Date: 12/18/22
Training Day: Week 6, Day 7
Miles: 7.2 (easy run, treadmill)
Activity: Strength Training
Mobility/Stretching: Yes
Ate Well: Yes, except for the pint of ice cream

Commentary: I got out of bed at 5:30am even though it’s the last thing my tired body and mind wanted to do. Since I have to get up at 4am-ish tomorrow to run, 5:30am was practically sleeping in. As usual on the weekends, I dawdled around the house in a zombie-like stupor, looking for my motivation just like I look for my lost marbles and metabolism (if you’ve seen either, can you kindly return them?).

Eventually my bum landed in my office chair and I woke up my laptop because misery loves company. I mindless perused work-related things until the coffee maker was done. Crap. I left my mushroom powder in the van. I bundled up like a mummy to make the short trek to the van because it was a mere -4°F out. I already miss waking up to Moab’s balmy 10°F. Mushroom-laced coffee in hand, I sat back down at my laptop.

As I attempted to type, my fingernails clicking on the keys drove me to scour the house for my fingernail clippers and nail file. Once my saviors were located I promptly starting clipping. Why is it so much harder to clip my nails on my right hand whilst using my left hand? I clip the nails on both hands, so shouldn’t my left hand be just as adept as the right? Toenails. That’s right. I always use my right hand to clip my toenails. I also hold the clippers differently in my left hand. I wonder if I can hold them the same as I do in my right hand. Huh. That feels weird.

Back at my laptop, my mind wandered to my pending run today. I had to run a 10k today to get the Garmin December 10k badge. Although the badges are a wee silly, they do motivate me get my butt moving. I still need another 40 miles to get the December 50 badge. Two weeks to get 40 miles should be doable. Oh yeah, I need to update my training plan. Oye. Why can’t I just stick to a training plan so I don’t have to redo it? This is why runners pay coaches for training plans so they don’t have to constantly revise them. Well, and for the expert training advice, I suppose.

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My husband is big into soccer, I mean football, as in football for the rest of the world and soccer to us silly Americans. Anyway, when the USA lost to the Netherlands in the World Cup, he was seriously bummed and in a funk. He said, “You just don’t understand sports.” This morning, we signed up for a free trail of FuboTV so he could watch the World Cup Finals. At the end, I made a comment about how Mbappé could try to look happy with his Golden Boot award, like just because France lost doesn’t mean he can’t be proud of his accomplishment. My husband said, “Yeah, no. That’s not how it works.”

Perhaps this is why I was never into sports, whether it be playing or watching. It’s too all or nothing. If you ain’t first, you’re last. Sure, you might not win, but why not celebrate doing the best you could? Why does it have to be about winning and not about the game, the camaraderie, and having fun? This is why I love running – it’s not a competition (for me). It’s about going out there, having fun, doing the best I can, and celebrating giving it all I had to give.

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As the outside temperature crept up to double digits, I stopped being a slug and hopped on the trusty treadmill. Ever since I discovered indicated treadmill speed typically isn’t accurate, I’ve wanted to “calibrate” my treadmill. Today was the day! I put a piece of tape on the belt, set the speed for my normal cruising speed these days, and had my husband time 100 belt revolutions. When I was done with my run, I put three more pieces of tape on the belt to measure the distance between the pieces to find the total length of the belt.

Once I had all the data I needed, it was time to crunch some numbers. 136 seconds for 100 revolutions is 1.36 seconds for 1 belt. 1 revolution/belt length is 112.625 inches, which is 9.3854 feet for 1 belt length. That goes into 5,280 feet (1 mile) 562.57 times. Make a little “train track” with all my numbers and some conversions to get mph…

Come to find out when my treadmill says I’m going 4.3 mph with an incline of 0%, I’m actually going 4.7 mph. From what I’ve read, the amount the treadmill is off by can vary by speed and incline. Ideally, I’d do the same “calibration” at different speeds (maybe even different inclines?), plot the data, and get an equation that best fits the data points. One day. Until then, I did a simple cross multiplication with my average speed for this run and my calculated speed and called it good enough. Treadmill said 6.6 miles, my calculations say 7.2 miles. I already feel better about all my previous treadmill runs.

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After my number crunching, I did my strength workout. Between sets I stretched my tight muscles. Why is it my left hip and IT band were bothering me before Dead Horse and now it’s back to my right side? Why does the inside of my foot hurt when I stretch my left calf? Oh, this weight feels easier. I must be getting stronger! Where is my little, spikey foot rolly ball? What do I need to bring with me over Christmas break to do my workouts?

The workout went fine, but afterwards I was famished. With no motivation to make food, as usual, I opened the fridge to scavenge already prepared food. I settled on butternut squash, apple and kale salad from the Moab grocery store and lunch meat. That’s fairly healthy. Go me! I rounded out my meal with a whole pint of salted caramel cashew vegan ice cream. The lunch meat and vegan ice cream complimented each other nicely.

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