Will Work For Food

I am excited to say that I got through Hell and high mileage, that is, the high mileage week that was last week. I ended up running 6 days, which isn't ideal, but it included two short 3 - 4 mile lunch time runs, which are a great way to get out of the office and see the gorgeous weather. So those ones don't even count as work.

View on my lunchtime run.

However, Saturday WAS work. 20 miles on an already dehydrated body on a hot day was not the best thing I've ever done, or the smartest. I blame Roger, the 70 year old man who kept filling my wine glass on Friday night. You have to watch out for those old guys; they are sneaky. The more wine he poured, the more I lamented about how I was going to be hurting the next day (as I cheerfully swilled wine from the glass). When I woke up on Saturday not quite feeling 100%, I knew I only had myself to blame (and Roger, of course) so I bucked it up and put on my shoes.

The run was long and hard. The end. Normally afterward, I am Starvin' Marvin, but this time, I was only so, SO thirsty. It carried over into the next day, when I ran a trail race (100% better than Saturday's run! Recap later!) and had brunch afterward but wasn't really that hungry otherwise.

Then Monday rolled around, and the beast reared it's ugly head and screamed, "feed me, Seymour"! This happens quite a lot, where my rest day is also my "eat everything you can put your hands on day". So I thought I would do a quick rundown of what I usually eat on a normal day when I training (actually this list is what I ate on Monday, March 25).

5:45 a.m.: Steel cut oats with banana, sunflower seeds, almond milk, chia seeds, flax and coconut. Coffee.

8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.: 2 - 3 cups of coffee

9:30 a.m. (or 10 if I can hold off): Apple, some almonds

11:15 a.m. Salad with apples, grapes, almonds, sweet potatoes, garbanzo beans, quinoa and spinach

Breakfast salad?

12:00 p.m.: Lentils with rice

1:30 p.m.: Brussel sprouts with sesame oil and salt (lots of salt)

2:30 - 3:30 p.m.: Orange, carrots, celery with hummus, grapes, a mango, pirates booty, nori/seaweed snacks, trail mix (and anything else I have in my secret snack drawer at work), an applesauce

5:30 p.m.: more brussel sprouts, more lentils and rice (I was eating up left overs)

7:30 p.m. Corn chips with homemade "red pepper & hummus salsa", cous-cous salad with asparagus and orange bell peppers

8:30 p.m.: Greek yogurt with honey

In looking over this list, I realize a couple of things. One, I didn't really eat a lot, just a lot of times per day! Also, I didn't eat any meat, which is fairly common for me anyway. Also, the breakfast salad would have been really good with Craisins. Just saying.

Do you ever have days where you just can't stop snacking? What is your weakness / your go-to snack food? Are you hungrier the day of a big activity, the day after or both?

A Day in The Life: Finding Free Time

Lately I have been feeling a bit like I don't have time for the things I like to do. I know that I have definitely been blogging less. So I sat down to try to figure out if I am managing my time badly, or if one thing has taken the place for others or what is going on.

5:30 Alarm goes off.

5:45 I actually get up.

5:45 - 6:10 Get ready for work, eat breakfast, get dressed, etc

6:10 - 6:30 Internet time: blogs, pay bills, return emails. You can see why my internet presence has been diminished lately.

6:40 - 7:10 Walk to carpool, wait for car, ride to city, walk to work (morning commute). During this commute I really don't have time to do other things, as I am usually chatting with the driver.

7:10 - 4:00 Work. I usually take a half an hour walk somewhere in the middle of all this, in order to get some fresh air and exercise during the day. I am also going to start going to the gym 1 - 2x per week on my lunch break. In that case I will take an hour for lunch and go home later.

4:00 - 5:00 Commute. This takes a little longer than in the morning, since I take the bus home and there is more traffic. Also the walk on either end is a little longer. Each day for my commute, I walk about 2 miles total. I also try to read on the bus ride home, which is about 25 minutes. This is sometimes the only chance I get (make) to read each day.

5:00 - 7:00 Get dressed for a run, get ready for a run and then go running. Lately my runs have been anywhere from 1 - 2 hours long since I am in the height of Boston training (last week: 58 miles).

7:00 - 8:00 Cook dinner, eat dinner, make lunch for the next day.

8:00 - 8:30 Shower, get ready for bed

8:30 - 10:00 Free time. Lately I have been trying to use this time to read, but I have been so tired, so I admit that I often have been catching up on Top Chef or the like. Some days I also use this time to make big meals for the week, or to do some more internet chores. However, I have even been too tired lately to blog or comment on blogs.

The Verdict? Maybe I need to be more specific about what I do during my free time hours? I find that I feel guilty if I don't "do" something productive but I feel tired sometimes if I do. Also, I think running has been taking over, but it's something I like to do, so it's not like I am giving up things I like to do when I am running. I am just doing less of the OTHER things I like to do, I guess. Which is okay. I just feel like I want to curl up all day and read once in a while.

The other thing is the TV. I have been putting it on for background noise during "free time" and then I end up watching it instead of doing other things. I need to either get over feeling guilty about it or stop doing it. "Poop or get out of the ocean", as a lady at work is fond of saying. Don't ask me what that even means.

What does your typical day look like? Do you find that you have enough free time in a day? If so, how do you do it!?