Happy Friday! It’s my favorite day of the month — when Runfessions meets the Friday Five 2.0. It’s a no holds barred type of post and I love it. I have quite a few things to runfess for this fine August Runfessions. Grab a snack and enjoy the ride!
Training is getting really tough — and other August runfessions
I runfess…
1. I’m struggling big time this training cycle.
I don’t like putting this out in the universe, but I gotta be real. I’m struggling with this training cycle. I’m training for my third long distance race of 2017 and my mind and body are starting to rebel. The week prior to the Rock Hall Half, I had my calf worked on. It was a fairly aggressive ART session (active release technique) and it left me bruised and mangled for days. In fact, it’s still tender and it’s been more than a week now. Anyway — I couldn’t even run for the rest of the week. But I runfess, I didn’t even want to. I don’t know if I was bordering on burn out or what. Honestly, though, my drive was gone.
Sometimes things happen for a reason and I’m convinced my chiropractor put me out of commission so I could take some much needed down time. Of course he didn’t do it on purpose (did you, doc??), but as painful as the appointment was, the unplanned rest that followed was sorely needed. Going forward, I’m going to try my hardest to hit all my workouts and paces, but if I need a break I won’t feel bad listening to my body. I imagine some of my struggles this summer have had to do with the balancing act of parenting, working, and training. I hope, at least. I really want to reel in the rest of my training and actually enjoy it.
And this may be a telling sign, but I led into my July Runfessions with an eerily similar point…
2. I gave myself heart palpitations on my run earlier this week.
Yeah, seriously. How does one achieve such a phenomenal feat? By not getting any sleep, then running, and then bending down during said run, and then returning to running. It throws the heart all out of whack. Palpitations ensue.
Remember that time I told you about my echocardiogram? All I could think about was how strong my heart is and that I had nothing to worry about. But physically, the run was a trudge. I didn’t think I would make it home, to be honest. Such a mess. I need more sleep. And to not bend down in the middle of a run anymore. But the selfies…!
August Runfessions
3. 5:30 am wake-ups are overrated.
I cherish the times I get to run with my friends. Buuuuuut, I don’t necessarily enjoy the early morning wake-ups. When it was sunny out at 5:30 am it wasn’t such a big deal. But now it’s dark until 6:15 am or so. How demotivating! I’d rather stay in bed. Anyone else?
4. Striking a balance with macros is taxing.
I eat what sounds good without much thought. I don’t eat ice cream for lunch and I don’t pound a bag of chocolate chips at the end of dinner (although maybe I should?) — I eat nutritious food according to what my body’s craving. There was a good month or so when I was eating bagels every day for lunch. I gained some weight and now I’m trying to backpedal my way out of that. I’m making healthier food choices than I have been and trying to make sure I’m fueling appropriately for my training load. Without weighing, counting, and measuring food, though, it’s taxing! I think I’ve got a handle on it now, but still. I’ve been much better at fueling lately at least, so there’s that.
I runfess… these people are the cutest. 🙂
5. My kids went back to school this week.
And I’m not even gonna sugarcoat it — I’m ecstatic! We had a really great summer together but they’ve been at each other’s throats for the last couple weeks and it has driven me IN-SANE. I’m so happy just to have some peace and quiet. I’m so tired of refereeing life. Next week will be my first full week with both kids in school. I think I might just sit in the living room and do nothing for an hour one day. Because I can.
But in all seriousness, I love my kids. I’m just thankful to have a little more time to myself again. Summer is always busy with training, coaching, blogging, and juggling kids. I’m ready for a breather!
I think that about covers it for my August Runfessions. Things I need to work on for September: getting more sleep and eating better food.
So what do you guys think? Am I a total mess or what?
Don’t forget to linkup with Fairytales and Fitness and me for the Friday Five 2.0! Find out what your friends are up to and new blogs to read!
xo
Let’s talk!
Have you ever given yourself heart palpitations by doing something stupid?
Do you have a hard time balancing macros?
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