Evening all
Thanks for all the comments yesterday- in particular Alison reminding me to take it easy going back to work (and with the jump in mileage) and Jessica suggesting I look into why I am tired more on some days than others.
With the mileage I am going to be careful with the midweek runs, and cut them shorter or change harder sessions for gentler ones. I also think that I am more tired when I exercise in the evenings- I have always been an early bird so my ideal day is to get up, let breakfast go down a bit and then do some exercise. But in the week this is not practical, and my next best time is right after work but before dinner. I think that is why I am often tired at aerobics, as the class starts later (6.30, so not that late) and I don’t have dinner until after, so perhaps I need to look at how to fuel this better.
Anyway, today was down for an 8 mile run. When I woke up I was a little stiff (not much, I could walk normally and everything but I could feel in certain movements that I had run a long way at the weekend) but by lunchtime I was feeling fine. After work I had a seed stacked flapjack (which I was excited to find for 59p each in Asda or something like that- bargain!!)- love these ! I left work fairly quickly, changed and headed out. At that point it was not actually raining, but that soon changed. The rain came down, the wind blew the icy rain into my face, my glasses fogged up a few times, and in the end I did about 7.6 miles or something like that. That was enough before the seed power ran out!
I was so hungry, and so had some cheese oatcakes to accompany my chickpea stew.
This was a tasty addition- and each time I have this stew I love it even more 🙂 Plus freezer meals are just the best- heat up in a pan while I have a shower- you can’t get easier than that! Anyway, now my legs are alright, tired, but not too stiff or anything, which I am relieved about as after runnnig that distance before I needed more time off running than one day.
I also had a pumpkin cookie and am happy to report that they taste amazing! Just like pumpkin pie, only in cookie form! Which is not a surprise as they have the same spices and such, but still, I am impressed.
Anyway, I am off to foam roll and enjoy more tea- night 🙂
Putting the majority of exercise is always a killer. I am lucky in that most of my sessions at Uni are late morning-evening, so I can, frost permitting, cram most of my exercise into the first couple of hours of the day. I don’t know where you find the energy and motivation to work out after such a hard day with such a demanding job. It’s no wonder that you’re tired sometimes!
Glad the run went okay: hope you’re warmed up now with a nice cup of tea and maybe another cookie 😉
xxx
I often do my exercise in the evenings as well because it’s the most practical thing when you’re working. It’s difficult to fuel correctly because you don’t want to feel sick/sluggish whilst exercising and being hungry is the worst! Depending on what I’m doing I eat 1-2 hrs before exercise (I judge how long I need to let it go down) and I make that quite a substantial carb-rich snack. Certain foods are no-nos before exercise, like hummus (guaranteed to make me want to hurl).
Well done on sticking it out for the 7 odd miles, that weather sounds awful! I definitely prefer working out first thing. Yey for freezer meals! I have a couple of those planned for this week, so easy when you haven’t got the time or will to cook from scratch!
Can I have a pumpkin cookie for being helpful? 😉
It sounds like you’ve identified at least part of the problem, with fitting round an awkward schedule. I’ve been having similar problems with fuelling for workouts that fall during dinner time. In the end I settled on splitting dinner into 2, as it were. A substantial snack beforehand — more like a mini-meal really — and then a small meal afterwards. Depending on what your stomach can handle, flapjack and fruit, pb and banana on toast, that kind of thing. I’d estimate between 300 and 400 cals, depending on how hard you work during aerobics. I was reading Matt Fitzgerald on this at the weekend, and he stresses the importance of fuelling up in anticipation of your needs, rather than relying on refuelling afterwards. So I think after a long day at school and before a high impact workout more is probably more in this case!
I do all my weekday workouts after work in the evenings (usually 6.30pm till 8ish) because with a full time job it’s really the only time I can… but it definitely makes the timing of pre-exercise fueling/dinner a total nightmare! I’m trying to experiment with what works best but I’m not happy with my routine just yet as dinner always ends up being so late. I think I need to follow your lead and make some tasty freezer meals so atleast that would cut down on food-prep time.
I’m always so INSPIRED by the fact that you run in those conditions!! Even when your tired and it’s the evening and it’s raining, you still can churn out 7.6 miles!! Amazing!! 😀
I love freezer food that I’ve stashed away for a rainy day. The convienice of it all during a busy week is great!
mmm, that stew looks flippin gorgeous…….
I’m the same. Need to carefully think about my fuelling for evening workouts. I am used to eating late but find I have to eat exactly 2 hours before my runs….any later and it upsets my tum…any earlier and I don’t feel the effects……
Rose
ps can I have a pumpkin cookie even though I wasn’t at ALL helpful!
Ah pumpkin cookies all round I think 🙂
And more helpful commments this evening!
Sarah- it is peanut butter that is not good for me before aerobics (but before runnning it is fine- I think we are very jerky in aerobics)- I find it the hardest session to fuel as it is so jerky a lot of things that I eat before other workouts are not good.
Alison again you are so right about fuelling before hand- you are like the little nutrition fairy on my shoulder! Flapjack and fruit are the chosen ones today- we shall see how it goes.
And everyone- freezer meals are the best! 🙂