BACK TO BERLIN: WEEK 5

A photo taken last week Tuesday, 7th of February after my run.

I recorded this via the Photo Booth App of my partner's iMac, since my mobile was still synching my run.

My "T sign" was a happy gesture for Tuesday Run and a reminder to BE true to myself.

“Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.” 

― Maya Angelou

Blogger's NOTE:

This week, I shared a dynamic PREVIEW POST** of my Training: Week 5 before "final edit".  This meant, I published the blog with the skeleton of my training plan,  edited the data in each day, I shared the update on my FB page.

I previously recorded my weekly training in draft mode and edit it as I go.  FINAL EDIT is when I completed the week, and I share it online either on  Monday or Tuesday.

Final edit does not usually mean (at least in my manner of blogging! :D ) final.  Since writing blogs is my medium to meditative therapy, I often go back to them to reread, and edit.  I edit to correct the grammar (I try!) or because I simply did not make sense (even to myself!).

In hindsight (UPDATED Sunday, 19th February, 2017), I think I would rather share the blog, at the end of the training week.  I have to admit "my experiment" helped me with documenting! Still, I felt my anxiety rise, when I have something that I still need to do, shared on public and I end up not doing it.

The main goal of blogging for me is documenting life, to regularly journal for: posterity,  create structure (in my life!) and as a reminder to stay true to myself.

I am happy that blogging about my way "Back to Berlin" is helping me do this in a fun and creative way.


If you missed previous weekly training posts, and you would like to read back, here are the other posts:


✓ Week 1, 2 and 3 (Biking : 188 km Running (started 3rd week) : 21 km)
✓ Week 4 (Biking : 60 km Running : 13 km )

✓ Week 5  (Biking : 50 km Running : 29 km )

5 weeks of Biking : 298 km
3 weeks of Running (so far): 63 km

Honestly, I am not sure if I can document everything I listed below! I would like to, simply to make sure I do, do them.  Recording data contributes a lot to the goal to be consistent.  I am not going to be obsessive about it, I will find a way, how I can simplify.

Warmed-Up before a Run :  stats to follow*
Stretched after a Run (at least 5 minutes session) : stats to follow*
Yoga : stats to follow*
Strength Training : stats to follow*


I need to go back on my blogposts* UPDATE (8th of March, 2017): I think, I am making it hard on myself, again.  Let me just say, the reason I will not edit this out and simply let it stand is a reminder to myself that I am trying to change. I am correcting my self-sabotaging pattern.  Perhaps, in my next marathon, I can make a standard form and I only have to fill it in.  For now, I will keep to recording biking and running mileage and mentioning (or adding photos!) if I did warm up/cool down/stretched after the run/did yoga/done my strength training.  They are all things I would like to do without even thinking about them but I want them to be all to be natural part of my daily life.


13.02.17, Monday: REST ✓ 

This was a mentally demanding day. I did what I have been procrastinating on for a decade.  A very emotional phone call (as a follow up to a very long letter, I sent a couple of weeks ago) to begin the day.  It went very well.  A good (re)start to a very old relationship.  Rest was my reward.

Fruits and Flowers
As a girl, my concept of luxury was  to regularly have fruits and flowers at home.

Photo taken morning of 13th of February

14.02.17, Tuesday: ✓ 

biked 20 km / ran 8.17 km (average pace of 7'16'' min/km - 59:19 ) / STRETCHED for 5 minutes

The picture above was one of the first two pictures I posted on my @happyfeetnl Instagram account, after 2 months break.

You can read about it here: BEing Back on Instagram



15.02.17, Wednesday: ✓ 

1:28 p.m.
Almost home after doing the grocery.
My little M excited to prepare her first home made bapao!

biked 20 km -

1:21 p.m.
Some ditches along our bike route still have frozen ice, and some are completely melted.

blogged and decluttered mind before I pick up M from school


Worked on BLANK SPACE  

REST from running

Breakfast at 9 am : coffee (yup, I have no self-control!)
muesli with raisins topped with banana and Alpro yogurt.
I am addicted to this very simple breakfast.

Fuel to help in decluttering my brain via blogging! ;)

After I decided, I will switch my run for Wednesday to Thursday, I bought the ingredients for the steamed buns we planned to do Saturday and prepared them instead on this day.  M, who was requesting for them for quiet a while now, was very delighted.

16.02.17, Thursday: ✓ 


biked 10 km /  5.74 (average time 7'12" min/km - 41:22)

Stats so far since I returned to running, before Thursday's run.

I will be happy if I can run the marathon distance in that total amount of time.

Motivation to work come, when I look at my running statistics and write my (self-empowering!) thoughts, here in the blog.

Fogged up glasses after my run.

Feeling very fulfilled I got the run, done!

I had extreme back pain because my monthly cycle began the day before.  Warming up before a run is something I would like to consistently do, and for this run warming up before  helped a lot with my muscle cramps.

Since my return to Instagram, I have been using the app to save thoughts I would like to write as a blogpost.  Mostly, I share them in the stories (only visible to users of Instagram, and not showing in my gallery).  It is my "creative post-it's" to help me remember.

Before I forget to mention, if you are  interested in the running stats, you will notice that the stats on Zombies, Run! app and my Nike+ stats have  small discrepancies.  I am writing it down here in case anyone (who are following in all social media channels I have) wonders about it.

17.02.17, Friday:  ✓ 

School's Spring Vacations Starts!

REST

18.02.17, Saturday: ✓ 

5.50 (average time 6'57" min/km - 38:10)
/YOGA mini-session of 7 minutes

19.02.17, Sunday: ✓ 

Warmed-up : I am doing a series of 3-4 sets of warm-up exercises from Pop Sugar; I have to time it but I think roughly 8 minutes

ran an easy 10 km (average pace 7'25'' min/km - 1:14:16 )

Stretched right after the run : around 6 minutes


I am proud to have gotten my long distance run done, today.

Looking back on my LDR training, so far:

Week 3

5.16 km / 7:27 min

Week 4 

6,82 km / 7'32"

Week 5

8.17 km / 7'16' (due to a busy weekend in Week 4, I missed running my 8 km LDR, and the longest distance I ran in that week, was 6,82 km, one of my 3 runs in that week.  I ran it this week Tuesday, instead.)

10 km / 7'25'' (I am happy with this pace; there was pain in my calves until 7.5 km but luckily from 8 - 10 km the pain went away.  I was still more than 2 km away but I turned off my Nike+ watch and walked listening to Zombies, Run! app. Supply Run mode, the rest of the way.)

Google image of

Zombies, Run! app

Total  :  50 biking km / 29 (rounded off ) running km

**NOTE TO READERS: The date of the post is when I started the draft, and at the bottom right of the page is the date I published and/or updated the blogpost.

19.02.17 17:34, Sunday

LAST UPDATE 08.03.17 10:32, Wednesday