My First Day of Summer Break!

It's Good To Be Free!

It is such a WONDERFUL feeling to have the next several weeks off for summer break. And honestly, I don't think it has completely hit me yet. It hits me at weird times. Like today, my husband asked me when we could go to Aldi's again (they were out of our ice cream today) and I thought for a moment and said- "Whenever! It's summer break!"

It's great to not worry about getting to bed at a certain time, not having to get up at 5:15am to hit the gym, not having to pack a huge bag of food to take to work... I'll have time to get my yard in order, clean my house, and actually go out and do things with my friends.

Alright, I guess Summer isn't official for me until 3:40pm this Monday. I have to go to work for an in-service day, which will just consist of me working in my room for 7 hours. It will be an easy-peasy no stress day.

So that means Tuesday starts my "no fake sugary drinks" cleanse. It is very sad. I walked by a soda machine today and decided I was going to have to make sure I had one last Coke Zero before Tuesday. From a can. Soda tastes better from a can!

Hills! Hills! Hills! - My new "Less is More" strategy.

So I have cut back on my running. At my peak a few years ago, I was running close to 60 miles a week- whether I was training for an event or not. I was so stupid. At one point I was doing 2 hours of cardio a day. More stupidity on my part! (And more about that "wonderful" time of my life later!) I am currently down to my lowest mileage since college- about 30 miles per week.

That may seem like it's still a lot, but it is cutting back by 50%. I'm not cutting back because I no longer love running. I still really love it! It just seems like the more I lift and the less I run, the faster I get. And it is fun to be fast and set PRs!

My new strategy is "Less is More"... as long as it's FAST! Basically, I want quality, not quantity when it comes to my miles. For instance, today was my "long" run which only consisted of 9 miles. However, those miles were FULL of hills, and I managed to average a 7:49 pace. For me and my goals, that is a much better workout than spending 2-3 hours running at a much slower pace. 

WORKOUT INTENSITY  > WORKOUT DURATION

I still love running long, and I am sure I will throw in some truly LONG runs this summer, but right now I don't feel like it needs to be part of my plan.

Speaking of my plan, this is what I've been up to these days!

Mondays- Lift

Tuesdays- Cardio Circuits in my backyard (come join me!!)

Wednesdays-Lift, (sometimes finish with sprints)

Thursdays-Speed training or tempo run

Fridays- Lift

Saturdays- 9-10 miles

Sundays- 9-10 miles

** I don't plan my rest days, I take them as they come... when my body is telling me I need a break, or when I'm tapering for an event, I rest, rest, rest!**

The only days my workouts take longer than an hour are Saturday and Sunday when I go "long". (You are probably wondering why I keep putting "long" in quotations... Well, that's because 9 miles isn't all that long. I used to consider long to be anything 13+!! Dang I am/was a running snob!)

My point is you don't have to spend hours in the gym to get results. QUALITY, not QUANTITY!