Chocolate and Hockey

We’re still suffering through tryout season over here in the Loud Redhead household. And, what a surprise, the scale reflects that:

That, my friends, is a 2-pound gain from last week. At first, I was pretty upset, but then I looked at it more logically, and realized that there was a good reason why I gained weight this week. I found myself eating a lot of chocolate last week at my desk, as I stressed out over the many tryout postings, trying to figure out which ones I should take my son to. When I realize things were getting a bit out of hand, instead of reining in, I decided to give myself “permission” to use my weekly points, which I never use any other time.

(For those not familiar with the program, Weight Watchers gives you a set amount of points per day, as well as an amount per week that you can also get into. Your activity points are earned above and beyond that, but I always start by taking from my activity points first, and I usually stop using the extra points when I run out of those.)

I used all of my weekly points last week on chocolate, and I’d say the results of that little experiment are pretty clear. :/ So, although I’m still stressing, I’m trying to find other outlets for my stress.  I’m back to using only my daily points and the activity points I earn.  I sure do miss those marathon-training activity points, though!

Last week, Jamie and I did his final long run before his seventh 10K. It was 5.5 miles, and I decided that I would do a total of 10 for the day, if for no other reason than wanting to keep increasing my mileage a little bit each week.

The weather was much better than the previous Saturday, which had been hot and humid, so I knocked off four and half miles at what turned out to be an exactly 11-minute pace. Jamie enjoys running in places other than around our neighborhood (go figure), so I offered to take him wherever he wanted to go. He chose the local Metropark, and I came up with a figure-eight route that would give us exactly 5.5 miles.

When we got there about 9 AM, he started out at what I thought was a rather fast pace but I didn’t want to discourage him, so I just let him go. He planned to stop every mile and a half for a short water and walk break, which I thought was just fine, especially considering that he was going faster than I would’ve expected, in the low 11s. (For a long run, with walk breaks, I expected him to be in about the 12 minute mile range.)

It was a beautiful day for a run, and the view at the Metropark was a nice change of scenery.

We took the first walk break at 1.5 exactly, right after we passed by some Boy Scouts who were hiking in the park, which was cute. He only walked long enough to drink some water and take some Gu, and then he was off again. Our next walk break was by the Huron River, which was nice.

He was  doing pretty well, and only took another short break before starting up again.   By this time, we were a little more than halfway through, and it was getting a little warmer.    I worried that he might start faltering, but he kept at it.  He even talked a little as we ran, commenting on some of the music we were listening to (I humor him during our runs and let him listen to his electronic dance music).   When we hit the 4.5 mark, he walked  again, taking more water and the last of his Gu.  He seemed a bit winded, but once again, he  started up again after only a short break.

At that point, we had less than a mile to go, and I was really surprised…he was still keeping with his low-11 pace, even with the walk breaks included!   As we rounded the corner and headed back toward the car, he found his usual burst of energy and  sprinted ahead of me, to the amusement of the elderly couple walking down the path in the opposite direction.  😉

I love that kid. 😀

When  I caught up with him, he was bent over, breathing hard, but he didn’t look miserable.  I asked him how he was doing, and in response, he showed me his watch.

An 11:15 overall pace–that’s a fantastic “long run” pace for him!  He was very proud of himself, and  I congratulated him on his great run.  We grabbed our water bottles from the car, which we had kept cold with ice, and as we sat at the picnic tables,  he enthusiastically told me all about how he had felt during the run, and how he had maintained his pace. And, once again, he didn’t complain about the post-run picture.

Look at that smile!

As we sat there, I told him that I was very proud of him, and that I felt like he was really ready for this race, compared to some of the ones we had done last year.   He had stuck with his training very well, and it showed.   Although we can’t account for whatever the weather might bring on Saturday, I told him I felt confident that he would have a good run, regardless of what his pace turns out to be.

He had one more run yesterday, a 2-miler.  He’s been really killing his short runs these last few weeks (doing sub-10 for each one of them!), but I insisted that he take it easy this week.    He has two tryouts this week, and I didn’t want him to be too tired for Saturday after 2 hard hockey tryouts.  JJ also has tryouts this weekend, while Jamie’s will likely take us into late next week. :/ Ah well…I just keep saying that soon this will be over, and then we can really enjoy summer!

At least the pool is open, so that’s a start! 😀

Next post should be the Kona Run race recap.  Thanks for reading!!