Tough in parts this week

It's been a few days, so an update is due. I'm having my first sneak peek free week (sneak, peek, week! I'm a poet, and I didn't know it!) in ages, so I genuinely have no idea where my weight is going this week. I've been tracking everything as usual, and despite my best intentions, I've eaten the majority of my exercise cals. I always intend to only eat half, so that way, I eat a little more to fuel my added activity, but keep a few in the bank, to spur on the weight loss. I'm a bit annoyed with myself for not having the will power to stick to that plan. Then I get annoyed with myself for being needlessly annoyed with myself. Confused? You will be :-)

I'm no dozer. I know it's okay to eat what I've earned. And it'a a darn site better to eat what I've earned, than to eat what I haven't earned. And it's certainly better to eat what I've earned rather than to go hungry, just for the sake of my pride, so I can say to myself, "Oh, look at me, aren't I great? Look at all the exercise calories I haven't used!" all the while, resenting the fook clean out of TMM, who's happily chomping away on a 200g bar of chocolate, or a full packet of custard creams, or a full tub of prawn cocktail pringles! So, I do know it's better to eat the earned cals than to sit and suffer. That way lies the destruction of all my good work, coz I know I'll go boogaloo and eat all round me. That would entail a litre tub of Pooh Bear ice cream, some stuffed chicken olives, Cumberland sausage and a cream bun or four! At least! Maybe not necessarily in that order, but who knows? I may have given this all a bit too much thought :-) I just want to be on my guard against exercising to earn calories and using the extra cals as an excuse to overeat.

Since the start of the week, I've found it hard to hold back on cravings, especially for savoury things. It's been a bit better today. Is it a monthly thing? Don't know. I made sure to have a decent breakfast the last couple of days, and that's definitely helped. Today I had scrambled eggs and smoked fish. a) Delicious! b) Very filling. I love me some eggs for breakfast!

Anyway, as it pans out, so far, I'm breaking even this week, cals wise, so it's not been a bad week. Exercise wise, I've been positively angelic. I ran every morning before work, bar Monday, when I took a break, having run Saturday and Sunday.

I'm happy to be consistently getting up early and getting out on the street, so I'm not overly worried about pace. I think I'm more about distance at the mo. I'm going to slowly increase my long runs. I have till the New Year to decide if I want to train for the Belfast Marathon again, and I can comfortably do six miles at the mo, so there's no hurry to decide. I don't know if I could be arsed with the commitment it would take. It would be four solid months, building up to going for runs that would last four hours or more. If I do the marathon again, I'll want to do it below five hours, which is an hour and a half quicker than my first attempt in 2015.

Belfast Marathon 2015. Can't believe I completed 26.2 miles!

Race day next year is Monday 1st May 2017. It's not that far away. I'm thinking about it seriously.

I've been running in the toesie shoes for about four weeks now, and I'm well used to them. I love the feel of them as I run.They are extremely comfortable. I did notice that I'm prone to blisters on my sole near the bunion on my left foot, but judicious application of a half strip of K T tape has stopped that. However, I read this week about changing my gait a little and I made a very simple adjustment. I literally just became aware of splaying my toes as I run. I don't remember to do it all the time, but I do it enough that it will eventually become a habit. It seems to have made a difference, even in the couple of days that I've been doing it. With the toes in these shoes being individually pocketed, there's loads of room for them to wriggle about. I've nearly forty-eight years of conventional shoe wearing conditioning (that's not a phrase I ever thought I'd say!) to overcome,  but I really think these weirdo "feet", as my Mum calls them, are the way to go. Honestly, my left knee feels better than it has done for years. Goodness knows what, of the many things I'm doing, is helping. Taking the cinnamon with coconut oil in my coffee in the morning, or the ibuprofen, with the anti inflammatory properties, the K T tape, the shoes or let's not forget seven stone of weight loss, which certainly can't hurt. It could be any, all or none of the above. But whatever, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. 

              

Check out my new hoodie :-)

Jean-Luc Picard rocks!!!

I've been wearing a jumper and hoodie under coat in work this week. The temperature has dropped a bit. And I and still didn't look like Michelin Man.

Whose actual name is Bibendum, in a bit of tyre related trivia.  Oh, the interesting job I have!.