I totally missed posting something yesterday (and maybe the day before)...oops!! This week has been busy. I'm going to my parents house for the week of Christmas, so I can only run when I'm up there (they live in Syracuse, NY...brrrrr), so I'm trying to cram as much training into these two weeks as I can. Yesterday I was starting to feel a little run down, but I seem to be bouncing back a little today. My nutrition has been spot on, which I know helps.
Another reason I think I'm feeling better today is because last night I went to a meditation class. It was focusing on meditations for gratitude (given the time of year). It was really interesting, and I'm glad I went; I think I got a lot out of it.
I know I tend to get so busy, with so many things going on (work, training, friends, family, housework, shopping, etc.)...it's easy for me to get overwhelmed and lose focus about what I'm really trying to do. Meditation helps me stop the craziness that's going on inside my head (not really craziness, but all the activity!) and focus on the present. One thing my teacher said that stuck with me is "there is no stress in the present, only in the past and future". Her point was that if I take a moment to re-center myself and focus on the present, I'll be better able to deal with the stresses of the past and future (because they will still be there once I come back to it).
It's been a long road for me to get to the point where I feel like I can start really buying into this and using it to help me mentally manage everything that goes on. I'm going to take a class in January that goes into it in more detail, so I'm looking forward to that (it's four sessions, one a week). I really think that meditation will help me with everything: managing what I eat (stress eating!), mananging stress, focusing on workouts, etc.
My food log is so boring. I'm still eating the same stuff, except that I had to get a salad yesterday from Whole Foods because I didn't have time to make lunch. I'm at the tail end of my food stash, so I need to make more stuff this weekend, but just enough to last me the week. I'll probably just grill some chicken and maybe something else.
Yesterday's log is below. I was craving carbs all day yesterday, I think because of my bike workout the night before. It was HARD...10x1' as hard as I can go. I was wiped out after it. That plus the 50' run in the morning had me on a carb bender.
Bulletproof coffee
Hour swim
Recovery smoothie: Almond milk, kale, apple, matcha powder, maca powder, gelatin
Breakfast: Egg muffins with spinach, pepper and mushrooms, chicken sausage
Snackie: Coconut almond butter ball, granola.
Lunch: Blech...I put too much guacamole on my salad and couldn't finish it. Other than that, I had about a cup of rice and a thing of berries.
Snackie: Macro bar, granola
Dinner: Turkey buger, 1/3 avocado, little homemade mayo, rice