Procrastination is the Name of the Game

I started today with one of THOSE mornings. You know the ones - when you really really want to get out of bed and be productive, but your covers hold you hostage and your pillow whispers sweet nothings in your ear. Blah - it was bad. I usually pop out of bed at 6:30 to walk the dog and get some work done watch the news, but I was up too late last night and was feeling lazy. I got my butt out of bed just long enough to take Carly outside and hear the Today show music, and then I konked out until 9AM when I (again, begrudgingly) headed out the door. I had a review session for an upcoming cell biology exam...I appreciated the review, but yikes! Scheduling it on a Saturday morning was a killer.

I got back around 11 and headed to PetSmart with B to get some food for fuzzbutt. There was an adoption drive going on and we were thisclose to coming home with another dog, i.e. I considered stuffing one of the puppies into my hoodie and bolting for the door.

Died when I saw her. Beautiful. 

We made a pit stop at Target because I needed a peppermint mocha fix and because we were out of oatmeal. I've eaten oatmeal for breakfast every day for....three years?... and we haven't had any in the house for FOUR DAYS. I'm amazed the earth didn't explode.

Can anyone go to Target and only buy one thing? We looked around for a bit and ended up getting some egg nog, hot chocolate, and a hat for our upcoming Turkey Trot 5K. B desperately wanted to run in something festive.

Pumpkin as stand-in for B's head

This hat was only two dollars! It's our first thanksgiving away from our families so we're planning on drowning our homesickness in sweat in the AM and turkey/green beans/mashed potatoes in the PM. I'm looking forward to our first low-key holiday but I'll miss my grandma's annual 20-person blowout.

I really needed to get studying after shopping was over, but I thought a nap was a better use of my time. I have NO idea why I was so tired today! After another hour with my true love (my bed), I decided to test out the calves with a short little run. My goal was simple: don't push too hard, no more than 3 miles, and listen to my body. I felt awful in the first 200 yards and almost went home, but I loosened up after that. I took a few breaks to stretch and massage my calves whenever the pain got too bad, and was able to do a safe, easy 2.5 miles. I held a 9:08 pace, which is slower than I normally run but was perfect for today. I would have been thrilled with 10:00min/mile this time last year, so I'm just thankful for how far I've come since then. I have to keep reminding myself that this injury is only a temporary roadblock...unless I get in my own way and prolong it by doing something dumb.

I was so proud of myself for staying within my limits that I went down to the gym in our building for some celebratory arm work

The gym is really nice for a high-rise, and I love the variety of cardio machines. There are a few key exercises that I couldn't do here, but it's a great place to go for a workout in a pinch. B and I probably wouldn't have joined a "real" gym if it weren't for the fact that we needed a place to swim.

Earmuffs still on from earlier....dork

I did some tricep pulldowns and lat pulldowns, but unfortunately ignored my biceps as usual. Swimming works your triceps much more than your biceps, and so my tris are quite literally larger and stronger than my biceps. Thus, lifting biceps depresses me, so then I don't do it and just perpetuate the problem. Note to self: add bicep strength to list of "stop being dumb" goals.

Dinner was a junk salad, i.e. a mixture of all of my leftovers on top of lettuce. That bad boy had butternut squash, roasted onions, almonds, raisins, feta cheese, black beans, pinto beans, and some balsamic vinegar on top. It was ok, but didn't knock my socks off. The gingerbread tea I had along with it was also suprisingly blah.

The rest of the night was foam rolling, studying, and enjoying the first glass of eggnog of the season.

What's your favorite seasonal drink? Eggnog, cider, hot chocolate, peppermint anything...? For me, this would be like trying to choose between my (non-existent) children.
Do you have pets? Obviously I am Carly's babysitter/snack-giver/ear-scratcher, but I've had four other dogs over the course of my life. I've also had a few fish and an ill-fated hermit crab named Pickles.

New Lab, New Plan

Today I started working in a new lab! First year grad students rotate through several labs over the course of a year before they pick a place to do their thesis work. It's a great way to try out some different things before you commit 5+ years to one group, but it's a bummer to feel like a nomad for 10 months. I had gotten comfortable with the people and protocols in my old lab JUST in time to switch.

Regardless, today was fun and I feel good about my projects for the next few months. I'm in a new, much fancier building that has awesome wooden lockers for the scientists and SHOWERS in the bathrooms! I've been wanting to start swimming or running before work, but it would have been a huge pain to come back to the apartment just to shower and then walk to my lab. Now I can just finish my workout by running right to my building and showering/changing there!

Anyway...now that I'm done geeking out over a shower...
(But really, if you can't get excited about the little things, what else is there?)

I tried to go on an easy recovery run yesterday afternoon, but my calf "injury" was bothering me so I cut it short. One of my goals for my running from here on out is to listen to my body. I have a problem with either being a slave to a training schedule or totally blowing it off. Actually, the two are related - as soon as I miss or modify a scheduled run, I figure the whole thing has gone to hell in a handbasket and my plan spirals out of control. This leads to (a) initial overtraining/injury because I push when I shouldn't and then (b) severe undertraining because I'm either injured or I've given up.

No more.

This time around, I'm going to be smart, i.e. I'm not going to do 7 miles on a strained calf just because that's what my calendar told me to do. I've been an athlete since I was 9, and I need to trust that I know the difference between normal pain and "back off now!" pain. I've also left myself plenty of time to get ready for this marathon, as opposed to the 1.5 months "training" that I've done for both of my half marathons. Hopefully this means that I won't beat myself up for modifying runs because I'll know that I have time to make up the missed miles. I'm going to be serious about my stretching and foam rolling, I'll improve my nutrition, and I'll make sure that I get enough sleep. Come April, I will be ready to kill some miles and eat some hills (well, I'm always ready for hills).

And to lighten the mood, I'll leave you with a picture of Carly, a.k.a. the jello dog.

She sleeps like this all. the. time. 

Do you follow a training plan?
One of my favorite bloggers, Skinny Runner, is a marathon-running beast and she never follows a plan. Color me jealous.