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October 24, 2004
Striking Out
Yesterday's shopping trip was a strike out. There were so many great bargains, but nothing was flattering. There was definitely a case of having poor body image going on. Clothes shopping can be difficult. I didn't used to have the pants problem, but I seem to getting it now. Pants that fit in the waist are a little snug in the thighs. I have always suffered from the leg length problem-pants that fit in the waist are floods on me. No new clothes. Not that it is bad, I defintely saved some money. Going out wasn't too much better. My stomach was funny all day and the half glass of wine I drank was not helping matters. It sat in my stomach and made me feel pukey. No cute guys either. It was so embarassing for S and I when we were going in. The place is a trendy restaurant/bar. A family was leaving when we were heading in and the mother said to us, "there are lots of cute guys in there for you". We didn't think that we looked that desparate!
Seeing as last night was a very early night, this morning was not too bad. I slept in, as I always do on Sunday. On Sundays, I never head straight out the door to run. My body needs to wake up some, so I hang out and watch TV, stretch, whatever for about 40 minutes before I try to go out the door. Since there was definitely some stiffness from yesterday's long run, I stretched and used the foam roller some to really work the extra tight spots before I hit the road. The temperature was still cool this morning, but not as damp as yesterday. No watch, as usual for Sunday, this is the super-duper easy run of the week. My legs felt suprisingly good considering yesterday's 17 miler. There was some residual tightness, but nothing really bad. Some general fatigue, but again nothing more than should be expected. In fact, there was less tightness and fatigue than I expected. The two major road crossings were taken advantage of to stretch some of the funny feeling spots, but I have felt much worse on my Sundays.
This week has been one of my higher mileage weeks this year. I hit 59, I rarely go over 60. Considering I have been on the brink of falling apart for much of the fall this is a solid week. In retrospect, the races I've done are amazing. I've barely been able to do any workouts because of the stupid ankle problem. I know that I should not have done the grass loops the night I fell, something about doing them did not feel right at the time. There are four or five more weeks of training and racing before my long break time. I'll take a week off from running and then do pure easy base work for several weeks. Hopefully during this time the ankle completely heals and I can come back full force for the spring season.
Posted by Blondie at October 24, 2004 11:23 AM
Comments
hey blondie - thank you so much for the encouraging comments on my blog. i am trying hard to hold it together at this point (and keep the body image issues at bay . . . i think i have gained some weight from my time off, but i never weight myself....which is a very good thing right now!!). i really enjoy reading your blog and i often feel inspired after i finish reading it. you are an amazing runner!!
Posted by: bridget at October 24, 2004 06:18 PM
Thanks Bridget...I'm right there with you on the not weighing myself thing. Everyone here inspires me every day, I feel like a slacker when I read everyone else's blogs :)
Posted by: Blondie at October 24, 2004 07:05 PM
Blondie, just trying to learn...I see you rarely go over 60 miles/week. So, do you build your speed with more of a high intensity, low(er) volume program?
Posted by: Leilani at October 24, 2004 10:10 PM
Leilani, I really try to emphasize quality over quantity. I rarely run slower than 7:10 pace. I've found, for me, higher mileage results in lots of fatigue. I try to make sure that every run has a purpose. I avoid junk miles because then my body just gets used to running more slowly. This is what is working for me. I have built my weekly average slowly over the past few years. This year is lower because I've had a few minor injuries that have force me to take more time off. I almost always take a day off every week (Friday) because I want to stay fresh.
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at October 25, 2004 08:07 PM
Blondie, thanks for sharing what works for you. :)I'm going to start working with a coach who has your same philosophy. It'll be interesting to see what kind of workouts he has in store and if it works for me. I may have more questions for you down the road...
Posted by: Leilani at October 25, 2004 09:28 PM