This week has brought on a lot of changes for me, namely the start of my new job, but it's not like I just switched from one office / position / company to another... after officing out of my home for nearly 5 years, this is a HUGE change. Suddenly I'm up at 6:30 and throwing myself into the shower, slamming down coffee before blow drying my hair and getting my butt in the car to sit in rush hour traffic in order to get to an office 20 miles away by 8 AM...
Okay, it's not THAT bad (I am nothing if not dramatic!), but it's definitely different. I've always been an early riser, so the 6:30 AM wake-up call is nothing new... but now, instead of leisurely enjoying a cup of coffee in my yoga pants while watching the morning news and eating breakfast... instead of working for a few hours from my sofa before heading to the gym... instead of having the flexibility to run errands / grocery shop / clean / do laundry whenever I want, I'm suddenly thrust back into a life I don't even remember -- that of deadlines, commutes, timelines, suits & high heels, staff meetings, and "business hours."
In many ways I've been really ready for it -- while the lifestyle of my old job was fantastic, I started to get lonely during the day... started to crave more human interaction and teamwork. My boyfriend teases me because after only 2 days of this schedule, I'm so exhausted at night I can barely keep my eyes open -- this morning when I woke, after a blissful 8 hours of sleep, my body actually HURT.
In terms of exercise, this is obviously taking a toll. Gone are the days of 10 AM runs, 2 PM yoga classes, and 3 PM doggy dates at the park. Yesterday, I left the office at 5 and made it to Cardi02... and had a great workout, but damn was I tired. Say nothing of my achey legs and knees, sore and tired from wearing high heels two days in a row (note to self: must buy some stylish flats this weekend). In my 20s, working out in the evening was my preference, but as I've gotten a bit older and my circadium rhythms have firmly established me as "A MORNING PERSON," now I just feel drained at the end of the day. If I go home in between work and the gym, it's all over, forget it, not gonna happen. I feel the most energy before noon, or at the very least, before 3 PM. But times are a'changin -- and I must go with the flow.
Enter GRUVE --
On my first day at work, I forgot the little bugger at home. OOOPS. I was actually really irritated by that, because I was excited to see how much foot traffic I generated for myself during the day. I went to bed SO DETERMINED not to forget it again that I didn't charge it, rather left it with all my jewelry. So on Day 2, the battery died around noon (which means it didn't even register my killer workout last night, which involved alternating between intervals of running at a 10% incline, and running a 7 MPH. OUCH.
Today is Day 3, and I've got a fully charged GRUVE firmly locked on my hip. I took the stairs this morning to get to my desk, and have a packed gym bag in the car -- not sure if I'll actually GO to the gym today, but at least I get an "A" for effort (And if I do go, it will just be a strength training day -- my little legs need a day to recover from that brutal treadmill workout!)
As for running... sigh... I have dead legs right now. I'm training for this half marathon, and it's not going great. I did my 7 miler on Friday and haven't run (other than intervals on the treadmill) since. It's perfect running weather, and I'm stuck behind a desk. Woe is me. I know that the answer is to get up early and go before work, but that hasn't happened yet this week, and frankly, I've been so mentally and physically exhausted, that it sounds like death.
(I forgot how tiring it is to be around PEOPLE all day).
On that note -- I've got a full day of meetings, starting in 15 minutes, and a lot of work to dive into. But before I go --
This Thursday at 4 PM is sort of a grassroots / viral GRUVE event -- wherever you are, whatever you're doing, try to step away and step outside and go for a 30 minute walk. If you're at work, consider taking your meeting outdoors. If you can't do 4 PM, find a time that works for you. The point is... get your GRUVE on, and get out there and MUVE.
Plan for the rest of the week:
Wednesday: Strength
Thursday: Morning Cardio (I have a meeting downtown from 12-5 and then a happy hour)
Friday: Strength
Saturday: long run -- 8 miles. Totally not ready. Dead legs.
Sunday: REST!
Off and running,
Jessica
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
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1 comments:
I know the feeling... I totally know the feeling. The past two years, I've been able to keep a student's schedule with class at 8am, done at 4pm. I could work out at night, and if I wasn't on the wards, I could even go to class in my gym gear.
This year, my schedule changes every 6 weeks with my rotations (if only that often). I haven't found a good pattern to stick to because I'm out the door at 7am and frankly, before this month, it was dead black outside until about 7. And there's no way I can get up and run every morning if it's pitch black outside (and probably raining... this is Ireland after all. And they don't do 24 hour gyms here). On top of that, I'm on my feet all day (sometimes standing, sometimes scrambling after someone), so if I come home after work... Gym isn't going to happen.
I thought this week was going to be death for me. I'm on Labour and Delivery from 3-11pm which gets me home just after midnight (then I eat dinner). Thankfully, it's actually been gorgeous outside, 50s and sunny, and I've been running every morning before sitting down to study (at like 10am).
Next week, I go back to the 8-6 shift and I'll be dragging myself out of bed to run in the mornings around half 5. So I'm hoping this week of being really really good will help with that.
This week:
M - 3miles + yoga (my version of strength training)
T - Rest (swapped w/friday because I was in hospital until 1am on Monday/Tuesday)
W - 5 miles (stretched out a 4 miler b/c it was SO nice)
Th - 40 min tempo
F - 3 miles + pilates
Sa - 60min Crosstrain
Su - 6 miles
Good luck friend!
~Liz
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