Yup, that was me today. I even dreamt about it last night (running and not being able to keep up was my dream).
After work (and a seedstacked bar- love those so much) I headed out. Now I had not actually listened to one before, so I listened to a bit of music to warm up (and to get past the first road crossing) and then started. It was a 43 min interval session, including a warm up (whoops), two lots of 3 min intervals at 165 steps per min, 170 and 175, with slower (150) sections in between. Now I am not sure if it is because I am short and have short hamstrings but I must take very small steps, because the warm up and recovery periods felt very slow to me. I was trying to take bigger steps, but I felt like I was running like an idiot- sort of slow mo (chariots of fire or maybe baywatch style). I managed to keep up with the faster intervals, although the first fast one was up a pretty steep hill. Anyway, I really enjoyed it, but it ended when I was tired and about 2.5 miles from home, and it started raining. My actual time for the whole route was very slow (6.7. miles in 78 mins with not much stopping for traffic) but I suppose that is because the recovery periods are slower. The run back home after doing the faster paced bits was hard, but I really really enjoyed it. I like listening to Martin Yelling on marathon talk anyway, and I found it quite motivating. I need to be told what to do! Plus there were little quotes (that some may find cheesy)- “these are the money miles”/ “own this run” etc that I really liked. They appeal to me when I am actually running anyway!
Last night I did the yoga for runners 25 min podcast (it says 20 mins, but the file name is 25 mins and it is about that long)- I really like doing this, although again the lady says some cheesy lines. Some of the poses are very hard to hold (I have terrible hamstrings) but I am hoping I will start to see some improvement.
I also made some cookies for Andy- he requested some (as all the baking I had done had gone away!). These are peanut agave cookies from the Vegan cookie book- the recipe has agave and brown rice syrup, and I used wholegrain spelt flour which I love in cookies. Anyway, they are lovely- sort of soft, not chewy cookies but not crunchy either. Anyway, another winning recipe from that book.
When I got home from my run I had a funny chat with Andy. At his work someone had got back from their holiday and brought in a load of chocolates, and he was a bit amazed at the number of people eating the chocolates all through the day. That sort of thing happens at my work too, and he was hypothesising (or generalising) about it, basically saying that people had no self control (!). I was saying that I think if I had to look at a coffee table with snacks on it all day, I would be tempted, but if they are not there then I would not think about them. Then I was thinking about it a bit more. I know some people say that they just cannot have sweets etc at home, whereas I am almost the opposite. I like to have some nice chocolate and that sort of thing, but I do not eat it that much- we still have Easter eggs left (and we only got 2 between us)- I just like to have the option. (Except for Nutella which for some reason I can eat by the teaspoonfull so I just do not buy it). So normally I think to myself that if I really want it, I will have it later with a cup of tea, and then by that time I might have changed my mind/ am not hungry/ etc. Whereas at work, if I see something, I can’t think “oh, I’ll have it later”- because probably by the time I fancy it, someone else will have eaten it. So in some ways I am more likely to have something at work, because I know I cannot have it later, whereas at home I know the option is there. Does that make sense? I am glad anyway that most of the time at work I am in my classroom and so do not have the option to graze, but I wonder how people in offices manage that sort of thing?
Also, I realised that I have left off my Sunday review of the exercise and stuff, so whoops. I will be carrying on with that from next Sunday (partly because this is a long post, and mostly because I can’t really remember) as I quite like to see how I am doing, and it keeps me accountable too (must keep up the yoga!).
Night
PS- As well as my giveaway, the lovely Jemma at Celery and Cupcakes is having a giveaway for nakd bars- click here! How exciting! 🙂
have you downloaded actjual audifuel mp3? I tried it, wasnt my thing. I do lovemusic to workout to, so much so if my mp3 dies then so do i
I have it on the computer too, so I can copy it back over again if I need to. 🙂
That’s a really interesting topic, the treats at work thing. I don’t work in a traditional office (we have an office, but it’s just a research space, and people come and go as they please), but I have still observed how people respond to others’ eating behaviour. I will often have a coffee because someone is going to get one, even though I don’t actually really want it. So maybe it’s some of that? As in, other people doing it somehow sanctions it (I often think that about coffee, as I’m a little paranoid about my intake!) I also think that if you are constantly trying to keep yourself away from certain types of food though then you’re more likely to go for them when they cross your path. Maybe that’s why you don’t have so much difficulty with it, because you know these treat foods are always around when you want them?
And audiofuel – now I get it! I thought it was heart rate when I read Rose’s, but not I see it’s foot turnover. Do you just download them onto your mp3 player? Maybe I’ll have a play at the weekend. I’ll see how your recovery goes first 😉
That’s funny how you found the recovery bits a bit slow as I thought they were faster than my normal bpm!
I’ve been having discussions with Rob about all this too as he says that we should all run at a minimum of 180 bpm (footfall) and that we can achieve this by shortening stride. On his advice I’m going to buy a small metronome and experiment!
Rosex
I had read that before (about the 180 footsteps per min)- I think I tend to run close to that sort of pace, but just quite tiny steps as I am slow overall!
I was trying to take bigger steps, but it did feel weird, but then they are needed before the faster bits.
That really cool about the yoga podcast, I didn’t even know that type of thing existed…I’m totally going to give it a try though 🙂
Alison- yeah I thought for ages that audiofuel was heart beats and you would need a hrm, but marathon talk did the free episode once (for a long slow run- they did 2 versions, a normal one with just them, and one with audiofuel sections in between for the long slow run)- you could give that a try first?
That audiofuel thing sounds really good! I love the yoga for runners, and yes I often forget that its 25 minutes not 20! I work in an office where there is almost constantly chocolates / muffins etc available. In the past I can say I had zero self control and would eat a lot, just because it was there. Now I don’t even register it. I think its cause my mind set has changed so much since I was overweight. In a way being committed to eating mostly vegan helps to, as very rarely are any of the treats vegan, but I don’t think that makes a huge difference.
That helps me with sweets, as they usually contain gelatin so I don’t even think about those.
I find the whole ‘treats in the office’ thing really interesting actually. I work in an office full of guys and I’m always amazed at how little self-control they appear to have when there are cakes or chocolate (or ANY form of free food!) available. It’s funny because my desk is actually *right* next to the spare table where these treats are often left, so I can have a huge cake sitting next to me for the whole afternoon sometimes. However, since starting my healthy living journey and starting to eat cleanly I just don’t feel tempted by those foods at all. Like Laura said above, it’s like they don’t even register with me anymore. At the start I had to exercise loads of self-control to resist, but now it doesn’t bother me and I’m just not tempted. It’s funny how the body/brain adapts in that way.
Now don’t get me wrong, I *love* cake and chocolate, but I’d really rather save the indulgence and have a nice piece of homebaked cake (rather than some stale offering from the supermarket) in the evening, or some of my favourite chocolate (Lindt sea salt!) rather than the usual, boring stuff that usually sits on the desk next to me.
I bought some chewy sweets into the office after my recent holiday abroad as I know they go down a bundle. I time how long they are open for….. it’s not long!
I have to be honest and say that I have to exercise real restraint and not have any at all. If I had the taste I’d be at the mercy of whatever it was! chewy sweets/biscuits/chocolates… delete as appropriate.
I am very much an all or nothing sort of personality though – my weight reflects that, I can gain a massive amount of weight in an impressively short space of time, or I can be a complete angel totally dedicated to exercising and healthy eating!
after my duathlon of the weekend I’m now keen to improve my running – I have been thinking about training podcasts for my mp3, sounds like I am going to have to give it a go 🙂
x
In my office there are always chocolates and biscuits available and somehow they live on my desk (maybe my colleagues think I have the strongest willpower). I can mostly resist them, but occasionally I fancy a chocolate. I used gorge myself on sweets in my old job … no wonder I gained weight!