Doing Nothing, Well

It's been a little while since my last post -- I guess I've been "doing nothing well," as some of my fellow teachers used to say about kids who wouldn't behave. ;)

But seriously, I have been spending my days doing the following things, more or less in this order but with some variety:

• Get a mediocre night's sleep; drive Derek to work or sometimes sleep in
  
• Drink coffee and make fun of the Today show; eat something; talk to Mom
  
• Run a short to medium distance, more often than not in heat and humidity
• Kick self after forgetting to wear sunscreen and then vowing to do so next time*
• Shower and put on something "normal" (i.e., NOT pajamas or running clothes)
• Eat lunch while watching Netflix DVDs
• Attempt to get some part of the apartment looking nicer, in spurts (e.g., putting up 2-3 framed pieces of artwork; obsessively scrubbing kitchen floor)
• Take a walk/do something productive outside (like go to the West Side Market, walk around the neighborhood, or read on the balcony)
• Change back into pajamas and take a nap
• Pick Derek up from work/cook dinner
  

etc.

This has pretty much been satisfying for the most part, even though I am really doing not much of anything. I think it's the joy of summer vacation. A lot of people plan trips to new places, go to the beach, go explore the great things a city might have to offer during the summertime (damn you NYC and the High Line among so many other things I want to do and see!), but I worked myself so much into a stupor this past year that I am content to do pretty much nothing.

Don't get me wrong, I am very excited to go to Walloon Lake, Michigan at the end of this month (more to come on that) or for a VERY brief visit to New York for Heather's wedding at the end of August (wish I could stay longer!). But I pretty much don't feel like I need to make any other major plans right now. My life, for the last year or even two, has been filled with excitement, stress, change, etc. (moving twice AND getting married!) so I am fine right now. I would say I like being lazy, but marathon training and lazy don't really mix, so I will say I am being active physically and mellow mentally. Hmm, that doesn't sound great either. Oh well. But I am happy.

Training schedule for this past week has been as follows:

Monday - Off
Tuesday - 3 miles (I ran this one easy on the Ohio Erie Towpath, and then had a rather invigorating pilates session at Studio 11 in the evening)
Wednesday - 5 miles, with 2-4 x a mile @ 5k - 10k pace. This was a GREAT workout, and I enjoyed it far more than I expected. (I usually dread speedwork.) Ran a mile slowly to warm up until I got to the Steelyard path, then did my first fast mile @ 9:08, which was TOO FAST for my 5k pace, but it was mostly downhill (plus I saw some sketchy dudes on bikes so I thought I would pick up the pace...just kidding Mom). Then cooled down for a mile, and did the second fast mile @10:40, a little slower than 10k pace, BUT I noticed on my Garmin that I spent a good portion of this mile at just around 9:53 pace, which is great for 5k. What killed me is that humongous hill--the same one that got me shooting down at first, really pulled the brakes on my speed at the end. Still, I am glad for that split because I usually struggle up that hill. :) Then cooled down for a mile on the way home.
Thursday - another easy 3 miles
Friday - Off!!!!
Saturday - 13 miles
Sunday - 3 miles.

I may switch Saturday and Sunday, and substitute the 3-miler for this "Skinny Bitch" class at the yoga studio Saturday. I don't usually like changing the schedule around, but this class is awesome and I haven't gone to it in a few weeks. I've heard it's often good to change around your workout; once you reach a weight-loss "plateau" it's good to vary the exercises you do and stuff. Plus I need upper-body and core work and this class takes care of that for sure! Speaking of which, I am annoyed that since marathon training I have actually gained 2 pounds! Arggg! I am hoping it's just that I've built muscle tone...and not that I've been overeating as a result of overrunning...haha. I looked this up online and actually found an about.com blog written by Christine Luff, one of my former TNT coaches! She is awesome so of course I had to read it.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Oh, one more thing -- Derek and I signed up to be members of Fresh Fork Market, a food co-op, in order to support local agriculture. We get our first package tomorrow! More on that later!

*Note: I did remember sunscreen on my Wednesday and Thursday runs!