Week three is in the books! Increased to 3.5 miles on the shorter run days, and 5 miles today for the longer run! Did strength training with PiYo on Monday, took my rest day Wednesday and walked Friday instead, and did a shorter walk yesterday. I ended up adjusting my diet a little bit, too, and ate one more protein and carb serving each day that I ran to see if it made a difference. I wasn’t getting too hungry or weak or anything, but I wasn’t really happy with only losing a little over a pound the first week when I know the program (21 Day Fix) is capable of so much more (and I wasn’t cheating!). Well, I made the right decision because I’m down 3.6 pounds this week alone! And I ate more! Crazy, right?! ^_^ I’ll do the same next week and then I’ll go back to a less restrictive diet, but balanced and portion-controlled, once this round of the Fix is over. Once I get into the higher distances, I will need a lot more food to fuel my body…so we’ll pick it back up in November ^_^
This week my shorter runs I completed in 31:40 and 31:48 respectively. The higher time was my second run of the week but it was over 10 degrees warmer than it had been previously during my runs. I’ve been spoiled by these nicer temps! Next week is calling for high 60’s/low 70’s, so I’m really looking forward to it being cooler. It really makes the run more manageable and helps me control my breathing. My 5 mile run today went great, though it had more hills than I really would have liked haha. Actually, it was pretty gradual elevation in most spots, which I find to be even more difficult that steep hills that you just get over and done with!! I finished in 46:59 and during my cool-down walk I felt like I could have run further, so that made me feel pretty good!
I’m going to continue following the program as it’s written, which means repeating these same distances next week. As much as I think I can handle it, I don’t want to push myself and get an injury or over-exert and lose my momentum. I have a good thing going, especially keeping my pace steady, and I don’t want to lose that. When we walked last Saturday, there was a couple running and the guy stopped to wait for his girlfriend to catch up. He said he was training for the Richmond Marathon and his girlfriend was training for the half! I should’ve gotten a number or something, because it would be really nice to have some training buddies. I hope I cross paths with them again sometime soon!
See y’all next week with another update! Enjoy this lovely fall weather!!