Kestrel Grey

Working three shifts in 48 hours while cleaning the house to prepare for my mom coming to visit so I can pretend I'm a responsible adult. Actually I'll probably foist most of the cleaning off on my husband.

So far so good. Monday I fit in 30 minutes easy running. Tuesday was my sole day off this week so I went for a midday hike. There was a little patchy snow in the shadows but it was warming up nicely and I had the trails all to myself. Which means it's the time to start bringing bear spray again; I need a new belt to carry it but I've been putting it off because I don't want to actually deal with the fact I'm too fat for my old one. I rounded out the day with an easy at-home strength workout. Yesterday was my second easy run, 40 minutes with a few strides. My sleep has improved now that I'm exercising regularly again (yay!). Struggling with the Eating Skills tasks this week. That's okay. It's week 2 of 20 and I am patiently letting it take time to click. Mostly keeping up with the morning and evening routine, missing last night because I ended up working late and was feeling too tired.

Doing what you can is good. Even when it doesn't line up with what you feel you should be able to do. Sorry things are rough right now.

I heard that both movies had the most cars destroyed of any film before them. It may not be true but that would make for an interesting PvP.

As long as the differences aren't extreme you should all get what you need out of the conversation. You might use more descriptive language than someone less advanced, but it should still be fun! Good luck!

Which one of you is Jake and which one is Elwood? I need to chose sides for the battle.

That much heat isn't necessary better than snow! I'm still in denial over growing season being done and trying to save my pumpkins. There were two mostly ripe ones that I cut and took inside, but there are four green ones still on the vine so currently I have everything covered in a layer of mulch then a layer of blankets. Tomorrow we can unearth everything and see what survived.

This article was an interesting read, and I think it would be a helpful resource for anyone who finished or plans on finishing an epic adventure/challenge/race. https://thetrek.co/post-trail-depression-not-think/. It is about dealing with the post-adventure malaise. Posting it here for anyone interested.

I may not have goals or know what I am hunting, but predators don't need to know. They can be patient. It is the process that matters, not the destination, so this challenge I will focus only on the process. Intently. Patiently. Not worrying about the after. Or at least I will try! Patience when I am not seeing immediate progress has not historically been my strong point. The Process 1. Run three days a week. Starting with 30-45 minutes easy with optional strides for the first two weeks. 2. Stay consistent with my morning and nighttime routines. 3. Strength train three days a week. I have one quick and easy home workout for most sessions, and one gym routine for days when I want to throw around some iron. Other stuff going on this challenge: It may snow tonight. The rest of the week will warm back up, but summer is definitely over here in the Rocky foothills and we are headed into fall. My mother is coming to stay with me during Week One. I have the week off so I can play host and drive her around. I am continuing with the GMB Eating Skills program. It will get most of my focus this challenge.

Batten down the hatches and keep that ship afloat.

Hi Sebastian, I like your challenge! Simple and sweet.

Challenge Wrap-Up It's been an odd challenge. As I stated in the challenge set up, my energy and motivation for training was low. I underestimated how low and haven't hit my lowered target on any week. In fact, I haven't trained at all since my run two weeks ago. That run went about as well as could be expected; I finished it without serious injury. Cutting back on training expectations was supposed to free up time and ease my stress levels. What it actually did was make my sleep more inconsistent and make me feel even lazier. My primary goal had nothing to do with fitness however. And yes, yes I do feel pretty. My skin is looking decent and the bedtime routine is happening most nights. I guess I do well with "one thing" goals even when everything else falls off. The other routines/microhabits are hit and miss. The morning day planner with tea routine goes well when I have tea. The push-ups and pull-ups went well for the first couple weeks but haven't been happening since I skinned my knees and then hurt my neck a couple days ago (watching TV in an odd position). The other ones I simply forgot about much of the time. Nutrition - I have been more aware of my nutrition choices recently. I read Josh Hillis' book at @Elastigirl's recommendation then joined GMB's eating skills program, but so far the information hasn't translated into actual improvement. It's kinda stressing me out actually. An odd challenge and an odd ending. I feel a little lost. I don't know really why this one didn't go better, or what my goals are/should be, or how to structure my next challenge. All I know is that not making training a priority does not work for me, and I am going to have to find a way forward that does not rely on motivation because I currently have none. I do like feeling pretty though.

We enjoyed it, so I'm thankful that you gave it a try too. Popping by your thread was a little daily shot of happy.

I like to get all fancy with periodization. Basically confuse things enough to hide the fact I'm not really making progress on anything. But it lets me make plenty charts and research different programs so it keeps me entertained through the long bleak winter.

I do have a question for everyone. How do you handle an "off-season"? Do you train mostly the same year-round, switch to a different sport over winter, do 6 weeks of straight strength training? Just for Xena:

Hoping for you getting in! Is this one of your "every state" marathons, or a just-for-fun run?

Feel free to avoid fitness talk altogether and drop random snark. We enjoy having you around (and are happy to hijack your thread with random topics when you are away).

That's a hard thing. It's very easy to correlate passion with superstar talent, and it feels awkward to explain to people that you don't match that expectation. As long as you know that people still admire you at any speed, and any awkwardness doesn't dampen your joy in running!

So I haven't done an update recently. The fitness side of things petered off in the week before my long run and has been non-existent since. I haven't even been doing push-ups etc when I change (partially because I have to push up on my knees and they are still scabby and sore). Sleep disruptions and tiredness are getting worse. Disappointing updates are so easy to "forget" to do but there are some lessons here that are worth reflecting on. 1. Skipping workouts because of tiredness/lack of time doesn't actually make me less tired or give me more time. Oddly. These past two weeks, I haven't been getting any more chores done nor feeling any more energetic. 2. Routines work well for me. The evening skincare routine and the morning dayplanner routine have continued to be consistent. Bonus win: a coworker commented on how well my skin has been looking recently. Trying to figure out how to get exercise as a routine but it is harder since it isn't something I plan on doing 7 days a week. 3. I still struggle with the desire to impress people and avoid anything that I think makes me look bad. This is a thing I thought I had gotten better at. A coworker started training and eating right this year and has lost quite a bit of weight and gotten stronger. She asked me about my OCR training and is interested in coming to an OCR class with me... so I promptly want to avoid any training in front of her because I feel like she will lose respect for me when she realizes I am not very good. And I am disappointed in myself because she is a reminder of how much progress I could have made if I was consistent. I still judge myself too harshly and assume others will too.

It is always possible that someone decent found it and turned it in. Did you check at any public place/store/etc near where you dropped it to see? Even if the cash is gone, it would be good to get the rest back.

I've read it. It is pretty sensible and focuses mostly on the "what to eat" (balanced healthy foods that leave you feeling full) and gives you a point system. Helpful in that the meal guidelines are tailored to runners who need more sustained energy than the sedentary population, and that he doesn't recommend going hungry during training. Some other useful tidbits. I read it over and tried following the point system, but found tracking unwieldy for me. He does include some helpful information in figuring out how much you might want to weigh to compete at your best, and reasonable targets based on your current bf%.

Running 63 miles for your 63rd birthday overnight is pretty badass, I'm happy you could meet up for the last mile to celebrate with him!

Thanks. This is turning out to be a course instead of coaching too. Not exactly what I expected. It still looks potentially useful but I am going to have to be careful about not expecting it to completely solve my diet and weight concerns for all time.

Things I am grateful for: you being grateful for protein powder. Yours is still the best one I've tried.

Tuesday Did my night and morning routines. Got my car's oil changed, made tacos, planted a row of lettuce in hopes that some will come up before the frost descends, and prepped some overnight oats for the next few days. No exercise other than watering my plants. I had planned on going to the gym to lift, thinking that wouldn't be an issue with my foot, but forgot about my car being at the dealership all day for the oil change. Oh, and I signed up for GMB Eating Skills. Yes, I know what to do on my own but obviously haven't been doing it, so there isn't much to lose in having a little structure to my food planning. Immediately both my demons flooded me with messages of failure and reminders of how frustrating and disappointing all previous attempts at online coaching have been. Happily frustration and failure are not the worst things in the world, and the demons wandered off after my husband reminded me that it is safe for me to fail and be sad, because he is there to pick me back up and make it better.