Marathon Pre-Training, Week 14

This week's stats:

• 0 treadmill miles
• 7.32 outdoor miles
• 1 hours on a recumbent bike
• 0 weightlifting sessions
• 2 pounds lost

Total pre-training stats:

• 14 weeks
• 99.86 treadmill miles
• 51.51 outdoor miles
• 23 pounds lost (@ 192)

I only have one more week to go until marathon training actually begins.  I had all kinds of good intentions about working out consistently even though I had to go on this business trip.  My hotel did have a workout room with a treadmill, a recumbent bike, and a weight machine, and they had a deal where you could get free passes to a nearby fitness center. 

But I only got one workout in while at the hotel. 

I didn't workout Sunday because I had to work my normal morning shift and then drive to Arkansas, and by the time I got to the right hotel (there was a bit of a mixup with the directions I was given) and got checked in, I had to go to bed in order to be able to get any kind of decent sleep before getting up at 5am.

Monday I worked ten hours on about six hours of sleep, then went in search of a grocery store and made up lunches to take to work the rest of the week, and then unintentionally fell asleep for several hours.  So, no workout that night.

Tuesday I intended to go back to the hotel and work out, but ended up working twelve and a half hours at the store.  About half that day was spent reorganizing and cleaning the cooler, which involved hefting heavy boxes and cases of beverages around, and I was literally exhausted when I finally got back to the hotel.  I decided to count all that box moving as my workout and just go straight to bed after dinner.

Wednesday, though, I worked out.  But the treadmill sucked.  It took me a couple of minutes just to figure out how to get the display to tell me what I needed to know, and the controls were buttons that said things like "faster" and "slower."  Not exactly useful.  So after warming up on the treadmill and deciding I hated it, I tried the weight machine.  It was wobbly from overuse and after trying a few exercises I started to feel that it wasn't the safest piece of equipment to be using.  So I ended up doing an hour of very challenging intervals on the bike while watching NCIS.  If nothing else, my quads and calves got a really good workout.  And I felt good about actually getting my ass out of the room and putting in the effort.

Thursday night, then, was spent packing and doing laundry and preparing to check out the next morning, and then going to bed early so I would be rested for a day at work and a long drive home.  I knew I wouldn't get a workout in on Friday, either, but by that point I'd decided that as physically exhausted as I'd been all week from traveling and working long hours that maybe a week of rest was perhaps what I needed most. 

You can imagine, then, how surprised I was to get home and step on the scale and find that I'd lost 2 pounds.  But in reality I did put in a lot of physical work at the store during the week and the one thing I did really well on this trip was manage my eating.  My hotel room had a very basic kitchenette -- microwave, sink, fridge.  So although the company's allowance for reimbursement for food on this trip would have allowed me to go out for dinner each night, I opted instead to buy enough groceries for meals at the hotel and lunches to take to work so I could more closely control my caloric intake.  That also allowed me to be able to come back to my room and really relax instead of spending an hour each night finding somewhere to eat dinner in a city I'm unfamiliar with.

In the end, I do feel kind of bad that there was no Running Tuesday, no Walking Thursday, and no strength training this week, but rest is a good thing.  I think I benefited from it.

This morning, then, I got up for my long walk.  Kourt didn't want to get up, and Brenda was unavailable this weekend, so I was on my own.  I almost skipped.  It was cold out.  I went back to bed for a couple of minutes, but realized I wasn't tired enough to sleep more and, although my bed is comfy, I really felt compelled to get up and go anyway.  So I did.  My running intervals at the beginning of each mile were longer than last time, and I think the rest this week had a lot to do with that.  So I got in over seven miles today, which makes me feel a lot more like I'm back into my routine.

So, starting a week from tomorrow I'll be officially "in training."  Race day will be here before I know it.