If you are like me, and training for an upcoming race (a half marathon on the 23rd!), you have been gradually getting back into the swing of things and possibly slipping on your targets for training. Although the last race I ran was in mid-January, I feel like it has been quite some time since I have trained diligently and prepared for a race. As a way to keep myself in check, and hopefully to keep some of you out there motivated, I will post my mileage every couple of months or so...
So some challenges I have faced this year to keep my 2014 resolutions:
Getting back in the habit of early morning runs
I really love running in the morning here in Puerto Rico - not only is it cooler outside, but quieter, and it is nice to start the day with some fresh air and to see the sunrise while looking out at the ocean. But I have to say, ever since I moved here, it has been quite difficult to wake up so early in the morning! Not sure exactly what it is, but maybe a mixture of staying late in the lab (often until 7pm), eating late-ish dinners frequently (after 7:30pm), the heat and humidity making me sleepy, and people just generally doing things later on this island than I am used to. But I am definitely going to have to get over this! I was checking the schedule for the Puerto Rico Half Marathon and the start time is promptly at 5am! 5AM! What are these people thinking?! This means I will have to wake up by 4 or 4:15AM at the latest, so I can wake up and get energized for this race. But I am prepared to do it (I already registered anyway!) :-P
Making a running/exercise schedule and sticking to it
I have been using the Adrenaline Junkies Meetup group as a big form of motivation for me and as a way for others to hold me accountable. Scheduling a weekly run and posting it to the meetup group is a great motivator to stick to my training plans. Running with others is also a great way to be encouraged and encourage others, not to mention a good way to take a break from the never ending lab work. My schedule typically includes a long run on Sunday mornings, a speed workout on Tuesday nights, an easy run on the beach Wednesday mornings, a 4-5 mile run on Thursday nights, and sometimes a trail run on Saturday mornings.
My longest run in January was 9.35 miles running to El Morro in Old San Juan - it was a great run! It was a cool morning, with a nice breeze coming from the ocean, and a little drizzly rain, which made for some nice rainbows in the sky. But the best part was seeing a flock of wild parakeets flying around El Morro and Plaza del Quinto Centenario! Luckily, one of my fellow running buddies had her phone with her and I asked her to snap a photo of them:
I am still working on trying to make a schedule for strength training, as I am not a member of a gym and don't take bootcamp classes on the beach anymore. I've been doing some workouts at home with an app called Skimble - it has lots of different workouts you play from your phone and has instructions with an automated trainer (the free version uses a robot voice - if you pay, you get a real voice) that leads you through each exercise. It is really easy but it's very hard to motivate myself to do these on my own...I did just order a set of dumbbells, so hopefully, that will get me excited again about exercising at home!
A friend of mine also gave me a copy of the Insanity workouts, and I've slowly started getting into those, so I hope to stick with them. I tried the test the other night and it was tough! I think I will get more into it after the half marathon when I'm not running as much.
Eating wisely
For the most part, I'd say I eat pretty balanced. I stick to real, non-processed foods as much as possible, I avoid going out for meals, and I usually only drink a few glasses of wine a week. Sometimes I have trouble with portion control or snacking when I'm not hungry, but I've been doing less of this by not having many snacks around at home or work. I also tend to stay pretty busy at work moving around the lab and not sitting very much. I'm mostly away from my computer these days, so there is less opportunity to sit around and snack!
Total mileage for January: 50.69 miles
Total mileage for February: 32.73 miles (I fell behind on my training this month!) :-/
Total mileage for 2014 (including one run this month so far): 88.18
