Running and a talk with Pete

I had a great run this morning. I know I posted my training schedule a couple weeks ago but I've been playing around with an alternative schedule that ramps up the weekly mileage just a bit more aggressively. The file on my computer is actually called "playingaround.xls". I was just "playing around" with my workouts and thinking about how I would alter my plan if I was feeling REALLY good. Well, the last 2 weeks, I've felt REALLY good and the more I look at playingaround.xls, the more I think it's not that unrealistic. Don't get all excited, peeps. It's not TOO manly. It still gradually increases my weekly mileage. I've added VERY short recovery jogs of 1 mile (for now) on Sunday and Tuesday. Of course, I have the option to walk those or skip them altogether as I listen to my body (especially the ankle).

This morning called, of course, for a PIM's week 6, 2x10/2 run/walk with a 3 minute walk warmup and 2 minute walk cooldown with my Power in Motion group. Playingaround.xls added 1.5 miles before the PIM run so I finished the morning with 3.5 miles, split up between the 1.5 continuous and the week 6 workout. I felt GREAT during and after my run. I left the park wanting to run MORE by my response was, "Patience, O Big One!!!" The good thing about feeling so good is it does allow me to do a short jog or walk tomorrow and I ain't waiting on my ankle to catch up with me.

When I got home, I got a Tweet from Pete Thomas (from the Biggest Loser) that he was going to be doing a live stream on MadeFitTV.com. I had never been to the site and wondered what it was so I went to check it out. Jennifer DiDonato is a personal trainer in Detroit and has this great blog, MadeFitTV.com with a lot of good recipes and workout advice. Anyway, her live stream today featured Pete Thomas from the Biggest Loser. It was awesome. Pete has become somewhat of an expert on nutrition and exercise. He also talked a lot about his time on the ranch and about training with Jillian. It was very interesting. There were only a few people watching so I was able to pose a couple of questions to Pete right there. He took 4 or 5 minutes for each question and talked about exercise intensity, running, resistance training, etc. It was a lot of fun. I'm sure they'll archive it but I hope they don't edit out too much because the entire stream was very interesting and inspirational.

I just had a nice chicken breast sandwich and a cup of strawberries. I'm stuffed. A lot of dieting and losing weight is about substitution. Jennifer does some substitution on her current MadeFitTV episode with tuna salad. When I make a sandwich, I substitute avocado for mayonnaise. I'm a huge fan of mayonnaise and the avocado gives my sandwich that creamy, sort of fatty texture and taste. I don't miss the Hellmann's AT ALL. Just mustard and avocado does the trick for me.

Normally, I feel like I'm wasting time on the internet but this morning's surfing has helped me get even more motivated about eating right and exercise.