The Broad Running Broad

You read it here. My diet sucked this week. And last week. And the week before that.

I would love to be one of those people who can follow a specific diet to the T, who thought strawberries and Oreos taste exactly the same. Who never craves Oreos in the first place. Or tortilla chips. Or pizza.

Actually, I take it back. You can always make a pizza at home that doesn’t carry the same vengeance as Pizza Hut when it comes through you. But all the other unhealthy/fun stuff? I crave it when I’m tired. I crave it when I’m well-rested. I crave it when I’m hungry. I crave it an hour after eating.

In other words, Week #1 of my fall training is underway.

It’s no secret training for a marathon and ramping up the miles during those first few weeks means increased hunger and eating everything in sight. You would think by now I would be used to it and not even have to forgive myself for anything. But alas I am human, who resumes running and immediately wants to eat all the carbs, then wonders why I’m bloated and have a zit right above my lip because my skin can’t possibly be crying out from mercy after snarfing down a bag of Oreos within 24 hours of purchase.

I wish I was kidding about the Oreo thing. While mint Oreos are delicious, I’m not proud about the lack of self-control. I’m actually ashamed.

So while my diet has frankly sucked, the rest of Week #1 Marathon training has been …. an adjustment? Humbling? Just as I expected, so I really shouldn’t be surprised by the Oreo thing?

I’ll just give you guys a weekly recap (so far) and you can judge however you see fit:

Monday: Three treadmill miles and an hour of upper body work.

I decided to hop on the treadmill only because I didn’t trust my arches after the last few weeks. And since I wanted to lift after my run, it made sense to use the treadmill while I’m already there.

You know that saying about not going too fast in the first mile? Yeah, I didn’t heed that warning at all. Two weeks off doesn’t sound like a long time, but when you start out at racing pace and then realize at Mile 2.3 you’re about to bonk (well that sounds pathetic), you gotta admit to yourself that resuming at race pace is in fact a terrible idea. And by “you” I’m definitely talking about me.

Lifting meanwhile was a success. One of these days I’m going to look like Schwarzneggar.

Tuesday: Four outside miles around the complex and then leg night

This day I should have gone the treadmill route. On one hand, it’s important for runners to go outside in most conditions, since you never know what race day can be like. If you’ve ran only on a smooth, controlled surface in a temperature-controlled gym, race day and all the unpredictability that is running outside will be a rude shock. But on the other hand, you want your training to be optimal, and how many gains can you really make on a soupy, humid morning when you’re aboard the struggle bus?

I ran outside. My pace was slow at 11:38 – which is fine – but holy crap, that humidity was terrible. But since I didn’t go all out on my morning run, I was able to make the most of evening cross-training. So I’ll take any victories where I can.

Wednesday: One hour of lifting

Nothing noteworthy happened here. Still swole. The Oreo madness started this evening though. The beginning of the end.

Thursday: Unplanned rest day

I’m going to have to plan out rest days better. I’m glad I took the morning to sleep and night to read. Not too proud for destroying two lines of Oreos though.

Friday: Three treadmill miles

I learned my lesson from Monday and decided to cut my speed down to an easy pace. This turned out to be a better idea. Then I came home and was ravenous. I thought about going back to the gym tonight to lift but then remembered tomorrow is the first long run in almost a month. So I’m going to be smart, do my regularly scheduled skincare and go to bed early. Early to bed, early to rise makes a runner. It also makes a cat mom whose furry daughter is used to getting fed breakfast at 5 a.m.

So Reader-friends, Week #1 Marathon Training is going. It’s not anything to write home about, but it is going. The goal is to get slowly build my mileage, and quit eating so damn much when I’m not even hungry. I have faith in the former. The latter …. Well …..

Yours in running and life,

Allison