Making Progress and week 3 recap of high carb/low fat eating.

There hasn't been too much to report since last week. I'm eating the same things, running the same slow pace, and it's still been rainy and wet here in the bay area. Oh, I guess you'd notice that I did update the look of the site. It's got some kinks...some stretched pictures and overlapping things, but hopefully I'll get those things smoothed out in the near future.

I took some progress photos and compared them to last week. I don't know if it's just me, but I can't really see much of a difference. Trying to be more consistent with the outfits that I wear and the lighting, but the lighting is unusually tricky to get. Can't say I'd be disappointed if I ended up plateauing here, not really looking for a six pack. Might end up just ditching the progress photos if I don't see much improvement in the upcoming weeks.

I'm thrilled to report that I HAVE made some progress, although slight, in my running. I'm trying to focus on a longer warm-up, and to build into my heart rate zone (145-150) slower. (I set my warmups as a separate run so I can get a better idea of an average pace). I've had a lot of success, and it helps me relax a little knowing that I have a little more space to slow down or speed up if I want to. I also managed to get my 8 miler in UNDER an 11 minute mile, which doesn't sound very fast but it's a goal I've been aiming for. Today's 11 mile run ended up being 11:09 but I was running on tired legs. I find at the tail ends of my runs it's really difficult to keep my heart rate down because it crawls up.

I don't eat before any of my runs, but I've also been having a hard time eating enough on the days that I do go on a long run afterwards, so I might need to start eating a bit in the mornings just to give myself a little extra jolt and nutrition. I guess it didn't help that I didn't roll out of bed until 10:30 this morning, and I didn't start my run until 11:30. 

Some things I'm struggling with that maybe other MAFers can help me out on, is I really miss strength training. I've listened to some podcasts about strength training in the maf method but I don't have giant weights or boulders that I can throw down in my house, and I miss doing core work and leg work. I also am not sure to include my warm up into my running plan because I'm walking for 90% of the warmup. I suppose that counts...

Lastly, here are some photos I took this week. These are all done at the Bay Trail near our house. The scenery has been spectacular because of the recent rain. I love this trail, and I love that we are footsteps away from it. It's a beautiful, long, and flat trail that I highly recommend. It's mostly asphalt but there are sections where the side paths have soft dirt (beware of the cat poop bombs). I'll be posting specific posts later about trails, and trying to organize my blog a bit better instead of it just being a giant running diary.

Thanks for reading! By the way, I've included a place where you can receive an email subscription if you want to know when I post new stuff at the bottom right section of the blog.