Revisiting & The end of Summer

Llandover Woods

There are a couple posts I'd like to revisit.

Recovery:  I think I forgot to mention the most important part of recovery for me.  Sleep!  Mess with my sleep and I notice.  That happened this previous week.  It was a super busy and stressful week at work and I just couldn't sleep that well thinking about getting everything done.  And I'd be up early most days to run and also because the cat-assisted alarm clock (two of them!) were quite active.

I'm pretty lucky in that I don't think I need as much sleep as the average person.  I do fine with 6 hours but do like to sleep a little longer on the weekends (7 hours).  I have always been a freakishly light sleeper and I wake multiple times during the night and consider this normal.  I can usually tell when training is taking a heavy toll because I sleep a lot sounder and longer and love it!

By the end of the day on Friday, I felt physically ill I was so tired.  It does not particularly affect me at work.  I don't really feel sleepy and I'm lucky in that my job is such that if I do feel sleepy sitting at my desk, I can always get up and go take care of other responsibilities.  That really helps.  I take short snoozes on the bus commute home if needed.  One full night of solid sleep is enough to make the difference.  With that, I can easily get right back on training and other life business.  If i have multiple days of not sleeping well, it becomes more important to me to rearrange my running schedule so I run in the afternoon (run commute is perfect for this) and can sleep in in the morning before work.

Weight:  Oh yes, the other part of training is eating enough but not too much.  How am I doing in changing my diet and possibly seeing my weight (or more likely body fat) drop?  Great! And it happened without much fuss actually. I noticed that right before Ragnar Relay that I was at a low for body weight (by about 2-3 pounds only) and more noticeably a lower body fat percentage. 

Remember I'm using a particular scale which may give consistent body fat percentage results over time but may not be accurate (ie my real laboratory measured body fat %) and that is just fine.  it's more the trend of reducing that I was looking for and I achieved.  The 2% drop I managed is noticeable to me.  I feel much more muscled and stronger.

I was still looking to improve the diet though.  Work is a typical office.  It seems that there are snacky items everywhere, all the time.  I know because I do a lot of the ordering for the office.  I'm always looking for "healthy" alternatives.  I'm sorry.  I do not think whole grain baked chips are really a good healthy snack and neither are those "healthy" granola bar.  It's still processed food beyond all recognition.  I know. it's easy!  I've lost my taste for them truthfully.  I'm lucky in that work does do fresh fruit at work a couple times a week.  I would often have a piece of fruit and some nuts.  Too many nuts.  They are so tasty and it's hard to stop at just a serving.  and breakfast was becoming a challenge.  I love eggs so i'd have those probably 5 times a week.  No problem.  But what to have on those other days.  Oatmeal?  Love it but honestly I am sick of it and it doesn't last.  A couple hours later, I am starving.

Smoothies!  That's what I've been trying.  It's a great way to use up a fair bit of the fruit which doesn't get eaten at work (i cut up the too ripe fruit and stick it in the freezer so it doesn't go to waste) and a good way to get some random veggies in as well.  I've been experimenting with a plain yogurt base but also really enjoy almond milk. Add in a fresh banana (or frozen banana if they were getting too ripe) and whatever fresh or frozen fruit (Trader Joe's has some great fruit for this) plus almond butter for healthy fats.  I like some spinach or arugula (boatloads in the garden right now) or celery and it's an easy, tasty meal which I really look forward to for breakfast.

I just have a stick blender which does the trick well enough.  I also make some batches of this and freeze and take to work for a snack.  Fun and endless possibilities and particularly nice after longer runs on the weekends.  After a big post-run breakfast of pancakes, eggs, coffee and fruit, I always need to eat again soon but nothing appeals.  Smoothies appeal.

After setting a master's 10k PR, I was able to run 45 miles the week after and that is amazing to me.  Recovery seems to be working pretty well!  With the Labor Day Holiday, Summer seems like it is ending.  The temps are cooler in the morning and it is so much darker in the morning and evening.

"South Loop" is the only loop in Llandover Woods

There are lots of things to look forward to in the fall though so that is just fine. Summer has been great.  It's been fantastic watching everyone achieve their summer racing goals and beyond! 

I had a reminder of that this weekend while on a group run.  I was marking a course that I probably learned as one of my first in-city runs many years ago.  When I was looking at a map just to make sure where I was going as there are different possibilities for both starting and ending to add on miles, I noticed a little park up on one section that I'd never seen before.

After some googling, I found the Llandover Woods Greenspace. It's a small forested area with a small loop trail which goes straight down and straight up.  Deeply forested and deeply peaceful, it was a lovely addition to a city run.  The trail is a solid gravel path and in good condition.  There is a pretty impressive set of stairs which would probably be slippery when wet. I'd run this loop counter clockwise because of that.  I look forward to seeing this woodsy oasis throughout the year.