Hello? It's me.

I was wondering if after all these months you'd like to read
'bout how I fell off the workout wagon
They say that rest's supposed to be good for ya
But it made me weak

Hello, can you relate
I'm at work dreaming about who I used to be
last Summer when I trained for hours
I've forgotten how strong it felt before the school fell at my feet

There's such a difference between us (me then and now)
And a million swim/bike/run miles 

Anywho.  I'm not going to go on with that...you get the gist.  I unintentionally broke up with my training because life took pole position.  It was crazy there for awhile but then it wasn't.

I had many opportunities to kick it back up in November and December.  However, the Holidays and Travel made a pretty good EXCUSE (that is totally what it is) to push the workouts aside.  Honestly, I just didn't feel like it. There.  I said it.  I was not motivated and I could care 3 Fs about suiting up and working out or making it a priority. I had a million other things on my plate and my mind and body didn't crave it.

I ran exactly ONCE each month since I last posted here.  LITERALLY. One 4 miler in September, one 4 miler in October and one 5 miler in November...I didn't even bother with being consistent in December (although I planned on running in Central Park on our trip, but didn't).

We returned from our NYC Christmas trip on December 30th.  I had mentioned maybe once or twice to the hubby that I felt the time was coming for me to get back up on the saddle.  I really like being healthy, fit and tone.  I like when my clothes fit right...it makes playing dress up on dates nights or GNO that much more enjoyable.  While packing for NYC, I made the realization that some things were fitting a little snugger than I prefer.  Or I just didn't like how I looked in one outfit or another.  Ugh.  Too many indulgent dinners and desserts over the holidays! Damn you NEW YORK CITY for having amazing food!!

I also made it very clear to my husband that although I KNEW these things, I also did not want to DO anything about it. Motivation: zilch.  I may have posted as such on FB at some point and friends came out in droves offering to run with me.  At 5 am.  Uuuuuuuugggghhhh.  Nooooooo.....  No thank you.

But my amazing hubby knew that I could never turn him down.  He knew that if HE offered to go for a run with me, I would never turn him down.  Suddenly, on the COLD, early morning of January 1st, the guy who hates being cold and really thinks running is super boring, dragged me out of my warm bed and took me to Memorial Park for a one loop run (3 miles).

I really wanted to punch him.  Hello?  Who are you?

But I didn't.  We ran.  I was stiff.  I was cold.  I was miserable.  But I was there.

We started off slow and the sad, sad realization that the great pace I had achieved over the Summer was LONG GONE.  Boooohoooo.  I was so slow.  And then, my hubby turned motivational coach and number one cheerleader says...."let's try changing it up....let's run real fast then slow down or walk"  Huh?  Hello?  Who are you again?  So after the boring mundane first mile, we ran a sprint for about a minute and a half.  We jogged for a bit and did it again.  Over and over and before we knew it, we were done!  And, definitely not cold anymore.  It was exhilarating and also exhausting.  I was glad to be done and to go back to my warm home.

The next day, Coach V (as I started calling him), got me to go on another run.  This time in our neighborhood but to the nearby track.  We did the same thing.  Run a  loop and half, jog a loop and half.  It was awesome!

Half a mile from the house, I was looking ahead to some gravel and didn't see the pipe sticking out of the ground when I STEPPED on it.  My ankle completely folded over and down I went hands first into the gravel I was eyeing!  OUCH!

 I got up and hobbled for a bit and finished my run (very achy).  It hurt for a bit but I "walked it off".  The next day Coach V set up a workout at home for us.  Afterwards we went for a short walk and realized it felt better to jog little steps than it did to walk.  The day after that, he had another workout for me and after I went for a short/slow jog with my son (2 miles).

I worked out for a consecutive 7 days.  Hubby got really busy at work again and couldn't coach me daily but he had given me the best gift ever.   My motivation!  He pushed me and got me going again.  I took a day off when I had a crazy carpool, work late at night from home while hubby worked til midnight kind of day. That's pretty much it.  I have been pretty diligent about doing SOMETHING.  Yay me.

Today is January 28th.  I have logged 56.1 miles in the month of January.  WHAT?!  Yes.  That is crazy.

Want to hear crazier?  Yea, on Houston Marathon day, over a week ago, I decided to go out for my longest run, a quarter marathon!  I could do it, I was sure of it.  I had so many friends running the full and half that day and the weather was AWESOME that I felt super inspired to get out there.  And I did just that.  I ran a new route and lost track of my distance from home.  By the time I turned around, I made it home at 8 miles!  OMG.  It wasn't super fast but it was fantastic.  I felt great and could have gone further.

That night, my elite marathon running friend threw a "post-marathon" party.  Unbeknownst to me, in attendance were all her running friends. (Why did she invite me?!)  This group is a hardcore running group.  How hardcore? Houston was my friend's 42nd marathon.  FORTY SECOND.  Because she is 42, she said.  Duh.  Haha.

This year, she will have run Boston, 5 years in a row.  She is running New York in the Fall (which is harder to qualify for than Boston, by the way) and is running the Woodlands Marathon in about 6 weeks.  Why am I telling you all of this?  Well, because I left that party super inspired and motivated and the idea that I actually COULD run a half marathon (Woodlands) in 6 weeks.  I mean, I just ran 8...how hard can another 5 be?  Right?

I signed up.  I ran several times last week plus joined hubby on his P90X quest that he started from Day 1 last week (he's on week 2 and still going strong).  My friend offered to coach me on my endeavor, even offered to run with me on my long run on Sunday.  She is THAT nice.

We met at 7am at Memorial Park.  She had 5 under her belt before we met.  We ran the loop with no issue and left the park.  At mile 5, the ankle decided to hurt.  WHAT?  I felt that turning around would be the best idea.  About a tenth of a mile later, I couldn't run anymore.  Another tenth and I could barely walk.  Putting pressure on my foot was incredibly painful.

It appears that ankle roll from January 2nd had done more damage than I realized.  And all the running I have done probably exasperated the situation. I have iced, taped and rested the thing and I am yet not able to walk normally.  :(

I am waiting another few days before I see a doctor but I know what they'll say.  Stay off of it.  Rest.  I either have a strained ligament or fractured a baby bone in my foot.  Whatever the diagnosis, the treatment will be the same. I am SURE.  But I will confirm it next week.

So where does that put my half marathon? Not sure.  It's 5 weeks away so it's not looking good but I will remain positive and hopeful.  Whatever the case, I am not letting it hamper my motivation.

I rode my bike on a trainer last night for an hour!  My ankle/foot does not hurt at all when I do that!  I'll keep joining hubby with his workouts and modifying as necessary.  I have my fingers crossed that I will be well enough to run it, shoot at this point, I would be happy to WALK it!! I will be sure to come back and post an update on that and to keep coming out here more often.  There are duathlons, triathlons and the dreaded first day back in the pool that I need to still experience and tell you all about.  I bet you can't wait! Haha.

Sorry this post was so long, it's been awhile!  I've missed you! :)

I'm updating my daily workouts and motivations on my new insta account:  @FullHouseofRoyals  (because my friends and family don't want to hear about my workouts! haha)  Come check it out for inspiration, motivation, healthy recipes, smoothie idea and quirky day in the life of pics.  I promise, all positive!! :)

Happy Thursday and I'll leave you with this:

Goodbye.  ;)

V.

#NewYearGetMyAssInGear

I can breathe! - Diary update of a swim newbie Part 3

I just couldn't wait until post baby.  I couldn't.  I have conquered the fear of standing on my hands and on my head and I could tell you a horrific story of conquering one of my greatest fears (roaches), but I'll spare you the Creep Show-esqueness of that story. I probably just really dated myself by even mentioning that movie, didn't I?  Anyway, my most recent (and my husband would say, ridiculous) fear has been traversing the pool sans snorkel.  I guess I've built it up SO much and used the darn thing as a crutch during the pregnancy that the idea of not having it started becoming...well, scary.

Last night, I went to the pool and did a swim workout that I modified from one I found on the web.  I wanted to focus on my legs so I figured a kick workout would cover it.  It looked like this:

Swim Workout #15

Category: Intermediate

Workout Goal:Improve kicks and timing

Total Distance:1800 yards

·         400 yards freestyle warmup 

(choice of strokes)

·         200 yards crawl alternating lengths of pull and kick

(on the first 25 pull only, on the second 25 kick only, repeat -- do not use a kick board)

·         4 x 100 yards flutter kick arounds

(one length each of kicking on stomach, left side, right side and back -- ok to use kick board)

·         4 x 50 yards crawl, resting :15 between

(count 3 kicks per arm stroke)

·         2 x 100 yards IM kick only

(with or without kickboard)

·         400 yards freestyle warmdown

(swim choice of strokes slowly)

Notes:

 On the 200 yards alternating pull and kicks, do not usse a kickboard. Instead hook your thumbs together and hold them out in front of you wilth face in the water. Lift face out of the water to breath as needed.

This workout is a total of 1800 yards and 700 of those yards are kicking. With the exception of the IM kick drill, it is ok to use swim fins if you like. Swim fins can help to strengthen your leg muscles by adding resistance and making your muscles work harder. You do not have to use swim fins though and the swim drills are sequenced so that you alternate some swimming with kicking.

I modified it by changing the warm up to 600M at 200/200/200 EZ/Kick/Pull. I also swam the first 200 kick drills with my head down in the water working on bilateral breathing (because one day I'll need that!). The unexpected and completely unplanned thing I did was that at cool down...I ditched the snorkel!! I should be using all CAPS for that! (Considering how I mentioned it here and here) I figured I would just swim an EZ 200 but I hung there by the side of the pool, I thought...what the heck. Let's tear this thing off and see how it feels. I have been working on breathing intervals the last couple of weeks and I just did the whole bilateral thing so I just figured I'd work off of that. Aaaand it also helps that there weren't many people at the pool.

The first 25 were horrific. I barely made it to end of the pool without gasping or swallowing water. The second 25 were a little better but my breathing was hurried and my timing was off. By the time I got to the end of the pool, I was just pissed off at myself. I was way over thinking this thing.

So I went again. This time I used the same pattern as with the snorkel...one big breath in, hold, 3 arm strokes, blow all the air out and THEN go out for a big breath. Shaky at first but I got the hang of it. The next 25 I started alternating sides to which I would take a breath. It required a lot of mechanical thought which I am guessing was nerve induced and because that first 50 was a mess, I was worn out.

I decided to call it a day...a successful day at that!

So the lesson here I guess is: Don't wait until tomorrow, er, I mean, until after you're cleared to exercise POST-baby to do what you can do today, at 31 1/2 weeks pregnant. Anxiety levels about this have started to diminish which means that I will keep working on that every week until the baby comes so that when I do come back...I can put it in total beast mode. Lol!

Happy Friday all and get out there and stay active!

~V