I Am Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Sorrrryy!! Long week. But my training is going well. As I was telling one of my friends this week how behind I was on my blog, they rolled their eyes at me and said that now if I don't feel guilty about working out then I feel guilty about not blogging. It made me chuckle but I'd rather feel guilty about not blogging than working out. Sorry, priorities right? :)

So recap of the previous week:

Sunday - Long run 16.25 miles. It was supposed to be a 15 mile run but I couldn't find any courses that I really loved so it ended up being a 16 miler. I always say I have to live by some body of water because it just makes long runs like this one so enjoyable. I love looking out over the water (even if it is frozen). It helps be to connect with God and center myself. So needless to say this was a great run for me. I was shocked at how well it went. I always get a competitive when I am out there running so I was planning on a RELAXING long run but then I see other people ahead of me on my path and I play the game that I have to catch them. But the problem with this idea which I never think of when I am behind them is that once you catch them well then of course you have to pass them and then once you pass them you have to stay ahead of them and you cannot let them pass you again because then what was the point of catching them. So my relaxing run somehow always turns into this faster pace running game for me. Of course until this time I think it was mile 10 and my feet started to hurt and so I switched my running technique (I will go into another time, I am trying to alter my running form to help reduce stress to certain parts of my body) which helped but my little running game wore me down by mile 15 I was tired and soar and ready to be done.

Monday - This was supposed to be a 45 min swim day. Well since I ran 16 miles the previous day I was tired and wanted to consume all food insight. It was actually very humorous if you have gone through this before you can relate. After long runs / bike rides I always get really hungry a day or two after the workout and want/need to consume every food insight. Well this was my Monday then. So I tried to go lift during my lunch hour. That turned out to be an epic fail. I was so exhausted that when I tried to bench I could barely put up my starting weight. After a few miserable attempts to get the bar back on the rack, I decided to do a light ab workout and call it a day. My body just had not regained the strength it needed to complete a good workout (or my mind had not recovered yet from the previous day).

Tuesday- Got my butt out of bed early and hit up an hour and ten minute bike on the trainer feeling completely energized and ready to go. I have found it very hard to sit on the bike in front of the TV and do nothing but bike so I have tried a few new things. First I have started reading my bible on the bike when I first start out and I get lost in the word and time just seems to fly which is a really cool way to wipe out a half hour to 45 mins on the bike and after that I turn on the morning news and get my fill for the day. I went to the gym after work got in a quick 3 mile run. Although I find it really hard to just do a short little run like 3 miles after a long weekend run. I feel like I have barely started and then I am done already. Really pointless to me but it had to be done. I am thinking of changing those short little runs to make them a little longer (part of my modification for Boston.) .

Wednesday - I saved 3 lives! Which means I gave blood! I wanted to do this recently and found out that our Student Athletes at the UW were hosting a blood drive I decided what a perfect opportunity to donate. I donated my pint of blood in less than 5 minutes ( I always make it a competition and see how fast I can fill up my bag ) . I was told i have garden hose veins :) I am proud of my big easily accessible veins. I was also told by the technicians that I have very good blood flow which I am hoping is helping supply my muscles with lots of blood during my work outs and my heart is pumping out some good volume. Anyways I like donating blood and going to the doctor because they always check your vitals and I love to see by blood pressure is and my resting pulse. I always make this into some personal competition to see how low I can get the numbers. This makes visits like this fun for me. Just reporting 112/60 ... just saying.... Okay enough about my health. I gave blood at 2:30 pm and then I wanted to get a run in before going to home group so I they give you this nice little handout when you leave which tells you to eat and drink plenty and to not do any strenuous behavior for like 5 hours or something. Well I really listen well when I have an agenda (NOT!) so I chugged two 20 oz bottles of water and then decided that I would be okay going to the gym and running on the treadmill for 6 miles. Whhheewww let me tell you, it was hard! I felt like I was dragging the whole time but till made it through the workout and ended up making a smelly appearance at home group ( a high school youth group which I help out with once a week ).

Thursday- I got up and since I had not been to the gym in the morning yet I figured I better get an early morning swim in . So I got in the pool and had a few problems. I felt like I was about to drown the whole time I was in the pool. I couldn't breathe. It was so frustrating! I have been doing a three stroke breathing pattern, alternating which side I am breathing from to get use to breathing on both sides. This is done so when you are swimming in open water, if there are waves on one side you can breathe on the other side. Besides the breathing issue there was a lady in the lane next to me and me in my competitive spirit had to race her the whole time. May have not helped with my breathing issues either. I blamed the crappy workout on my lack of blood from the day before. May or may not be true. That evening I went back to the gym and hit the treadmill for a 6 mile running while watching the Badger Men's basketball team get lit up by Michigan State. I find it so much easier to run on the treadmill while watching a sporting event... i.e. football or basketball or hockey.... a TV show though is a lot harder for me to concentrate on , stupid commercial breaks. I always catch myself looking down at the time during those. Although I’ve played this game with myself that I cannot look down for the entire commercial break and I’ve learned that commercial breaks usually last 4 minutes. Each commercial averages about 30 seconds. Any who... I then lifted machine lower body for the remainder of the night. It was a long day but I felt so good to have accomplished all of my workouts in a day and do a lift as well.

Friday - God created the world in 6 days and on the seventh day he rested. In my training program, Friday is my day of rest ... so I rested on Friday. It felt so good.

Saturday- Since I rested on Friday I felt so rejuvenated and ready to go that I woke up before coaching and did a 2 hour bike ride on the trainer. It went well. I read my bible and then turned on the TV... the only issue though is that on Saturday mornings at 4:30 am there is nothing good on TV so I biked to the country music network .. If anyone has any good movies I could pop in for my long rides I'm always up for suggestions. So Saturdays are my long bike rides followed by a short run. I didn't have time to do the short run after. They want you to get off the bike and start running so your body gets use to change over of muscle groups. This change over is extremely painful but the more your body gets use to it the better you will be on race day. Guess I will have to wait till next week to put my body through that ... :)


"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - Psalm 139: 13-14