Exercising More Than Once

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was changing my routine (again) and running M-W-F instead of just on the low (or no) miles bike days.

I've been experimenting with when I got for my run after we get back from our rides.  This is tricky, because I've never trained for two events at once before.  And I am by no means an expert, exact opposite actually.  But these are my experiences/experiments and I am sharing them with you, my imaginary, massive, audience.

First I tried just resting a bit before running, not eating or drinking anything.  That did not work.  I was sluggish and I just didn't feel very good while I was running.  My time sucked and my muscles, though rested a bit, were upset.

Then I tried just coming back from our ride, changing and just shooting right back out the door to run.  Huge flop.  Just BLECH!  I was a mess.  I was slow, joints hurt, muscles ached, I had stitches in my side the entire run.

It made me stop and walk portions when I wasn't supposed to.  It was so bad.  And I had to stop and stretch more because my muscles were seizing up.

Then, I hit upon the perfect plan.  I would come in from our ride, change, drink a glass of chocolate milk, eat some fruit and rest for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half.  Then I would head out and run.

MIRACLE OF MIRACLES!

I felt so great on my run today!  I got a small stitch in my side, but I was able to breathe through it.  My ankle never hurt, I didn't have to stop for anything.  Well, I did stop once because I mis-read the stop watch, but other than that, I was flying!

It was a beautiful day, I felt so good.  And when I got home, I still felt great!  I got a little drowsy after lunch, but I didn't nap.

I am so glad I found something that works!

What about you? How do you handle multiple workouts?

Why Structure is Important. Very Important. For Me.

For the last twenty years, I have been living my life on a semester based year.  That's a long time.

Now I that I have graduated, I no longer live my life based on semesters.  It's weird.  But I have been trying to get into a rhythm, a routine to keep me from wasting time while I look for a job.

I get up sometime between 8 and 9 am, if I sleep til 10, the rest of the day just disappears and I don't get anything done.  I eat breakfast and on Monday/Wednesday/Friday I wait an hour or so to digest and then I go to the gym to workout, shower, eat lunch and blog.  And after I eat lunch, I get really sleepy.  I have been trying to keep from succumbing every day, but today it's extra difficult.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are difficult, because yoga is at 7:30p.  I have no real structure on those days.
Those two days, and M/W/F afternoons are really where the time suck happens, because I don't have anything planned.  I try and keep busy with projects around the house. Like, making a new papasan chair cushion or a case for my kindle, unpacking things and getting ready for Courtney's Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party.  But eventually, you just plain run out of stuff to do.

I need to find a job.  I am running out of things to do around here, and it's beginning to drive me mad.

I am trying to not get to the point of boredom, but I feel it's not far off.

Structure, for me is so important.  And if I had kids I would be able to have time to help them learn new things, and do all kinds of stuff, but that ship will not come into the harbor for several years.  With structure, deadlines and projects, I feel productive.  And it doesn't hurt to get paid for those things.

In the mean time I will spend my time working out, blogging, watching movies and reading lots of books!

And job hunting.