Motivation Roller Coaster

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So many ups and downs! After the snowshoe weekend, I needed a couple days rest. But by last Wednesday I was ready. I went to the gym and did an outdoor run, 3 miles with a 10:43 average pace, followed by weight training. I'm nudging myself toward running three times during the workweek, plus a long weekend run, but so far the weekday run has only been happening twice a week. BUT, that's two times more than was happening before so, like I said, nudging in that direction. No complaints from me. Two is an attainable goal for now so I'm officially sticking with that.

A couple days later, on Friday, I was feeling motivated. So I ran the 2.5 miles from home to the gym, which took about 25 minutes, did a quick workout (back/biceps) and then ran home for a total of 5 miles. So impressed with myself. That night we had a family dinner at my mom's. We had ravioli with meat sauce and pasta alfredo and chocolate cake and, and, and... oh dear.

Some of the crew. Did I mention the martini situation?

I kinda used my planned long run on Sunday as an excuse to over-indulge. Lots of pasta, plus wine, and two (albeit small) slices of chocolate cake. Like I said, oh dear. 

Saturday was Spring Cleaning: the Winter Edition all day at my house. I cleared out toys the kids have outgrown, and organized and cleaned. After a hard day of work, M and I went out for dinner. I made somewhat healthier choices but did have wine. Again. It might not sound like it but I'm trying to cut down on the wine. Having an Italian boyfriend does not make that easy. Later that night we had mudslides as a kind of liquid desserts. It's been ages since I've had one of those, yummy! 

Fortunately our long run was planned for the afternoon so we had some time to recover before hitting the road. My buddy Catherine joined us on a fairly flat route at the Hamilton Levee. It was great because the route included trails and road with a fair amount of pretty water views. I forgot to take any pictures so I'll just share some Garmin info.

Can't you tell from the map it was a scenic run? With perfect running weather, low 50's and sunny. So here are my splits.

I like how my pace generally picked up as I went along. My average heart rate was only 153, though I did spend the last mile, which just happened to be running into the wind, in the low 160s. Anyway, the numbers are just for fun, the main point is, I had a very nice run. 

But later that day I started to feel a bit of a cold coming on. Ugh. So Monday I had mild cold symptoms that, fortunately, never really turned into a full-blown cold. But it was enough to throw me off my groove. I got into a funky mood and ate A BUNCH of crap over a couple of days, including Taco Bell and a bag of firey hot cheetos. And a chocolate bar. And who knows what else. Needless to say I wasn't tracking. So I got on the scale yesterday morning and saw 155. Yes, folks, 155. A full ten pounds over my goal weight.

I might be premenstrual, but still, the number was there. And it woke me up. At least I hope it did. Still, even with that, I struggled to get to the gym today. I procrastinated (and grumbled in my head) for SO long. BUT, I finally got myself there. Sadly, I only had time to run two miles on the treadmill. BUT, I ran those two miles at a 6mph (10 minute mile) pace. Bam! AND, I broke the funk. Funny how quick that can happen.

So, today included goal-oriented eating, and some exercise, and even a bit of tracking. I feel better for today. And right now, that's enough.