Friday, April 20, 2012

What would Katniss do?

Yesterday, I pledged to be positive about my GORUCK experience, and send only  emails or texts with legitimate questions about things I need to know, and no more along the lines of "OMG I'M FREAKING OUT PLEASE HELP ME". After all, I did sign up mainly by choice (peer pressure was involved only slightly), so at some point I did actually want to spend an entire night running with bricks.

It's time to live by my mantra. "What would Katniss do?" Did she sit down and cry and beg for a snack break when there were fireballs being launched at her? No, so neither will I. I think I'll be asking myself that question quite a bit tomorrow.

When the DVD comes out, I'll never get anything done again.

I got emails with a link for this jacket from two people within half an hour yesterday, which was also exactly two months before my birthday. Coincidence? I think not.


I feel like I go through peaks and valleys with exercise motivation, and this week is definitely a valley. I guess that's why most marathon plans have those step-back weeks included. The past three weeks have been pretty intense with training, so I knew I was due for a week when I just wanted to sit on the couch and eat chocolate cheerios. I think part of it is also that I could do nothing but GORUCK all week and still get in at least 10 hours of tough training, which I already consider a lot for a week.

I'm also feeling really burnt out with driving to workouts. I've been doing a lot of traveling to do rides with the tri club, or meet friends, or whatnot. Obviously it's good because I forces me to push myself so much harder than I would on my own. I would never have rode 20 hilly miles last Sunday, or done a 2 mile masters swim workout, for example. When I rode 50 miles by myself from home, an extra 45 minutes was added to my ride because my route had so many traffic lights.

However, it really adds a lot of time on to an already time consuming training plan. Last night, I had planned to meet the tri club for our usual Thursday night bike/run. I was really in the mood to use the beautiful weather for a run though. When I got home from work, I knocked out 7 miles (9:00 pace) right away instead of meeting the group at 6pm. I was able to run, shower, cook a real dinner, and eat all before I would have even been home from the group workout. I feel a little guilty because I know I need more practice with brick workouts, but it is what it is.

Curry stuffed peppers > cereal for dinner

My favorite compression gear, Aspaeris Pivot Shorts are having a sale starting today, so if you go to their website, use this code for 50% off a pair of shorts! I don't usually talk about products other than food, but I seriously wear these shorts all the time and they feel so good. I've worn them to two races where I was shocked by how fast I was at the end, and I swear they helped. Use this code for the sale: APS4me.


Do you work out with others, and does it make you push yourself more? Absolutely, especially with cycling.

Do you ever drive to workouts? Is it worth it? As long as the workout is longer than the drive, yes. AKA, I'm not driving 30 minutes for a 4 mile run, unless there is froyo after or some other incentive.

10 comments:

  1. Did you ever find the person that vomited into your dinner dish??

    I drive for weekend runs, but it's not so bad because it's once a week at most. Plus, I like the change of scenery.

    I think if you ask yourself "What would Katniss do?" too often during GoRuck then the answer is going to eventually be "Murderrrrr"

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  2. What would Katniss do? She'd probably talk about herself incessantly for hundreds of pages while pretending to be tough.

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    1. Well, I already have a blog, so I'm clearly headed in the right direction.

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  3. I wish I had more people to workout with, but I've found that if I'm with people, I talk, and that slows me down. So a lot of my solo workouts, while boring, are faster and harder than ones I do with people.

    I drive to my Saturday workouts every weekend and I've been driving to trails to run every few days.

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  4. I only drive to workouts on the weekend. I work from home, so I could drive places but I'm really too lazy for that.

    I usually run with the husband and he is slower, so it doesn't make me run harder. I have done a few groups and it totally makes me work harder though.

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  5. I don't have any workout buddies in the area so I usually work out by myself. Not sure I would be willing to drive more than 10 minutes to work out with someone else.
    And I definitely know what you mean about peaks and valleys with the motivation. Sometimes every day I have to exercise during the week I want to crawl into bed instead because my body is exhausted from all the training.

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  6. Ha! Love the new mantra!

    You definitely deserved the workout at home.

    I do drive to workouts. My long run Saturdays with my group and Tuesday nights with the group...and the gym once a week.

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  7. I used to take the train down to central park for group workouts once or twice a week, but generally I just work out all by my lonesome. Don't you feel sorry for me?

    Also, if the cereal is chocolate or peanut butter cheerios, nothing is greater than cereal for dinner.

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  8. Have you tried the new Dulce de Leche Cheerios? They're amazing.

    If I want to work out anywhere beside my treadmill or stationary bike, I have to drive a minimum of 20 minutes each way. I don't mind it but that's twice a week maximum.

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  9. When I started running with Tayler we were both running 10:15ish miles. Since both of us were super competetive we tried to kick each others asses during the runs and got to where we could run 8:45's consitantly. Now she's still running around 9's and I'm dying just to run for 10 minutes. Life's a B sometimes. : )
    You're going to kick GORUCKS ass! HAVE FUN!!

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Thanks for commenting! Comments make me probably more happy than they should.