Week in Review

So week 1 of living re-committed is in the books, and let me tell you, it went well! How'd I do on my food goals? Well...

• There were actually zero caramel machiattos this week! I had regular coffee twice. Couldn't believe it.
• I stayed within my calorie limits 5 out of 7 days. One day it was just under 100 over, and last night was a bit more. It was B's brother's engagement celebration, so I allowed myself a couple glasses of white wine and a ice cream cupcake from Maggie Moo's (super yum!).
• I did great on dinner out on Thursday. We went to Houlihan's, and I got a side salad and one of their small plates, so I got a taste of the good stuff with better portion size.
• Until last night when I had ice cream, I had none of the "bad" stuff on my list that I was planning to cut out. In this week's weigh in, I was at 160.2, which was okay...I'd gained a couple of pounds in the week or so leading up to my decision to get it together.

I also did a good job on the exercise front. I kept the workout schedule I posted last week. The only slight changes was on Wednesday. I did a different strength circuit dvd and focused on just upper body and core. Why? Tuesday on my 5 mile run, I felt a twinge in my left calf again. After I got home and stretched out, it felt even tighter. So, I laid off the leg Wednesday. Thursday, I went out on a slow 5 mile run. I went out with the understanding that I would go for only as long as my leg felt okay. It got tight a couple of times, and when it did, I walked for a minute or two until it felt loose again.

That brings us to this morning. My left felt pretty good when I woke up, so I decided to go ahead and try a long run. Again, if things got bad, I was supposed to walk home. I started out slow, and when I'd have to stop at a traffic light, I'd stretch the calf while I waited. Everything felt pretty good. I did the same route as my 11-mile run. Luckily, one high-traffic water fountain had been turned on, so on my way home, I was able to fill my water bottles again. Hills were the hardest. I did a little googling about calf strain (and obsessed about whether it was actually an Achilles strain), and apparently hills aggravated the problem. So, I took it verrrrry slow up hills. It was amazing how much better the run was with ample water. To get the last mile in, I added a loop around our neighborhood and finished with 12 miles in 2 hours and 12 minutes!

I stretched out very well, but my calf is screaming still, and I'm sore in knees and hips. I tested out my new foam roller, and it did provide a very intense massage. I'm still not certain I was doing it right, but the instructions that came with it didn't really say how to do a calf stretch. Any tips or tricks?

That wasn't the worst part though...I'd been home for about 20 minutes when my stomach turned on me (if you know what I mean). B. kindly brought home a Quiznos veggie sub for lunch since I was curled in the fetal position moaning and wailing about my stomach cramps but desperately needed to eat. I finished off the afternoon with a nap, but my stomach is still not right. Has anyone else experienced this after a long run when a bug didn't seem to be the culprit? Any fixes?

Next week's workout schedule will look similar to this week's except that I'm switching out one or more short run with some other cardio (probably kickboxing or cycling) to give my leg a rest. It's going to be hard to resist going out if it's beautiful day, but I don't want to injure myself and end up jeopardizing my ability to participate in the half-marathon. And, hopefully, another week of commitment will put me in the 150s!