Pre-Work Work Out

Whenever someone says, “I just feel so energized when I work out before work,” you can find me over in the corner giving that person side-eye and skeptically furrowing my eyebrows. Work makes me tired. Working out makes me tired. Combining the two makes me tired.

During most of my running career (can I get away with calling it that?), I’ve been an afternoon runner. For over a year, I took my work out clothes to school, and I’d change in my classroom at the end of the day before running around the neighborhood. I can’t recall a single day that I ran before teaching. Of course, long runs took place in the morning (it is Texas, after all), but long runs happen on the weekend, meaning the rest of the day can be full of napping, ice bathing, burrito eating, etc.

Now that I’ve shifted to a job that doesn’t give me the entire summer off (bummer), afternoon running ain’t gonna cut it. My options are to run before work or hop on a treadmill. And let’s be real: if I don’t run before work, it’s not going to happen. Once I get home, the couch is too comfy, the food in the pantry is too tasty, and the time with my husband is too valuable. I fall into a post-work vortex and nothing can drag me out of it, and certainly not exercising. (See work = tired, working out = tired above.)

I’ve started experimenting with working out before work. I wake up a little bit earlier, immediately change into my work out clothes, and go for a run. Maybe I’ve only done it a few times, but I’m quickly realizing that I don’t hate it. In fact, I like it, a lot.

Does it give me more energy? No! Running three or more miles before going to work for nine hours isn’t the equivalent of an energy pill. But but but it gives me another kind of boost.  Running before work makes me feel accomplished, it makes me feel proud, it makes me feel ready to tackle the day, it makes me feel good. I can look down the barrel of the day and declare, “I’ve already run. The heat couldn’t stop me. The sand flying in my face couldn’t stop me. That crazy dog that tried to jump over the fence and rip my face off couldn’t stop me. I got this.” I find that I’m happier at work when I work out first. Maybe not more energized but more confident. I’ll take it!

Taken during Big D. This is the “I got this” attitude in action!

The verdict: there will be more pre-work work outs in my future. Unless I get scheduled to work the opening shift at work (it starts at 3:30 am!), in which case, I guess all this is moot.

Do you work out before work? Does it give you more energy?

Five Mile High

Today is my day off. Huzzah! Naturally, my priority numero uno was to sleep in. Alas, someone *cough*geronimo*cough* didn’t like that idea. Even after I let him up onto the bed with me (I was hoping he would feel how comfy the mattress is and understand why I just wanted to sleep), he still wasn’t having any of this “sleeping late” business.

Once I was up and had tended to Geronimo’s needs (geeze, always wanting to eat and pee and stuff, such a prima donna), I decided to lace up my shoesies and go for a run. One part of my brain was saying, “No! Just lay on the couch!” The other, stronger part of my brain, however, knew that if I put on my running clothes, running would take place, and I would be happy.

Which is exactly how it went down.

My running view.

Geronimo ran with me for 2.5 miles. We managed an 11:16 pace. As of late, I haven’t been paying much attention to my pace. I’m focusing on working up my mileage and try to run at a comfortable speed.

The next 2.5 miles were on my own. Well, I had Cristen and Caroline and their discussion of the rhythm method to keep me company. (You can hear the podcast here.) But no one was really with me. I went into the zone. I thought of nothing. My body kept running running running. Then I turned back toward my house and ran ran ran some more. In 27 minutes, I was all done.

Physically, I felt tired tired tired. I should have done a better job of hydrating. (I need to go back to taking water with me when I run.) The El Paso sunshine, while beautiful to look at from the comfort of my air conditioned home, is brutal to run in.

Emotionally & mentally, I felt amazing! I haven’t run five miles in a while. It’s nice to know I can still run for an hour (with a break here and there) without passing out or having my legs give out. It also gives me more confidence to tackle a more intimidating distance, like anything more than five miles.

I have it in my head that I run another marathon sometime this year, but I need to get my base back before I get too carried away. I’m kind of gun shy following the DNS that was the Konigsforst Marathon. Sure, there were contributing factors, but I also ended up feeling totally blah about running. I’m going with baby steps this time. Once I work my way back up to substantial distances, then and only then will I allow myself to get marathon giddy.

Any hydration tips other than carrying a bottle while running? Why are marathons so alluring and so effing hard to train for?

It’s All I Could Manage

I realized that I haven’t talked about running or fitness at all lately. The reason for that is I haven’t been very actively.  *Dun-dun-dun.* (That was dramatic music.) With unpacking bogging me down, I just haven’t squeezed much in. (And by “haven’t squeezed much in” I of course mean “I’ve done nothing.”) Today (four days sans workout) I knew that I had to do something.

Looks like a nice day for a run, eh?

I put on my workout clothes, and gave myself the old “it doesn’t have to be fast, it doesn’t have to be far” pep talk. This is usually really effective for me. I lower my expectations because I realize that anything is better than nothing. My Garmin wasn’t charged, which helped me brush aside worries about pace. Instead, I just started the timer on my phone, grabbed Geronimo, and ran.

We took it easy with a slow jog from our house to the park nearby and did a few loops. My plan was to drop Geronimo off at home and then run a few more miles on my own…

…But I just didn’t. I wasn’t feeling motivated. I was feeling hot, I was feeling tired (achy back, tired feet, sore neck), and it couldn’t compete with my the cool air conditioning and overstuffed furniture in my house.

I went inside, kicked off my shoes, plopped on the couch, and did not feel one ounce bad about it. I probably should have sucked it up and gone back out. But but but I’m not going to feel bad about it or beat myself up. Sometimes one miles is all we can mange. Sometimes I can’t even get myself to go that far! Usually one mile leads to more; this time it didn’t. I’m proud of myself for getting out there and giving what I could, even if it was just one measly mile.

Do you do short workouts or are they just not worth it to you? How’s are your May workouts going so far? Stalling out like me or blowing throw the month?