Wellness Wednesday...week...something or other

I'll figure out what week I'm on next week.  For now, wow, it's been awhile since I did a wellness wednesday update, last update was closing out August, and now it's almost October!  So here is where I'm at...I got some good mileage in for August, my long run will be 10 miles this weekend, and  I took a week off in the middle (actually last week).  Last week was supposed to be a cutback week after a long run of 9 miles (which I totally rocked).  I ended up not running at all between the 9 miles on Sunday to this past Sunday where I clocked in 4 miles.  Which leads me to today's topic...exercise guilt.  That feeling you get when you "know" you "should" be running (or working out) and you just...don't.  Missing a run here or there, no big deal...missing a week's worth...the guilt can be overwhelming.  However, sometimes you just need to not run.

Last week I was dealing with a lot of stress due to work.  My back had knotted up so badly due to the stress and tension I was carrying around that I was in a bit of pain.  So instead of worrying about NOT running, I took some time to do a little bit of stretching and lots of massage/rolling of my back. By the time Sunday came around, I was able to run and feel good.  Running in the middle of the week would have probably led to a terrible run, which would have generated a lot of negative feelings, and (knowing me) crushed my confidence in a long run.  There are days that a bad run is NOT better than no run.

So I recovered this week, my mileage for the month is at 32, the weather is great, my stress levels are low, and I don't feel bad about missing those runs.  I am looking forward to my long run this weekend, and I know physically and mentally I'm prepared for it.  This is the most excited I've ever been for a 10 mile run...now I just hope I can live up to my own hype!

That's where I'm at right now.  I am looking to get a new pair of shoes to start rotating in with my old pair so that I can prolong the life of the old ones.  I have almost 6 weeks left before my half marathon, so I'm feeling really good!

In other race news, I've decided on a spring half, (so very excited) and I'm actually considering adding another spring race.  This would mean running two half marathons within 3 weeks next spring...but that's a decision to be made at a later date.  After my race in November, I'll decide if I'm ready to tackle two races so close together.

catching up...

wow, feel like I had abandoned this blog...turns out I had, but only for about 2 weeks!  I hope to be back with a giant catch up wellness wednesday post next week, but for now, I'll just catch up on some sewing.

Still working on my Red Letter Day quilt, finished up block's 5 and 6 this morning:

Block 5:

Block 6:

I'm actually kind of sick of these blocks...I love the finished product, and I really want to get this quilt top complete...but I want to work on something not Red Letter Day!  I need to finish something...anything at this point.  So I'll try not to feel too overwhelmed and just dig in on something this weekend.

Revisiting goals...

August started out so well sewing-wise...and then promptly dropped off into never land around the middle of the month.  Oh well.  I have only one question at this point, is it really September???  This year is flying by, so I thought I should revisit my 2014 goals, see where I'm at, how far I have to go, or if any of my goals need tweaking.  So here they are with current status in red:

1. Finish at least 14 quilts in 2014 finished 5
2. Make quilt for M and B (who got married 12/26/13!) not sure what I want to do with this one
3. Use my stash! Maybe it's time I started logging on the weekly stash reports that are out there. have done halfway decent with this one, I've added, but far less than usual 
4. Continue to work on FMQ...don't just stipple everything...not that there is anything wrong with stippling, but it's time to branch out a bit more! yeah, pretty much still stippling
5. Make a bag for A (who hinted pretty heavily at wanting one) this one is coming off the list as A hasn't bothered to respond to my requests for colors

Not too shabby.  I have several quilts that are at the flimsy stage, they just need backing, quilting and binding.  I have another that just needs borders added and then the same backing, quilting and binding.  So I think I still have a chance at Goal #1.  #2 is where I can't decide if I want to give them a quilt that is already in progress, or make them one from the start.  Most of my quilts in progress right now have no designation...they'll probably end up staying here at my house.  So I need to take a little bit of time and come to a decision on this one.  #3 I've been pretty good with.  Yes, I have added to my stash, but I've been a bit more choosy about what I've been adding.  So I'll call #3 on track.  #4 and #5 are just there, I don't see a whole lot of progress being made on those in the near future.  I will think about those and decide in the next few days if I want to revise those goals, or try for a push on them in the next few months.

Well that's it.  Football starts again this week, so I plan on spending plenty of time in the sewing room while I watch my beloved Red Zone! 

Wellness Wednesday...Ep. 30

and this Wellness Wednesday finds me...well, not so well.  I've have a headache that has lasted close to two weeks now.  I've tried sinus meds, allergy meds, pain reliever, nothing...I think it's just the incredibly dry weather we've been having (I hope!), but it has depleted my energy a bit.  I did pretty good last week, but this week I'm feeling just plain drained.  Thankfully this is a regularly scheduled "cut back" week, so I don't feel so bad that I've missed a run, and I have zero plans to make it up (at least right now).  For the month I'm at 41 miles, so progress is good there.  My long run on Sunday was 7 miles, and felt pretty good.  Again, I just wish I was a little faster right now.  This will come with time, I just have to trust that.  On a different note, I did try a little "speed work" on the treadmill last week, and I hope to incorporate a hill run weekly as well (also probably on the treadmill).  I think changing up my week day runs to incorporate both speed and hills will help alleviate some of the boredom I occasionally feel on the treadmill.  I am also hoping to acquire a treadmill for myself one of these days.  I don't mind using the one at work (am very thankful i have this option), but some days I really would rather just get home and at least be here when Girl is working on homework and stuff.  Big picture...I've still got two months, I'm feeling pretty good with my running, still need to work on cleaning up my diet a bit more, but overall satisfied with where I'm at in training!

wellness wednesday...ep. 29

Happy Hump Day!  Woohoo!  I'm so happy for this week to be mostly over!  We started High School yesterday...and I'm already more worn out from that than my regular job!

anyways...this week's edition focuses on speed...as in the lack of speed I've been displaying on my runs.  I'm struggling mightily with my pace (i.e. I feel like I'm not going fast enough) so my runs lately have been more of a mental battle than a physical battle.  What I'm trying to determine is if my pace has really dropped off that much, and if so, why has it dropped off...or if it's just I'm expecting too much this early in the training cycle.  If my pace has really dropped off that much, then I need to look at if I'm over training or if I'm doing too much and over training.  Personally I feel that I'm doing the right amount, so that makes me think that this is mental.  It's the game of "why aren't you faster by now" and "you were so much faster last training round" vs.  this is where I'm supposed to be right now/I'm only 3 weeks in to training there is no way I can be that fast.

I figure I'll give it a few more weeks and re-evaluate (unless, heaven forbid, I injure myself or exhibit further physical decline).  My half is still a long way off, so there is time to work it all out.

My goal for this next week is to re-introduce cross-training days, I've slacked on them quite a bit and I know I need them to truly be successful.

Mileage for the month is just a hair over 30, so I'm pretty happy with that as well.

That's all I've got for today...catch back up with you next week!

surprising myself

with the amount of sewing I've gotten done the past week.  Of course most of this was between last weekend and this morning...but I'm really happy with how much I've actually gotten done!

I completed two more blocks for my Red Letter Day quilt:

and then I started a pillow for my girl using Tula Pink's Coastal Cruiser pattern:

and then I tried some hand quilting (which I really enjoyed!):

working on an iPad case also for my girl:

I used this tutorial from Freckled Whimsy.  She has a case on her iPad mini already, but she'll be taking her iPad to school this year and asked for an additional case that could go in her backpack and give her a little extra padding.

So now...last weekend of summer...I think we're going to try and have an adventure!

Wellness Wednesday...Ep. 26-28

Brought to you on a Thursday!  It's been a wild and crazy few weeks!  This is going to be a short catchup post...and hopefully will get back on track with the weekly update next week!

I took the last week of July off from just about everything.  I was working nights and was way too tired to consider working out.  It works out great that I did that, as the next week started up official half marathon training for my November half. 

I am very glad that I had been doing many short runs just working on my running basics because it made the transition to an actual training cycle pretty easy.  I also feel I do better when I'm in a training cycle.  I'm much more motivated to get out there because I know I'm working towards a goal of finishing a race (and hopefully in better time than before). 

So far for the month of August I'm up to 17.7 total miles, with my long run so far having been 4.5 miles.  I'm aiming for 5.5 - 6 this weekend and then I'll take a step back next weekend to "recover" before going for 7-8 miles.  I'm hoping to actually build up to around 14-15 miles for my final long run before the race.  We'll see!  My ultimate goal is to make it through this training cycle without injury, so that I can finish the race and then return to training pretty quickly not long after the race.  I'm very very tempted to add another race this year, in December...but I gotta see how that all is going to work out.  I'm also looking ahead to next years races...and I want to do more than I did this year.  And on top of all of that...I'm seriously considering trying to do a full marathon before I turn 40...which means I have a little bit of time to work towards that...but not much!

So that's pretty much where I'm at right now!