I got myself ready, and then I got myself out the door and just started running. 

It sucked. 

Not just until I warmed up; the whole run felt pretty damn awful. It's not that my legs or feet couldn't do it - they actually felt pretty good, and if it were up to them, I would have run more than 4 and two thirds miles. But my tummy was not having fun, and it was a mental battle to run as long as I did. 

There's actually a really good reason for me to run when I don't want to. It's great training for backpacking, because that's a sport where sometimes you don't have a choice about whether you'll be hiking that day or how far. It might be raining, even snowing, and you need to get yourself moving, because failing to move is simply NOT an option. 

The 10 miles a week goal has been helping me train my brain. I have been running a lot more often when I don't want to do it trying to meet that goal. And every time I do, I'm not just conditioning my body for backpacking, I'm also practicing that mental push that gets me out of the warm, cozy tent and into the cold and dark with a pack on my back. 

Running Choices

Last week, the streak was in jeopardy. Sunday was fine, I ran a 10K (6.2 miles). Then I ran a nice short 2.1 on Tuesday. But I was sick on Thursday - sick enough to call in to work (I was going to write "stay home from work" but half the time I'm working from home anyway, so...). I didn't run at all on Thursday or Friday, which left me with 1.7 miles to run on Saturday if I wanted to keep the streak alive. 

I did, naturally, want to keep the streak alive. But my husband and I already had chores on Saturday - a small shopping trip and a long overdue visit to the laundromat to wash our down items. We washed three jackets, my balaclava and my old sleeping bag - an investment well worth the time and money. 

And, once the laundry was done, I ran home, using a route that I'd already mapped out to be at least 1.7 miles. Ambrose drove the car (and our laundry) home while I ran. I felt kind of awful running, especially because I had been on liquid diet since Thursday, so my caloric intake was reduced. But I got it done. 

And then, on Sunday, I just wasn't feeling the long run. I stayed inside, and I worked on my book. The weather was gorgeous, so I can't blame it. I wanted to have a day or so of eating solid food under my belt before doing a long run, so sue me. 

When I made that decision on Sunday, I planned on making up the miles on Saturday, as I have been doing. But on Monday night, I was looking at the unusually warm forecast for early Tuesday morning and I hit upon an idea. If it was going to be in the 40s at 5 in the morning, I could go ahead and make up some miles then. 

And I did. 

I woke up at 4:30, verified that it was indeed in the 40s (45 by accuweather, 51 by our back porch weather sensor). I overdressed with a windbreaker, and fastened a couple of lights around myself. I have these LED lights that I use for visibility while biking; usually they are fastened to my backpack, but I took them off and wrapped them around my waist, one in the front with a steady glow setting and one in back with a strobing light. I also took a headlamp, though I carried it in my hand, because I know from past experience that it's hard to aim a headlamp in the right place while I'm running if it's on my head. 

I didn't need the headlamp or the windbreaker. I figured out a good position for the steady glow in front, over my fanny pack, and it illuminated the sidewalk sufficiently for me to see. Well, it did when the sidewalk was not already well illuminated by street lights. I took a route that was mostly bigger streets, with lots of street lights and some traffic, even at that hour. 

I ran 4 miles. 

I could have stopped there, patted myself on the back, well done! Instead, I did my normal lunchtime run, getting 3 more miles. Those miles kind of hurt, but I ran them faster so it balances out. 

Now, all I need to do is 3 more miles, which I can easily do during my regular Thursday lunch time run. That way, I won't have to run at all on Saturday, and *fingers crossed* be ready for a nice long run on Sunday to get back onto my normal schedule. 

Whether I do it on Thursday or Saturday, this is week 10 of the streak. 97 miles in the last 9.5 weeks. I know I won't be continuing this streak during the backpacking season. I figure I'll try to do a least one run per week during the season. But once September hits, I can start up this streak again, knowing that I can. 

Limited Not

I'm currently dealing with an IBS flare up. For me, that means tummy pain, lots of it, and very poor sleep quality resulting in me being tired all the time. So, while I wanted to keep on going with the Power Abs 30 day cycles, I had to pause a while back. Well, it was a pause at the time. It's a stop now. I even had to reduce my CrossFit classes because of the lack of sleep. 

And yet, I've kept up with my running goal. Such is the power of a streak. 

I have not wanted to run these last few weeks. Not even a little bit on most days. On the few better days, I'm happy to go out the door, but otherwise, it's a fight to get dressed for it. I'm doing it anyway, because I'm being stubborn about that streak. I want to hold on to some exercise - which is supposed to be good for IBS! - and it's got to be running, because I can't work my abs hard with the way my abdomen feels, and I would have to drive to do CrossFit, which is a huge psychological barrier when I'm not getting good sleep. 

Even with not wanting to run, my running is improving. I keep notes on my runs in the Map My Run app that I use to track my 10 mile per week goal. Each run gets logged so it can be counted towards the 10. Each log gets a few notes, and lately those notes have been my shorthand for, "my legs are feeling good and solid in their motion, they are ready to keep going, but my tummy pain and exhaustion make me really not want to be running at all." 

The goal is doing its job, even though I'm running really slowly while really tired. I am building up running endurance in my joints that I can use as a base for backpacking this summer. I am not letting IBS stop me from doing that. 

Back on Track

I kept the streak alive last week, and got back into the groove for this week's goal with a 5.85 mile run on Sunday. I know, now, that I can run 3 miles during my exercise release time during the week, but I don't prefer to do so. At the pace that I am running, 2 to 2.5 is a more manageable distance for the time I have available. 

I have a regular 3 mile route that uses the nearby Greenbelt, but I only ran that once in the 4 times that I did 3 milers in the past couple weeks. I didn't like how crowded it was, and I had to cross a major street. My next 3 mile run was neighborhood laps - I did two 1 mile laps, alternating directions, then two half mile laps, alternating directions. Laps are good for staying close to home, but also pretty boring. I finally landed on a nice big loop that gives me 3 miles with minimal stoplights and no crossings of major streets. 

My first 6 mile routes had me crossing major streets two or three times (depending on some options). After I figured out my big 3 mile loop, I made some adjustments and figured out how to do a 6 mile loop by running the 3 mile and then looping back around inside it. 

I see a poorly drawn J - maybe I should change my route to make it prettier.

My legs are starting to get used to the running. They don't feel so much like lead when I run, and I'm getting less soreness from even the long runs. I did feel sore on yesterday's run, but that's not from running. That's from doing a whole bunch of squats at CrossFit on Monday - which was only my second class of the year. 

I had not been to CrossFit since late December until last Saturday. I wasn't feeling very well. Mostly it was my IBS flaring up. My tummy hurt and I didn't have enough energy or motivation to get myself to 5 am CrossFit. And, frankly, I benefitted from the rest. I had been pushing myself pretty hard in November and December. 

I haven't started back up on the Power Abs program; I'm thinking of doing another cycle in February in preparation for the CrossFit Open in March. The important thing is I'm not beating myself up over any of these "failures" - I'm doing my best. That's all I can do. 

Streak Building

I find streaks highly motivating. I like routines. I like being able to check off little boxes once I finish each task. 

The problem is, no matter how well things are planned, streaks have a tendency to break. 

Life gets in the way. Illness. Unexpected travel (well maybe not this year). Injury. Low motivation... 

I did not run as scheduled on 1/3, for a variety of reasons. And that meant I had to complete my 10 miles per week goal in just 6 days, 5 of them work days (especially in winter, it's much harder for me to squeeze a run in on a workday). 

So, I knew I had a challenge on my hands last week. I was proactive about it, by choosing to run 3 miles each on Tuesday and Thursday. Those runs are during my exercise release time at work - essentially, I take the single hour allotted and split it in two, taking 90 minute lunch/exercise release "lunch" times in the middle of the day, wherein I exercise and then hurry up and eat lunch. Typically, I'll run 2 to 2.3 miles, which leaves me plenty of time to foam roll, shower, and eat before I have to go back to work. 

Knowing that I had to make up some miles, I changed those over to 3 miles runs. In order to make sure I had both time and energy for that, I've paused what would have been my third cycle of Power Abs in a row. I will be starting Power Abs up again, because I like how it feels, long-term, when I devote extra time to building up my core. But it is going to wait until after the current tummy issues clear up. 

On Saturday, I had to do a 4 mile run to make 10 miles for the week and meet my goal for the 6th consecutive week. And when Saturday dawned, I was not in the mood whatsoever to run. My husband and I had to go out shopping in the morning, which was fine for my running since Boise was covered with freezing fog most of the morning. 

I ended up waiting until nearly 3 pm before I ran - but by that point, the sun was out and the temperature was marginally above freezing. Each mile was cold and uncomfortable, but the pace was actually decent for me, first mile at 12:30, next two sub 12, last one 12:05. I could have stopped when I closed my loop at 3.96 miles, but instead I ran on until I hit 4, because that's the way I run. 

6 weeks of 10 miles per week. 60 miles. The streak is building, and I will keep going as long as I can. 

And if I should fail, then I will start anew. 

Will the Streak Break?

I managed to do 10 miles per week of running through the month of December. 5 weeks, a nice little streak. And I had even gotten myself set up so that I was only running 3 days per week, with a long run on Sunday and then two short ones during the week (Tuesday and Thursday). But last Sunday, I made a judgment call not to do any running, because I was getting over a cold, and it was raining pretty much all day. 

That means I need to do my 10 miles between Tuesday and Saturday (because of course I didn't run on Monday). Yesterday, I decided to extend my normal distance from 2-ish to 3-ish. If I do that again on Thursday, then I'll only need to run about 4 miles on Saturday - and then, if everything goes well, 6 miles on Sunday to start week 7 of my streak. 

I was going to reroute my neighborhood route to go from 2-ish to 3-ish, but I ended up not taking the time to map it out. So, I went with an old standard - the golf course run. From my front door to the place where the Greenbelt is intersected by a golf cart crossing is about 1.5 miles. It's a nice little 3 mile out and back - a 5K if I run just a smidge farther. 

Actually running it yesterday felt kind of horrible, since I have been having some tummy pain issues and I was running on not much sleep on top of that. But normally, it's a nice short run. There weren't too many people out and about on the Greenbelt. It didn't feel crowded at any point, but I did see a good number of people variously walking, running and biking. Must have been the sunshine drawing them out, because it was darn cold outside. 

But I got that 3 miles in, which should help me get my miles even without running on Sunday. There's always a bump in the road for streaks, and the trick is to either get around them or practice self-forgiveness if the streak breaks and just start over. Streaks can be rebuilt. 

But I'm still going to give keeping this streak a live the best chance I can. 

Cold Running

 I am pretty proud of myself for starting and maintaining a running streak in Boise in December. It isn't the worst winter weather month that we have here in Boise. That tends to be January or February in my limited experience. But just because there's not been a whole lot of snow or ice on the ground doesn't mean it was an easy month to run in. 

For example, last Sunday, when I ran 6.4 miles, I was initially quite cold when I went outside. The sun was out, but it is at such an angle that most houses I run by will block its light and meager heat. The real problem was that the wind was gusting. Not only does running into the wind get hard because of the force of the wind itself, but also the chill factor. My current running outfit does well at insulating, but it isn't windproof, and I could feel that on Sunday for sure. 

There was one point when I was over halfway done that I was running through a shady section (that is the best section when it's shady in the summer, but is close to the worst when it's below freezing), and I could see the sunny section ahead. In my mind's eye, I was coming up on a huge section where the buildings were far enough back from the sidewalk that I'd get a chance to warm my bones before braving the next shady section. 

Then I got close enough to actually see the section. 

The sunny part was... shrinking. 

Instead of stretching all the way across the sidewalk, from the little side street I was about to cross all the past the next stoplight, it barely spanned the side street. 

Rolling in from the west and the north were not only clouds, which blocked my precious sunlight, but freezing fog, which made the lack of sun even more acutely felt. 

I had more than a mile left to run, maybe a mile and a half after the sun was completely covered. I so wanted to stop and call my husband and make him come get me in the heated car. But stopping would not help me stay warm. As cold as I was chugging along on my tired and numb jogging legs, I would only get colder if I stopped for any reason. 

So I kept chugging along. I kept moving. And it took a while, but I got those legs home. 

I'm really developing a distaste for running in the cold, but at the same time, I like having done it. A lot. 

Running and Running

Well, I managed it. I finished off week 2's 10 miles last Saturday with a 2.4 mile run around the neighborhood. And then, on Sunday, I ran 5.8 miles to start my 3rd week off right. And I ran another 2.2 on Tuesday, so all I need to do is 2 miles on Thursday and I will have earned that Saturday rest day. 

Of course, I have been pushing myself pretty hard, so I also decided that today would be a rest day. My knees were feeling wonky after so many burpees and clusters on Tuesday (the workout was 115 of each, but I didn't finish, so I only did 112 burpees and 109 clusters), and I decided that it would be reasonable to skip a CrossFit day. 

After all, I'm still building up my endurance for all that running plus all that CrossFit. It will take some time to readjust. 

Running in the cold is both awful and wonderful. At the start, it's pretty awful. I get out there and I'm quite cold. If the wind hits before I've been running long enough to warm up, then I have to suffer through the buffeting. But once I run enough to heat my body, it gets nice. I don't feel as much pain as the cold numbs me. I keep my buff in chin strap position to keep my ears covered and to allow me to flip it up and over mouth and nose when people are near and down when I want to breathe freely (and there's no one else around). 

I usually encounter a few people on each run, taking walks or walking their dogs. I even see other runners occasionally. I think I'd see more if I went over to the Greenbelt, but I prefer to avoid stoplights on my runs so I don't usually go there.  Plus, I like avoiding the crowds. More time for me to breathe without three layers of buff plastered over my face. 

It seems like every time I'm out running in the cold, I ask myself why I'm doing this crazy thing. During yesterday's run, I thought of it as an investment in myself. I run pretty slowly, but if I can maintain this kind of pace for the next 30 years, then I'll be doing pretty well. Maybe I won't ever get much faster or stronger. Maybe I will. But you keep moving by moving, not by sitting on the couch all day every day.