We had a super nice weekend, the perfect combo of outdoor exercising, indoor cat playing, lots of cooking and baking, catch up with a friend, and some reading and watching.
Friday, last day of school break for the girls, started with period 1 of swim meet up. The problem was that it started at 5pm!!! I wasn’t sure I’d survive but the adrenaline of the vibe kept me going and we finished 8pm. Unfortunately with all the noise and screaming of people around me, I had a headache. I went to bed 9:30pm hoping to recover.
Saturday, despite less than usual sleep, I slept deeply and went out for my favorite run of the week, long run. I did 12.5 miles and felt great! The before/during/after fueling strategy seems to be working well, I know, why it took me so long to learn it. The habit and stomach had to get used to eat at 5:30am but the benefit is immense. I felt good the whole run and recovered much faster than before. My new rule is to eat 20 min before every run, something small but carb centered. For runs longer than an hour, I bring gel and have one every 45-50 min regardless of my energy level. It’s better to prevent energy to fall with fueling early.
I made a new dish for the family for lunch and then we head to the second period of the swim event. Both girls did well and got medals and improved time.
Sunday started with 6 easy miles with a new pair of shoes, Endorphin speedy, which is steady and firm, I like it. After breakfast, I called my mom for 20 min before a friend called me and we talked for 1.5 hrs! He’s fasting for ramadan and I felt bad to use up the little saliva he has but he was glad that he got to be distracted for a while.
Then I went to prepare lunch for the family, sushi buffet for a change, while Bubble was being the cutest! Look at her! Sofia had to make some tricks to catch her in action.
I took a nap while girls did some painting with Bubble as company (it was Bubble’s day to be out, Cookie was locked up in Sofia’s room). Did I mention that we had another incident this week with Bubble having to shave her tail to heal a wound?! sigh…
I had my weekly massage and then made snacks for the family: seedy crackers, coconut cake, apple cakes, and two loafs of whole wheat sourdough.
I am the sunshine of the family… that’s Lizzy’s way of telling me that 🙂
I also watched 3 episodes of the love story.
I am happy to report that my analog experiment plus finishing meal 3 hours before sleep is working so well for my sleep quality. Readiness and sleep scores are trending up, reaching 90+ often! Isn’t amazing how small changes can have such big impact?!
Hope you had a great weekend too. Now back to a full work week, I am determined to preserve my energy, create mental space (analog continues), focus on calm and low dopamine evenings. Oh… this week our helper is back too! I am so looking forward to have a clean house.
Q: What’s your priority this week? What small change you’ve done that had a large impact?
Our New Journey 
Coco, I love how you’ve dialled in your fuelling strategy for long runs! You are right, it makes a tremendous difference. That 20-min pre-run snack and gel every 45 – 50 min is such a smart move, prevention really is easier than recovery. Fuelling right is such an underrated part of training, and you’re proving it makes a huge difference!
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Awww too bad Cookie still isn’t used to Bubble. That must be hard to keep them separated!
Sounds like you had a great weekend!
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Yes, I’ve been wondering about Cookie and Bubble- so they’re still not getting along, SIGH. Cats are so stubborn!
Sounds like a great weekend, and I love Lizzie’s painting. That’s so sweet- you’re the sunshine of the family!
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my change…I’ve been ill for 3 days, so of course I commit changing my entire way of life so this NEVER happens again…..and now that the Winter Olympics are done, of course I’m committing to volunteer or help anyway I can with any local amateur sport event that needs or wants me……or maybe I’ll just go back to bed, load up on whatever over the counter meds and lots of honey and ginger I can find and get over this thing!
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In that photo of the cat, he almost looks fake! It is a great shot! Now I need to know what the tricks were that were used. I am glad you got your nutrition sorted out. I definitely had to make sure to eat something about 30 mins before a long run or I would have such low energy. I used to eat oatmeal with peanut butter a lot. I definitely had some misses though and one day had almond butter instead and did not wait long enough, and it was hot, and….I won’t go into details but it was not pretty.
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I have tried eating a little something before exercise, and when I do, I feel better. But I hate doing it, I don’t like to eat so early. I need to be better about this. I don’t do long runs (or run at all) but I find I have more energy when I do my weights if I have some food in me.
I’m sorry that your cats aren’t getting along. 😦
We’ve been watching and enjoying the Love Story too. I could not have cared less back then, but now I’m enjoying it.
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