Wednesday, May 1, 2013

On My Rest Day...

I only take one shower.

I only bring one bag with me to work/school.

Backpack not pictured.

Bailey gets two walks instead of one.


I couldn't decide which I liked better. Also, I hate mixing instagrammed and non-instragrammed photos.


I don't have to time my meals based on my run.

Similarly, I don't have to pack quite as much food to sustain myself.

I have time for silly things like painting my nails, making a box cake... and blogging!

More cake, please.


If the weather's bad, I get to laugh at all the silly runners out there in it.

I can wash my running clothes and have the satisfaction of knowing everything will be clean FOR AN ENTIRE DAY.

I get to justify dumb decisions as rewarding myself for a hard week's effort.

I can't use a run as an excuse for not wanting to do something ("Don't you know how FAR I ran today?").

I don't have to worry about my various running electronics (iPod, Garmin, brain) being charged.

And of course, on my rest day I don't get to run.

What do you do on your rest day?

11 comments:

  1. Aw. I bet you are totally enjoying these once a week rest days. I know I say it all the time, but I am so impressed with your training.

    So I have a question based off of my last question/your answer. Does your tempo pace (i.e. marathon pace) feel difficult for you? Is it difficult because your legs are tired or because it seems fast? Maybe this is a bad question for me to ask when you are in the middle of adding further intensity to your training, but does it feel like you can run a marathon at that pace? I am debating what to set my time/pace goal for my next marathon. The MP seems slow to me and I like to do tempos fast. Like I will do speed intervals one day and a tempo another day. Obviously the tempo is not as fast as the intervals but it is closer to the Half pace than Full.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Someone asking ME for advice? My god, this is a first.

      Does my tempo pace feel hard? Not really, no. Not only is there no "Oh my god, how the hell am I supposed to keep this pace up?" panic, but I actually have a hard time keeping my pace as slow as it's supposed to be. It helps that my tempos come the day after my rest day, which means I'm running on fresh legs and usually have a pep in my step.

      Could I run an entire marathon at that pace? I have no clue. My gut reaction is "yes, absolutely," at least once I've finished training, but I've also got a pretty weak mental game so can see myself falling apart at, like, mile 20 even if my body's fine. To answer the question I think you're really asking ("Do you think the Hansons are preparing you adequately to run your desired time?"), the answer is YES. I really, really do.

      It may be worth mentioning, though, that pre-marathon training 9:44 (my goal pace) was a pretty normal "easy" run pace for me. You're a more experienced (and faster!) runner, so I imagine your goal pace would be faster than your regular easy run pace. I'm not sure where I'm going with that but I feel like it's important somehow.

      To summarize this rambling mess of a response, my tempos feel pretty easy and I don't find myself breathing very hard at any point. However, I do think it's a good pace to be running them at. I think if I were to do them significantly faster, I'd be too burned out to do my other runs for the week. Does any of that help?

      I wouldn't read too much into my terrible strength workout yesterday. Yes, it was only slightly faster than marathon pace and I only had to sustain it for six miles, but I only felt terrible because my legs were so incredibly tired before it even started (plus, the entire workout totaled 9 miles!). It's supposed simulate the "final miles" when you want to die, so I think you're supposed to feel terrible.

      Delete
    2. Rule #1: Stop saying your mental game is weak. You follow your workout plan pretty much to the letter, even when you feel crappy, or proceed immediately to stomach-sickness (even if only once). You've kept this up while working, maintaining an apartment, and going to school. You have a mental game, and you've honed it this training cycle.

      We can talk mental training tips another day, but you're gonna kill this marathon.

      Delete
    3. Don't you just love Holly. She always knows just what to say, ha. You can DO IT!!!!

      Amy - when I was working on Hansons, my tempo runs were totally hit or miss - some days they felt like I could run so much faster for so much longer, and other days it felt like a death march. They recommend basing your goals off of a recent 5k/10k, but I just picked a goal time that I wanted to finish at and trained accordingly, ha - MAKE my body run that fast! I didn't end up running the marathon (obviously, you know that), but I did knock out the half marathon at a faster pace than my intended marathon pace, so I guess that means it was working, right?

      Delete
    4. Ahahaha, Holly, you make me laugh. You're right, I need to give myself more credit. HOWEVER, my weak mental game is real. I'll talk about it more some other time, but it's not that I get down on myself while racing, it's more that I'm just not that competitive (unless I'm running with other friends-then it's on! In fact, people I know catching up to me is the only reason I ever stop walking). I love training for things, but come race day I'm just not that motivated to go all out, and I'm not usually that upset over failing to reach my goals. I'll do my best to prove you right, though!

      Delete
  2. Only taking one shower is sooo nice! That's one of the reasons why I try to get my runs in first thing in the morning--so I don't shower twice and waste a bunch of water. Therefore, my rest day activities include sleeping in and spending a little more time reading and commenting on blogs, which feels soooo nice. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ugh, I wish I were motivated enough to run in the morning. When I lived in New York, I often ran to work and showered there, but then I moved to the side of a mountain and can't bring myself to attempt the 10-mile, all-downhill run that would require. Not to mention getting back home! I'm really, really not a fan of showering twice in a day for time/environmental/sanity reasons, though; once my hair gets long enough I'll likely stop showering in the morning and just throw it up in a ponytail.

      Delete
  3. I want to spoon with your dog. That's not creepy, right? Also, rest days are lovely. How many a week do you get with your plan? I'm always excited for rest days because I like to keep on my nice clothes that I wear to work and then my husband remembers what I used to look like. Usually he comes home and I'm in something that doesn't match, am sweaty and stinky with runny make-up. Sexy? Oh yes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These guys are really stingy with rest days-only one a week! It's insane, yet somehow works.

      I'd say it would be creepier if you DIDN'T want to spoon with my dog. She's very spoonable, at least for the twenty minutes of the day she chills out enough to lie still.

      Aha, my work clothes (or even "human clothes") come off the second I get home. There, it's all shorts and ten-year-old sweatshirts.

      Delete
  4. You could just not shower, like me? No...gross?

    I love Bailey. I think she and Indy would be best buddies.

    Rest days are days to catch up on blogs/blogging and catching up on all the TV shows I've been missing because I have been runnnnniiinnnngg. And I eat...a lot...sometimes more than I do on days that I run. ha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't she adorable?!?! I can't say she's the smartest/obedient dog (or even remotely intelligent or trained, really), but she sure is cute.

      I used to not shower in the morning, but then I got all vain and cut my hair. It's too short for a ponytail, which means I feel obligated to do something with it when I wake up. It's a huge bummer because showering may be the most boring activity ever, unless it's a hot shower after a freezing cold run.

      Delete