A long busy day at work yesterday (and forgetting to take any money/cards out with me in the morning) meant that I didn't have chance to go to a supermarket before dinner - this is where having a store cupboard full of useful things is vital for healthy eating. My freezer is full of various bags of frozen chopped veg, and my cupboard always has essentials like wholewheat pasta, brown rice, tins of mackerel and tuna in brine, tins of chopped tomatoes, tinned chickpeas, and a variety of herbs, stock cubes, and spices. It means that even if the fridge is bare, I can make a quick, tasty meal without resorting to convenience foods or junk. Last night I had some wholewheat spaghetti with mackerel, brussel sprouts, and a little extra virgin olive oil. This morning I left the house with a tub of wholewheat penne with crabmeat, onions and sliced peppers, made up after breakfast for today's lunch at work. Nothing "fresh" in two meals, yet a whole load of useful carbs, protein, vitamins, healthy fats, and so on. It isn't ideal, but it definitely suits me when I'm less than organised! (always)
Tonight I'll buy some fresh food, cook a nice dinner, and have things in the house to help me eat well over the weekend, especially refuelling from my long run. I haven't decided which day of the weekend I'll do it yet, but I'm aiming for 15kms. Eeek. :-) I love that most mornings start now with me waking up and testing out whether any of my muscles are sore, haha; today I noticed my shoulders are a little achey, from yesterday's gym session. I wasn't even doing shoulder-specific work (except press-ups in the circuit, and the short bit of rowing tabata*), but after deadlifts, and heavy kettlebell swings with a step forward each time, my kettlebell swing form was slipping a little at times, and my weaker shoulder was doing more work than it ought. Additionally, for the step-ups and box jumps, I looked at my feet a bit too much, rather than straight ahead, so possibly had my shoulders a little bit 'engaged' (hunched, lol). Bad form definitely gets punished, even though I (or my trainer) noticed it at the time and kept trying to correct it. The ache should subside over the next day or so, but if I do my long run tomorrow, I'll definitely need to be conscious of my form, and ensure I keep my back straight, core strong, and shoulders loose.
* rowing tabata is 20 seconds rowing, 10 seconds rest, repeated a number of times. It sounds a lot easier than it is! ;-)
Weather looks nice and sunny Saturday, and potentially quite wintry on Sunday so tomorrow would definitely be me choice. I'm faced wit the same decision, I have been doing my long runs on Sundays this month, but the weather difference will be so marked that it's a no brainer - a nice relaxing run in the sun, or a battle against wind swept, snow/sleet affair on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteAnd when you're out on run, enjoy as much as you can, paces and times don't really matter, mix in lots of walking breaks, especially on hills, just coax your body along at a pace it feels like doing. Eat and drink as you go so you don't end up starving at the end. After the time outside have a light meal, and nice hot bath, relax and then a nap. This time after the run might seem like an indulgence, but all these things together will boost the gains in fitness you get from your run/walk and will aid your recovery.
If you get this all right then on Sunday you'll still feel fresh enough to be active. A recovery walk or a swim on Sunday would be a perfect way to shake out stiffness and lethargy.
Have fun!