Cherry Blossom Thursday Week 1

Thursday's schedule was 2-4 miles. I thought about getting up and going this morning before taking Squirty to school. Chip and I stayed up too late watching a new show on FX called The Americans. I have always liked Keri Russell, but to me she will always be a girl from The Mickey Mouse Club ;) Well, the first seen in the show is extremely un-Disney-like. We thought the show was going to be an hour, but it didn't end until 11:37. We were also having this crazy wind storm. I know lots of people do and that I have run in wind in the past, but I don't want to run in 30mph winds in the dark. I went to the gym after work and did 3 on the treadmill. I would have done the full 4, but I stupidly wore my Ragnar tech T-shirt without glide and more ouchies. I have been enjoying watching the HBO special "The Weight of the Nation" on my phone while I run. Of course, I then came home and ate a bunch of Doritos... and I don't even like Doritos.

Tomorrow is a rest day. I think I will do a kick-boxing or weight-lifting class at the gym tomorrow. 

My Challenge to The Biggest Loser

This week on The Biggest Loser, they gave each person a $70/week budget for purchasing food. According to the Cost of Food at Home chart from the United States Department of Agriculture from 2012, this is greater than what they suggest according to the "Liberal" cost plan. The "Thrifty" plan averages $37.20 per adult 19-50 per week. The "Low-Cost" plan averages $46.90 and the "Moderate-Cost" plan averages $57.90. Although we are probably more along the low-to-moderate cost income, I live in a low-income area, adjacent to Section 8 housing. According to HUD, a person in the Baltimore area who makes under $45,500/year is considered "low-income," $30,000/year is considered "very low income," and $18,000 is "30% of the median." Spending only $70/week on food for a week per person shocked the contestants. That amounts to $3,640 per year or 20% of the salary for the bottom-level income group. Given the costs of housing, commuting, insurance, medical care, and other things, that much per week may not be possible for those in the lowest income groups.

I would like to send my personal challenge to The Biggest Loser chef to prepare healthy meals for a family of 4 using the "Thrift" plan that I try to follow for my family of $126.50/week for a family of 4. I don't think you could do it with the organic food plans you feed your contestants.

Sources:
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2012/CostofFoodJan2012.pdf
http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/il/il12/md.pdf

Cherry Blossom Training Week 1 - Intervals

I didn't manage a run yesterday or get my lazy butt up at 5:30 to run this morning. Today was supposed to be a rest day, but I dragged myself and the boys to the gym for interval training. The intermediate training plan called for 3-5 miles with intervals for the middle miles. Since I was running on a treadmill, I didn't like the way their intervals were planned. You were supposed to run fast for 15 seconds and recover for 45 seconds, alternating until you get the 1-3 middle miles of your run completed. I like longer intervals and a little bit of a hill. I set the treadmill at 5.6 mph. For my intervals, I increased the grade for a minute. So I'd do 1 minute at a 5% incline and then 3 minutes at the normal incline. This works better for the way I train. I was thinking I'd do the lower end of the training, but ended up doing the full 5. I feel great, but I forgot the Body Glide and have some ouchie spots.

I'm going to get back on the plan tomorrow and get in 2-4 miles in the morning. My goal is to aim for the middle mileage on most days.

I *NEED* to run

Yesterday, I did the bike instead of running. I did it at 8pm, so a little too close to bedtime for my taste. Then, I couldn't sleep. I tried to go to bed at 10:30, but I think I finally went to sleep over 4 hours later. Yeah, there went getting up at 5:30 to run. 6:30 for taking Squirty to school was bad enough. I'm in a terrible mood and really need both a run and a nap. Once again, the possibility of the gym is out because of Milk Dud's yucky nose and cough. 

I gave up soda on January 1st as a resolution, but I *REALLY* want one right now. I settled for a Starbucks drink since I was out and about running errands this morning. I also want to eat my weight in pretzel chips. 

To quote Legally Blonde, "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy." I won't finish the phrase, but let's just say I could really use some endorphins right now. I good mind-clearing run down a nature trail would be fabulous right now, especially considering the weather is gorgeous. Sigh... I *NEED* to run.

How much does exercise improve your mood?

Day 1 Cherry Blossom Training part 2

Like I said in my previous post, I knew a run wasn't going to happen this morning between the rain and the snotty-nosed kid. I was scheduled for 2-4 miles according to the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler Intermediate Training Plan, so I put in 30 minutes on the exercise bike this evening at a moderate effort for me. That was 7.25 miles. I HATE the exercise bike, so this was a struggle for me. I hate the way my butt hurts when I get off of it. I always feel like I walk weird up and down the stairs. 

So, I don't like a training plan where I have to run 5 days a week. I prefer to run 4 days with a long run on Saturdays instead of Sundays. I might have to alter the plan a little bit. I want to do Zumba and kickboxing once in a while. 

Will altering my training plan screw me up too much?

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler Training Day 1

So... A little over a month ago, I found out I won the lottery... figuratively. I had applied for the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler lottery and my name was drawn as a runner for the race. I also signed up for the intermediate virtual training plan. It starts today. I'm supposed to run between 2 and 4 miles at an easy pace. This morning, we had lovely freezing rain on top of the snow we got Friday.

This is what it looks like outside. My wonderful husband has already shoveled our sidewalk, but they community association doesn't shovel unless we get at least 3 inches of snow.

I could go to the gym. Except Milk Dud has a snotty nose and looks like this:

I'm not one of those parents who dumps a sick kid in the gym childcare. I took my well kids there last year when there were sick kids and they brought home several colds and the norovirus twice. Vomiting small children isn't fun for anyone and with the new super bug that is going around this year, I don't want to take them unless I have no other choice. 

So, my choices are to run on the ice in the dark when my husband gets home from work, skip the training run, or to find some alternate training. We have a little-used exercise bike. I hate the exercise bike, but I am thinking that doing 30 minutes on there tonight while watching TV. It isn't the same training, but it is cardio and will be less pain on my joints. I know I need to work out or I will go crazy and look like this:

What do you do for alternate training when your plans don't happen the way you want?