LLRB 365: 2011 Week 43

How in blazes have we made it through October and into November already?  Did all of you enjoy your extra hour of sleep Saturday night? I used it as an excuse to stay out later - oops.

Here's my week in review:

Monday

10-31-11

Happy Halloween!  Considering I thought we had agreed we were going to hide and not hand out candy this year, I thought the giant bowl of all my favorites M bought was rather cruel.

And, for those of you who wanted to know what I did with last week's fabric purchase, I give you: A Bag of Cotton Candy. (All of the teaching staff dressed up as "candy" this year. Please be kind)

Tuesday

11-1-11

Today, I give you a picture of my reward for running the marathon - a bunch of new clothes (excuse the messy closet).  (Also, the nerd in me absolutely loves this date, but I never took a picture of it.)

Wednesday

11-02-2011

Happy palindrome day.  The picture has nothing to do with that, but whatever. It's my blog.

Thursday

11-3-11

My daughter competed in the conference prelims and finished 23/33 after 5 dives.  She qualified for semifinals but bowed out since she wouldn't be able to compete in the finals on Saturday anyway because of a schedule conflict with marching band.  I'm so proud of my girl for how hard she's worked this season.  

Friday

11-4-11

We headed to the east side of the state to celebrate my friend Jen's birthday!  An all vegan menu, tons of wine, and the company of good friends was exactly what I needed.

Saturday

11-5-11

D and K's marching band competed in the state finals and got to march at Ford Field.  They finished 10/12 at finals and 10/15th in the state for Flight 1 (the largest schools).

Sunday

11-6-11

I almost didn't each lunch on Saturday until I remembered the leftovers in the fridge from Anita's in Ferndale.  (Seriously, if you are ever in the Detroit area - go to Anita's in Ferndale.  Even if you aren't in the area, it's totally worth the drive.)

There you have it.  The end to another busy week.  Hopefully things will settle down a bit now that diving is finished and marching band is almost done.  How was your week?  Anything fun to report?

Fitness Friday: An App for That?

Accountability

Motivation

Companionship

Three concepts/words that would help so many of us in our fitness journeys.

This week I got to run with a good friend as part of a group run.  It made me realize how much I miss running with someone.  How it makes the time go faster and how that person can help push you and encourage you to kick it up a notch.  

The problem is finding people in my area with similar fitness goals (and in the case of running, similar abilities).  Sure, we have running groups around here, group exercise classes at the Y, I'm on Daily Mile ... But how do you really connect and find people to help keep you accountable?  How do you do it?

I wish there was an app for that.

Thankful Thursday: Tomorrows

You ever have one of those days where you just wanna call "time out" and ask for a do-over? I think we all have. In fact, several of my friends on twitter were shouting out for do-overs yesterday (and I was wishing right along side them).

Sadly though, do-overs rarely, if ever, happen.

Thankfully, we always have the opportunity for tomorrow. Tomorrow is God's way to give us a do-over. How we choose to play it is entirely up to us.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

LLRB 365: 2012 Week 42

Monday

10-24-11

Bought some fabric for my Halloween costume.

Tuesday

10-25-11

My first post-marathon run. Not too shabby.

Wednesday

10-26-12

Dinner & a movie

Thursday

10-27-11

Added a charm to my necklace!

Friday

10-28-11

Winter arrived, at least for the morning

Saturday

10-29-11

A nice 5 mile run with a stop to visit Nessie

Sunday

10-30-11

A beautiful day in downtown GR. I love the peacefulness of the Fish Ladder.

It felt amazing to get back to running this week.  I still need to "make a plan" and figure out what kind of training I'm going to do for the next few months, but the 8 miles I ran this week are at least a start.

Thankful Thursday: Buds, Brews, & Booze

This week I've been enjoying the occasional adult beverage after work. (It's been a long, stressful week my friends.) I even got to enjoy a brew with a good friend after a nice walk to the brewpub on Saturday.




I am most thankful for my buds, but the brews & booze have been appreciated this week too!

True Confession Tuesday-Post Marathon Blues

So, the past week and 2 days have been really *weird* for me.  You see, I ran this little marathon on 10/16/10 and since then I've felt totally lost.  I've only worked out twice (both times using Nike Training Club and doing strength work) and each workout literally kicked my ass.  I felt so incredibly out of shape that it was sad.  Granted, I really slacked on the strength work near the end of training anyway, so I totally got what I deserved in that respect.  I also did a 4 mile walk on Saturday that left my shins more sore than the marathon - go figure.  Clearly I need to stick to running?  I feel like I have no direction because I don't have any workouts mapped out on my calendar.  My next big race, the Tinker Bell Half Marathon, is in 96 days.  I have plenty of time to train and since I don't plan on running this race for *time* per se, the pressure is off a bit maybe too much.  Also, as Kirsten pointed out, my longest training run for this will be a piece of cake after marathon training.  I'm hoping to do an 8k in November (depending on where we are for Thanksgiving) and a 5k in December (likely in TONS of snow - also NOT a PR type of race).  I haven't run since the marathon, and frankly, I'm a little scared that it won't go well or something.  It sounds completely stupid when I type it out, but there you go.

My eating has been shit and I said I wouldn't step on the scale for at least a couple weeks after the marathon.  Well, I stepped on the scale on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised to see a number a couple pounds less than my "danger zone" weight.  Now, with all the shit I ate and drank over the weekend, I'm probably back up over the danger zone, but whatever.  The main thing is needing to get my eating and this marathon gluttony in check. 

My emotions are also all over the place.  I'm better this week, but still feel like I could burst into tears at any moment.  Work was VERY hard last week, with some extremely challenging students and stressful parent meetings, and I even cried in front of another teacher.  Now he keeps asking me if everything is okay.  F*CK.  I so did not want to go there.  KWIM?

I'm sure a lot of what I'm feeling is post-marathon blues.  You train and train and have a goal for 4 months and then *poof* in less than 5 1/2 hours, it's over.  I know I just need to snap out of it, but it's hard.  At least it is for me. 

Have you ever experienced post-race blues?  What did you do to get over it?

LLRB 365: 2011 Week 42

This week has been a bit of a let-down after finishing the Grand Rapids Marathon last Sunday.  (You can read my race report and see video here.  If you want to see my official race photos, you can check them out here.)  I've been trying to lay low and make sure I'm fully recovered before I jump back into training.  Anyhoo....here's a peek at my week.

Monday

10-17-11

Loving my Grand Rapids Marathon bling!

Tuesday

10-18-11

The van got some new bling, too!

Wednesday

10-19-11

A much needed trip to the chiropractor.

Thursday

10-20-11

First post-marathon workout with my Chocolate Milk Refuel swag.  This just in - marathons hurt your abs too, even if you don't realize it at first.

Friday

10-21-11

SQUEEEE

Saturday

10-22-11

Today was the "Run the Hood" virtual 5k and 10k hosted by The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.  I didn't sign up (not knowing what condition I'd be in this week) but decided to walk it as a "bandit" with Mel. We had a great time and finished our walk at Bell's Brewery.  Win-Win!

Sunday

10-23-11

Today was the first concert of the 2011-2012 season for the concert band M performs with. They put on a great show today.

I had some rough emotions last week, coming off the marathon and coupled with a very stressful work week. Do you ever have the blues after finishing a major race?  How do you cope?