My last post, about the Hollywood 10K, was over a month ago. And that was basically the last time I ran.
But that won’t stop me. Tomorrow morning, I’m running another 10K — the Santa Monica Classic. This probably isn’t what they mean when they say “Couch to 10K,” but here’s to hoping that I’ve retained some of that running ability I built up before last month’s race.
One thing’s for sure — I haven’t lost my running fashion sense.
The only reason to run is to look ridiculous while doing it.
See y’all at the finish line. Even if it does take me an hour and a half to get there.
Run Club members post-10K, getting our bling on. Right to left: Lisa, Bryce, Jamie, Michelle, and Katie.
After a rather late Friday night at work, I got home at 10 p.m. and hopped into bed. I was leaving the house at 4:30 a.m. the next morning, after all. It wouldn’t be a race if we didn’t roll out well before sunrise.
Hollywood 10K: we were on our way. I was sleepy. My brain wasn’t quite awake yet. I seriously considered shutting off my alarm when it woke me up at 3:30 in the damn morning.
With a little help from our Run Club friends who already navigated the parking situation, Jamie and I parked with ease. Then the five of us headed over to the start line, to wait in a 20-minute line for our PRPs before race time.
Pre-race, mosying forward to the start line in our corral.
(And my kitty, Dexter, is not a fan of being held.)
Therefore:
Running long distances is difficult and frustrating.
When I start a run, I tend to overcompensate — running at a quicker pace than I’m capable of sustaining while I have as much energy as possible — so I fit in as much running as early as possible before I poop out.
And when I run outside, I don’t usually run with anyone (and definitely not my husband, who is a speed demon), because I don’t want to hold them back.
But this past Friday, when I was sitting on the couch feeling lazy and sorry for myself because of how crappy a runner I am, Jamie nudged me and nudged me until I begrudgingly agreed to go on a short run with him.
As he hit “Start Activity” on his RunKeeper app, I took off. And Jamie, the fast runner that he is, said something totally unexpected. He said,
(Links provided in case you’re insane like me and want to pay to be forced to run a set distance.)
But accomplishing goals? …I fail.
Truly, it was perfect timing when I signed up for these races (yes, I basically signed up for all of them at once). You see, the first one was just over 12 weeks away, which provided me with the perfect amount of time to properly train for it. I looked up Hal Higdon’s 10K training guide and diligently entered each run and workout into my Google calendar. This time, I was going to train, for real, hardcore, and come April 6th I’d be able to run the whole damn 6.2 miles.Like a boss.
Yes, in a five-day juice fast I made it just four days before cracking. But tonight, at the end of day four, I couldn’t seem to stomach my second-to-last juice.
And rather than force the juice into my stomach, I went with my gut and what my body and mind craved. I ate.
I’d heard that day three was the hardest of the fast days. But after Super Bowl Sunday day two, I didn’t think anything could be worse. I was wrong.
Today, much more than the last two days, I’ve really been craving food. I miss the texture and taste of rice and beans. I miss the heartiness of a meal that I can chew. And yes, I even slightly miss the feeling of being a little too full after overeating.
Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that I already have tomorrow’s juices sitting in my fridge, I might consider ending my juice fast at day three. And still, it’s not because I’m hungry, but because I miss food. Flavorful, hearty, interesting, varied, filling food.
That said, I’m definitely pushing on to day four of the juice fast. I’ll take it one day at a time and let you know tomorrow if my five-day juice fast turns into a four-day fast.
After a full day of juice fasting, the number one question I have received is:
Are you hungry?
The short answer is no. But don’t think that I haven’t felt tortured over not being able to eat food. And particularly today — the Super Bowl — when food was all around.
I live-tweeted my day’s experience with the six different juices @tofubelly and on the EFTB Facebook page — add me on both to get live updates and see my reviews of each juice.
I learned a lot about myself on day one. The greatest realization? How frequently I think about eating.
Within the first couple of hours of the juice fast this morning, I can’t even count the number of times my brain went to food. Planning out my meals and what I’d eat for lunch and dinner, only to remember seconds later that — wait, no, I’m on a juice fast. Throughout the day, I retrained my brain to stop making constant food plans. If nothing else, I think this juice fast will do wonders for me in helping me to quash my overactive food brain.
The other major shock of the day (and if you’re squeamish, read no further):
Dear readers, today is a big day for me — it’s my last day with my law firm. I’ve worked here for just over two years, learned more than I could have dreamed of, and met some wonderful colleagues and friends. But for my own reasons, I felt that I needed a change, and I accepted a position with another firm. I start there next Monday.
So — on a lighter note – that means that I have nine days off. I don’t think anyone has ever been this excited about unemployment.
My friends are calling it the “Summer of Michelle” — so inspired by another friend’s “time off” between jobs. (I’ve been enjoying some pre-Summer meals with the hubby — check out our mouth-watering dinner from Real Food Daily this past Wednesday scattered throughout this post.) For my short “Summer,” I have some grand (albeit local) plans, mostly health-based.
My main goal is to jump-start myself back into healthy, clean eating. Yes, I’m still vegan. But lately (er, for the last several months…), I’ve been eating a bunch of vegan junk. Huge servings of noodles with fried tofu, veggie fried rice, and vegan sushi — and that was just last night. No joke.
Not only does eating heavy, un-nutritous foods make me feel sluggish and blech, it has also done a number on my weight. At my wedding just over two years ago, I was a lean 124 pounds. I’m ashamed to say, readers, that this morning the scale read…
After months and months of eating like crap and sitting on my butt, I’m finally ready to get back to eating healthy and exercising regularly. (It’s about time.)
First, I finally checked out my local 24 Hour Fitness after, oh, just six months of living in the area. It was awesome — but more on that later. Because last night, Jamie and I made a healthy and delicious dinner jam-packed with super foods. And I photo-documented it (:
Salad to be — washed and hand-shredded organic Italian kale and red chard.
The only reason to run is to look ridiculous while doing it.
