Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Unmotivated...

I have zero desire to run today. I had zero desire Friday, Saturday, Sunday, yesterday....what is wrong with me?? While I haven't always been dying to get out there, I usually just know I have to and go home, change, and hit the road. For some reason all the overeating and too much sleep have just zapped my will to run.

I did run 7 miles the night before Thanksgiving, and then I squeezed in a quick 2.25 on Thanksgiving morning. That felt great! It was chilly out, there was no one out at all, it was like a ghost town. I loved the thought that I was out burning calories before the day of eating that was ahead. And I didn't even eat that much! We had people over early (see previous brunch menu), and started with champagne drinks and muffins and fruit around 10. I had one pumpkin muffin, and one piece of bacon. I sipped mimosas all morning, and ate some apple slices, but not too bad....by appetizer time I had a couple of bacon wrapped scallops and a couple of crackers with cheese, but by the time dinner rolled around (4:30) I was hungry and hadn't overeaten yet! I had normal portions, and finished the meal without being overly stuffed. A first for me! I did fairly stuff myself with dessert, by having a little of each, but it was nothing compared to how I've done in other years.

Unfortunately, the rest of the weekend didn't go as well. I pretty much single-handedly put away the leftovers, including all the desserts. We had friends in town, so we also went out in New Orleans, complete with sickeningly sweet (and calorie laden) hurricanes and creamy seafood pasta...And then Saturday after they left I decided I needed chocolate, and made brownies! (Which are now all gone...a whole pan :( but I had help there...). So yeah. I need to get back on the wagon!

In the midst of all this I was supposed to run 16 on Friday. I should have gotten it in. Our friends took my car to hit the sales (they actually brought a suitcase to fill) and I slept in. I woke up at 9:30 thinking it was too late to squeeze it in, and then sat around til noon waiting for them to come back! So I totally could have gotten it done. Saturday after they left there wasn't enough daylight, and then Sunday same thing. I worked until 4 and we put up our Christmas tree. Yesterday I swore I was going to do it. I had laid out my stuff the night before, and needed to get home from work, jump in my workout clothes, and hit the streets. I had to do it right away, because I would need to leave at 3:15 to have two hours of daylight. (Well, almost. The last mile would be in the dark, but could be around my neighborhood, not on the running trails which are way too scary in the dark!). Needless to say, didn't happen. My husband was off, and I just didn't want to leave the warm house.

So today it's on. I have all my stuff laid out, and have to go *at least* 11 miles. The FIRST program says 14, but my other two plans (one a novice I the other a novice II) say 10 and 11 miles respectively. Of course the novice II said 15 for last weekend, when I had the half marathon and only did 13....so I had adjusted it to 16 for this past weekend.....but I highly doubt that is going to happen today, so no reason to set myself up for failure, right? I will try for 13 but am willing to settle for 11. I should really do 13 though, because then this weekend I'm supposed to do 12 (FIRST), 15 (novice I) or 17 (novice II), but have another half marathon so will probably only do 13...have any of you had any luck with 2-a-days? My competitive nature won't let me run 2 or 3 miles before the race...I want to see how I can do, and would be more tired that way...and then the likelihood of running 2 or 3 after is, well, nonexistent, let's be honest. So I was thinking maybe trying to get a couple of miles in that night. Is it even worth it if it's not continuous? I don't really see how that would help endurance....or should I just write it off as a short week and try to get the rest of the long runs in?

Anyhow- it's in writing now...I have to do at least 11 today...no matter how cold it is! Unfortunately that means I'll only get 3 runs in this week....today, a short run Thursday, and the half on Saturday....but next week back on track! OH- and pictures to come later...Thanksgiving and the Christmas tree...

11 comments:

X-Country2 said...

Ooh, how good does that pumpkin muffin sound? :o)

Anyway, good luck with getting that run done. Accountability posts are my favorite!

Denise said...

Once you get out there and get it done, you'll be right back into the swing of things. Good luck!

Marcy said...

I remember having the same sort of prob with the HM while marathon training. I had a 20 miler scheduled but was due to run a HM that weekend. I debated doing the before/after running but just finally decided on running the HM at marathon pace and sticking the 20 miler elsewhere in training LOL

No Longer Using said...

you got it all off your chest now, and you can just move forward. you may have also just needed a break!!!! we gotta be nice to ourselves and take it easy so we can go hard other times :)

Runner Leana said...

We all have off times in our training where motivation wanes. Now that you've written about it, hopefully you'll be able to get back out there!

I've tried running a couple of miles before a 10K before. Ultimately I think that as your distance grows you really want to run it all in one shot to help with endurance. I would try to rejig your schedule a bit maybe?

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

That second-to-last paragraph had me anxiously flashing back to junior high math: "If a runner leaves NOLA at 10am at 10mph headed in an easterly direction and another runner leave biloxi at 9am at 8mph in a westerly direction and headwinds vary from 5-20mph..."

So many numbers! I got lost! Did the rest of the class come up with the right answer?

YIKES! I'm not wearing any clothes! Just like in my dream ...!

B. Kramer said...

this demotivation bug must be making the rounds.

joyRuN said...

Dilemma, indeed. I got turned around with the finagling, which has to be done when trying to fit everything in.

Git r done, girl!

Marci said...

Hope you got your 11 in today!

Jess said...

Hope you got your 11 in today!

Maggs said...

Hope you got those 11 miles in today. I always find buying some new running clothes helps my motivation.