Feeling free!

You know what's nice? Well yes, sleep, but also not having to train for anything specifically.

The past two weeks I've just been winding down, and then slowly returning to a regular schedule. I don't know if I'll ever be a morning person, but damnit, I'm trying. There's been a lot of changes going on lately too, mainly because I think I'm just burnt out of the whole MAF and low carb thing. Girl's gotta live, yo.

So what have I been doing with this newly found freedom? Running, climbing, and eating lots of food, glorious food (including rice! And cake!)! Guess what? I'm still alive! Is anyone surprised? I've also been gardening which is a serious work out in itself. But look, RADISHES! They don't come fresher than this, folks.

Breakfast Radishes!

Just a portion of the gardening I did.

I also had a group of friends over for a steak night! I wanted to share my absolute love for US Wellness steaks. Sure, they aren't cheap, and it probably isn't the best way to spend my artist's salary, but I think that the buttery, bloody, melt-in-your-mouth goodness is worth every penny. We also did some blind wine tasting. We had five different types of red wines (Malbec, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pino Noir, and Zinfandel), and we tried to figure out which one was which. This confirmed my assumption that I know absolutely nothing about wine, because I don't think I got any of them right, even though I had to taste everything at least twice (FOR SCIENCE). :|

Also, I am a lightweight, and my body hated me deeply for eating crappy food and drinking. It's almost never worth it.

Tuesday I went climbing for the first time in several months. I used to go to the indoor gym to boulder (not with a rope, but on a shorter wall and a pad to fall on) a couple times a week. I never really excelled at it to be honest, but it is a great way to exercise without really feeling like you're exercising. If you like to solve puzzles and problems, then you should definitely give climbing a shot. I think it's a great compliment to running, except for the fact that you have to jam your swollen and abused feet into teeny tiny climbing shoes.

It felt amaaazing to climb again, even though my body felt about 3x's heavier than normal, and the calluses on my hands have disappeared. I went with my friend Diana that I haven't caught up with in AGES, so the session was mostly yapping about life with some sad (on my part) climbing in between topics. I managed to scoot up a few V2's though, so I'm happy to know my muscles haven't completely disintegrated.

With our remaining energy, we decided to do some planks and lunges. Lunges are a good way to make yourself stupidly sore the next day if you haven't done them in months.

Despite the sore inner thighs from the lunges, and the swollen forearms from the climbing, yesterday I decided to wake up at the crack of dawn to get a 10k run in. I was feeling particularly feisty, so I joined my boyfriend on his run of the day. Just like, a mile behind him.

We did a 10 min warmup followed by a 30 min moderate effort, and then a cool down. Apparently moderate effort is around 165-170hr for me. I found it WAY easier to keep a 170 hr than my MAF of 149. I think this was the average heart rate I used to run at on a DAILY BASIS. I felt so free running that pace, even though it was only a 9 min mile. I think I would normally be faster if I wasn't so sore, and had just ran a 50 mile race, and the wind wasn't gusting, but who knows.

I haven't completely given up on MAF. I intend on doing MAF for 80% of my running, with the remaining 20% at harder levels with mixed intervals, tempo runs, and hill sprints. Matt Fitzgerald has a book out called 80/20 Running: Run Stronger and Race Faster By Training Slower. I haven't read it (yet), but I listened to a podcast with him discussing the contents, and it seemed like a solid middle ground for those that want to live a little but still be injury free. Despite what it may look like, I don't plan on blowing everything I worked so hard for, or ignoring everything I've learned.

It was also great just to participate on a run with my boyfriend again. My MAF training has not only made my runs lonelier, but his as well. I'm looking forward to pushing myself on the trails again, and tagging along with him.

I'm still trying to figure out my next major goal, but for now I am going to really focus on building my speed back up, and reviving my long neglected muscles. I also want to get back to a V3/V4 level of bouldering, and hit some tough trails for running. The next race I have is the Double Dipsea, then in July I want to do a 6 hour race and see how far I get. There's talks of a trail Ragnar in Tahoe in August, and a possible trip at the end of July full of running! It's looking like a fun summer!

Oh, last but not least, the next book I'm reading is Christopher McDougall's Natural Born Heroes, which I believe actually touches on some of Maffetone's philosophies. Very interested to read what he has to say. At the rate that I read, you might just want to read it yourself before I write a review.


Later, Gators!