cutting back on mileage - but not on food!

It is probably pretty sad that I ran ten miles this week and I feel like it was "only ten miles" and I really wish I would have run more.

It's okay to say it : "Get a grip, G!"

The marathon training mentality has perhaps taken over.  But I am never blind to my own crazy.

Anyway, my plan was to cut back my mileage to give my body a little break before amping back up to sixteen miles, seventeen, etc.  Turns out I really needed it.  While I had some awesome workouts this week and ate pretty well, Wednesday night I got hellaciously ill. A 24-hour stomach virus, which kept me up all night vomiting, and then I was in bed all day Thursday resting while my saintly Hubby cared for the kiddos.

So the ten mile plan turned out to be much needed.  I had wanted to work on my speed during this shorter run, but I ended up still running fairly slow in the cold and still feeling like I was in slow motion the entire time.

I am looking forward to running in the warmer months!  Call me weird, but I would much rather run in the heat than the cold.

Prior to my run, my week looked like this...

Sunday: Recovery day - no workouts.
Monday: this 10 minute core workout during naps; PM gym - light cardio
Tuesday: this 40 minute bikini body workout (looooove this one!) during naps; PM gym - light cardio
Wednesday: this 16 minuteVS Ab workout at naps. PM gym - 5K at full-speed on the treadmill (which ended up being no where near my PR. Darn treadmill!)
Thursday: Sick!  So, no workouts.
Friday: AM yoga class
Saturday: 10 mile run

As far as nutrition goes, I've been really trying to wrap my head around the fact that it is 70% diet and only 30% exercise that gets your body healthy/lean.  I've always been more of a "I work out a ton, therefore I can eat whatever I want" kinda gal.  But now I am adapting a new way of thinking: um, reality.

//source//

Not that I am going to work out less...but I wanna always be striving to eat cleaner/better.  If you click on the source link of the above image, you'll go to a health blog post with some good advice on it.  I particularly like #8 : Eat enough calories!  I'll be honest, a huge mistake I make some days is to think I'm being healthy by skimping on the required amount of daily calories...which is particularly detrimental when you work out a lot.   I will think that I can "drink my meals" (meaning green smoothies, not wine) and by the kids' naptime I end up crashing, not having any energy to get any intense cardio in, and then eating crap.  Don't do this!  I think green smoothies are awesome for people like me who don't naturally love snacking on vegetables...but I still need actual solid food.  The best days I have (where I feel the best mentally and physically) are when I eat frequently (every few hours) and eat substantially (clean, whole foods...and some grains!  Gym rats and runners need grains!)

Here's to a good week of training -- and eating enough!