The mind is the enemy

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You people all make me happy. Thank you :)

Run Streak Day 11 [12/7]:
1.9 miles, with more than a couple walk breaks. Felt strong at 1.25 miles and then suddenly I didn't feel so good. Unfortunately I had run directly away from my house and had to walk (not run) home so as not to upset my stomach any further. It wasn't fun.

Run Streak Day 12 [12/8]:
2.5 miles on the treadmill, because it was 18 degrees and pitch black outside. Usually it's bright enough in the morning for me but not with today's clouds, I guess. Felt good to have a solid run, though. I just wish I'd had more time!
 
Boo for the poo run! Glad you got plenty of distance first, but too bad it was all away from the casa.

18? Yikes!

You never post your times. No need to, but I share and I run like molasses at 18 degrees.
 
Q, I don't post my times out of sheer laziness! I never remember my times when I come here to write so I just don't bother checking. For reference, today's 2.5 took 28:35 and yesterday's 1.9 took 22:15.

I seem to be having a lot of these 'crappy' runs lately....poor diet and drinking will do that. Gotta take care of myself better so I can enjoy physical activity instead of being anxious about it.

Step one in taking care of myself: Avoiding the Ben & Jerry's I bought myself for a special treat and instead enjoying an apple last night and an orange tonight after dinner. Little victories!!
 
I wish those were my bad times. Good job on the fruit treats.

I'm in no way judging you or others that do it, but I really believe that drinking causes more stress and anxiety than it alleviates. The problem is that you get the initial relief before all of the negative stress. The negatives also aren't always apparent as being directly a byproduct of drinking too.

I had no idea that about 99% of my heartburn was related to drinking. I would get heartburn after meals or at random times for no apparent reason and not when I drank. Since I stopped drinking I hardly ever get heartburn regardless of what I eat or do. It was so frequent before that I always had antacid with me in my pocket, at my desk, on my bedside table, beside the sofa, and I even had my wife carry it. I don't miss that.

You're blazing new territory with the daily runs and that is bringing the repercussions of some of your other habits to light. That's good. If something wasn't bothering you there isn't much reason to change it. Now what you eat and what you drink reflects in how it makes you feel by being magnified by the good stress of running. You get immediate feedback from your choices and that will help you to improve your health beyond the actual cardio.
 
My sister once crapped herself whilst out on a run. True story. Just came out of nooooowhere.

Well done on avoiding the Ben & Jerry's--you are a better woman than me!
 
Eloquent as always, Q hit the nail on the head. You're starting to look down the barrel of your 30s - you're going to see that recovery takes a little longer from an evening of fun. Don't be afraid of the 30s, though, I liked my explorative 30s better than my party-time 20s!
 
Q, I wholeheartedly agree with everything you wrote. It was easier to ignore the repercussions when I didn't have physical daily goals. Heck, even Thursday night binges go easier than they should given the heavy drinking culture in my office. My boss and I have a code word for being hungover. How backwards is that?

During my awful hangover on Saturday I was looking up stories about people who stopped drinking. I'm sure some of those were way higher on the 'alcoholic' scale than I am, but they resonated with me just the same. Particularly this line from one of the articles - "I learned that waking up on the weekend without a hangover, having a cup of coffee and going for a run is exactly what I want to be doing." I in no way need to drink every night, but I do struggle with moderation and it does effect my life.

When I am prepping for a race I take great care of my body. Lots of water, nothing more than a glass of wine, clean foods....why should I have to be racing in order to treat my body great?
 
Hana, don't tell me that!!! It's my worst nightmare! I've had a lot of close calls but so far so good. Knock on wood.

LJ, I think I'm gonna like my 30s...three months from now we'll find out! My twenties brought jobs and friends and running and a G-dawg and lots of other good things. But I expect even better things out of my 30s!
 
Run Streak Day 13 [12/9]:
4.5 miles on the treadmill, in 51:14. This was the very first time I've gone to the gym after getting home from work, because I usually turn into a sloth on my commute home. But there was a monsoon going on outside, so it was the best option, and I am so glad I went.

Run Streak Day 14 [12/10]:
1 mile outside, in 11:31. My legs were tired because this was an AM run after a PM run. Ouch.

Alright, I did have a drink today with some co-workers. A single beer, and we went somewhere different than our usual spot so I was able to indulge in a Spencer Trappist Ale, which is Belgian and delicious. I'm comfortable with this. No bar food to be found.

Food was spot on today. A yogurt with oats and chia seeds. Homemade chicken noodle soup. Homemade dried bananas. And a chicken Caesar salad for dinner. Yeah, I know, Caesar dressing is terrible. Let me live a little!
 
Sounds great! Sounds like you needed the calories from that dressing to get into a healthy amount of calories anyway ;) Drinking a sinlge delicious beer is not a transgression, it´s great management.
 
Run Streak Day 15 [12/11]:
2.65 miles in 33:31. The weather was dreary, and I decided it was a good idea to run through a park after days of heavy rain. At the end of the trail I found myself staring at a large swamp surrounded by thorn bushes. I tried to walk along the side but the bushes said no. Wet shoes it is, and scratches through my tights. Ouch.
 
Thanks LaMa, it did seem like I scarfed down that salad in seconds. I hadn't felt overly hungry until that moment but looking back it makes sense that I was starving! And having one beer that I truly enjoy versus having six cheap beers is the way to go. It was a treat, like ice cream or pie. I wouldn't eat six pieces of pie, now would I?
 
It was rainy and gross this morning so I just wimped out and did an easy mile and hit the showers. Nice job on a cruddy run. "large swamp surrounded by thorn bushes" is basically my second office. I don't wear running clothes to go there though. Double front work pants and I still always have at least 1 scratch somewhere.

My Tuesday was an AM after PM run and it stunk.

Having 1 beer is great. I don't enjoy nor do I usually have a single drink which is why I don't do it at all. I do stink at moderation, but I also enjoyed drinking for how it made me feel. 1 drink makes me feel sleepy and that's not appealing to me.

We are getting pretty close to the halfway point of this run streak. After the Sunday run we'll be on the downhill side. I need to see how my body fares, but I think I will just keep it going if I feel up to it.
 
Mmmm, I like Spencer Abby's Ale, tasty and potent. Q, that's one beer that will make you feel good!

Good day of self-control yesterday, Oaks!
 
Q, something clicked with me when I described the beer as being no different than ice cream or pie. I do genuinely enjoy a good beer, and it is very possible for me to be satisfied with just having the one. I wouldn't waste my calories on 20 cookies in one day. Especially if they were just bland cookies. I'd save myself for one decadent piece of chocolate mousse cake and then I wouldn't have another piece for a long time. That Belgian beer was my chocolate mousse cake.

I can't believe the streak is almost halfway done! It's been easier than I anticipated so far, but I'm sure it'll get worse soon. I love not having a decision to make on whether or not I'll run, it definitely makes things easy. That being said, I'm pretty sure I will not be continuing the streak after the New Year. I'm excited to continue running multiple days in a row now that I know it's not that bad. But I will eventually be ramping up my mileage in preparation for more half marathons, and rest days and more cross training will be needed.
 
Ah, moderation, that lovely vision which is like the horizon; often visible, seemingly within reach on clear days, filled with other people but never really where I am... Good job!
 
LJ, I missed your comment earlier, you have excellent taste, sir!

So far so good on food today, but I'm not home from work yet. Grape Nuts, a dried banana, and a big antipasto salad with balsamic and oil. Picked up a snack out of boredom and put it back down. Dinner is going to be bolognese with homemade fusilli pasta. The pasta came out hideous, but it tastes fine. It was the first time using this particular pasta attachment on our mixer, so I'm hoping maybe the second try will result in something that's more visually pleasing.
 
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Well, yesterday was a good day. The serving size we had for dinner was reasonable. More than one 'true' serving, of course, but I was mobile afterwards, which I'm typically not after homemade pasta. Even avoided the red wine, which goes hand in hand with bolognese! It was cheap boxed wine, which wasn't worth it. And then no evening snacks! Whoa.

Have I told you guys that every day I begin with Grape Nuts turns out fantastic, food-wise? That seems to be my secret. I've been trying to get myself to have a little bit before leaving work in order to shrink my dinner portion sizes a little, but I've yet to actually remember to do that.
 
Oh, I almost forgot! I weighed in at 157 even today. On October 23 when I came back here I was 162.2. And that same day I said I wanted to cut back on drinking but then had what? Bolognese and red wine, haha. I was happy to see that number, it was 156.8 yesterday but I just assumed I was dehydrated or something :)
 
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