Spoke Too Soon

Yup, the evil cold has returned. This time with sore throat and hives. And just in time for a bit of freakishly warm spring weather perfect for running outside. I managed to drag myself to the gym anyway and got some really good runs in. It's nice to know that even with a respiratory infection, I'm still stronger than I think. However, today I am scheduled for another run but I think I'm going to spend the day on the couch with a box of tissues instead. I feel SO GUILTY about missing a run, especially since the 5K is one month from tomorrow. But I think the smart thing to do is to let my body rest so I can kick this cold once and for all and be strong for the remainder of my training.

So, what do you do when you are sick? Do you take the day off and rest or keep on going? I've heard so many conflicting pieces of advice on this one. But I think I'm going to follow my gut this time and rest up.

Roll With The Changes

So, I was all set to do Day 2 of Week 3 of the 5K training plan (that's a lot of numbers). I am FINALLY feeling better and I had an amazing run on Monday. I was actually super excited to do another one and then I went downstairs to the gym and

...all the treadmills were full.

I use my building's gym and it's pretty decent but we only have 4 treadmills and they are a pretty hot commodity for the after work crowd. I went back after 15 minutes to see if someone had left but they were still full. So I gave up and decided to make dinner instead.

I realized this week that evening workouts are better for me. I guess it's the fact that I've fueled and hydrated all day instead of stumbling out of bed and straight to the gym with no food or water. I run faster, I last longer and I feel better when I work out in the evening. But apparently a lot of people feel the same way so I have to be flexible and willing to change my routine.

I LOVE routines and have a hard time deviating from them. It's the OCD part of me. Normally, I would have been annoyed that my workout wasn't going to happen and pouted and decided to give up and eat a cookie. One of my (many) 2011 resolutions is to accept that things won't always go as I plan and to roll with the changes. I have a bad habit of holding myself to an impossibly high standard and then when I inevitably fail I beat myself up and then just give up.

But not this time. Instead, I will get up early tomorrow morning (5:45 alarm, ugh) and go do my run. I may struggle more than I would at the end of the day but the point is to get it done. And eventually it will warm up enough that I can run outside and not have to worry about treadmill availability at all!

Ugh

I'm STILL sick. The cold seems to have stalled into some kind of icky congestion and I am incredibly nauseous and tired. I fluctuate between feeling sick at the thought of food and needing to eat an entire (mini) loaf of bread. And no, before anyone asks, I am NOT pregnant. I think, and my mother agrees, that it's probably post nasal drip from the congestion making my stomach feel all kinds of ick which in turn makes me not want to eat. It's happened before. Water seems to help, which is good because I am also massively thirsty. Probably dehydration from the cold.

But, I did manage to work out. I took it easy and actually had to cut short one of my running blocks (only by a minute, I doubt it made a difference). I am still on Week 2 of the 5K training plan although I should be on Week 3. With all the colds and congestion I've had the past month I've missed a lot of time and I don't feel ready to move on to the next level. I'm disappointed but I think taking it easy on my body until I feel better rather than pushing it is the smartest move. Hopefully this won't last long. I'm going to cross my fingers and blame it on normal cold and flu season and hope that the flu shot I got will lessen the severity of any symptoms I get.

And on that note, I am off to bed! Here's hoping that I have much more fun posts coming up soon.

Still Here

I haven't gone anywhere, I swear. I've had a busy week and a half but I'm still hanging in there.

Unfortunately, I have been a total lazy butt and haven't been keeping up with my training plan the way I should. I blame cold weather, a suddenly booming social life (must be the new zodiac sign) and a Dr. Who DVR fest. But, since one of my New Year's resolutions is to be more forgiving of myself, I am going to appreciate the fact that I worked out at least one day and promise myself that I will try harder this week.

Of course, I woke up this morning with the beginnings of another cold but I am still going to get up tomorrow and do my best. The nice thing about allowing myself plenty of time to train for my 5K is that I can get sick and take it easy for a week and still be ready to run. I hope this cold passes quickly but if not I will still be in good shape.

One way I am beating this cold is with dleicious homemade soup! Unfortunately, I followed another blogger's adaption of a recipe and I think she may have doubled the recipe or wrote the recipe wrong. I checked the link for the source recipe AFTER I made my soup and realized that the bean and grain portions were about 1/2 of what she used....my soup was VERY thick but still delicious. I will spare you a picture until I make it again properly but I'm hoping that hot veggie soup, warm cornbread muffins and plenty of Stash Lemon Ginger tea (my favorite) will have me feeling better in no time. Until then, I will leave you with a picture of the boy who has been keeping me cozy all day.

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Bonus

"William, Kate & 8 Royal Weddings" is on TLC!!!!! I am loving it! I feel the need to buy a commemorative tea set.

So, I finished Week 1 of my Couch to 5K plan and I feel amazing. I am energized and excited and I swear that my pants are looser already. That could also be because I banished the office candy bowl from my cubicle. But, I am having doubts as to whether I committed myself to something bigger than I can handle. Most of the resources I've read agree that a beginner runner should not even think about running a marathon in the first 12 months. I should be concentrating a 5K and then maybe a second 5K and then maybe I can think about a 10K. A 5k, 10K, 10 Miler, Half-Marathon and Marathon in one calendar year is insane. And it probably is. And I am probably going to regret this and I am probably going to fail. But does that mean I shouldn't do it anyway? Or at least try until my body says to stop? This is something I think I am going to wrestle with for awhile. Stay tuned.

On a much more fun note, I went crazy shopping this weekend. I rampaged through Target and Pier 1 and bought whatever girly, frilly thing my heart desired. I just moved into my first all-by-myself apartment and I am having a wonderful time decorating it with whatever girly, flowery thing that strikes my fancy. I have no one to answer to but myself and I enjoy it. The cat may not like it but he doesn't appear to be saying much:


And now I am relaxing. It has been COLD in the District this weekend. I had planned to have an "unfried" chicken salad but it was far too cold and blustery for anything other than piping hot comfort food. I found a potato chowder recipe on the Weight Watchers website and after a harrowing trip to the grocery store (the less said about it the better) I had the slow cooker going. After a few hours I had a delicious soup and I added some warm cornbread muffins on the side for a yummy dinner.



Now I am curling up with a glass of cheap red wine and "Eat Pray Love" on Netflix and I am relaxing before an AM treadmill session and back to work. Good night!

Day 2

Day 2 of the Beginner's 5K program and still going well. It seems that evening workouts work better for me...mostly because I can't out of bed in the morning. Maybe I'll be more motivated when it's actually light outside when I wake up in the morning. But right now, dark + cold apartment + warm bed = lazy girl. But it's the workout and not the time that matters so I won't feel guilty. One of my (many) 2011 resolutions is to be more forgiving of myself when I'm not perfect.

And, at some point, I will get some pictures up here to make my posts more interesting. As soon as I can figure out this whole photo upload thing. I meant to take a picture of the yummy post-workout dinner I made but I ate it all up before I could remember!

So, like last night, I'm off to drink some warm chammomile tea and watch paranoid disaster documentaries with the cat. Goodnight!