Apparently I’ve perfected the recipe for exhaustion.
Ingredients:
1 part highest mileage week ever with 40 miles! (ok, I hit this number one time before during marathon training)
1 part paleo eating (I’m pretty sure my body is in shock from the lack of sugar)
1 part PMS
Mix all together and what do you have? A really exhausted MCM Mama. Seriously, I actually considered going to the gas station in my pajamas because it was just too much effort to put on clothes…
I’ve been struggling with my running all week. I’m hitting my goal mileage and my speed is not awful, it just seems like I’m working really hard and my body seems to be lacking in energy. I’m sure part of it is the increase in mileage after a recovery week. I remember from marathon training that I always struggle the week after. Not sure why that is. I think I may go the very minimal consistent increase route for the remainder of this training cycle.
On January 1, I started a fairly strict paleo diet. I’ve been reading the Whole60 (review as soon as I can figure out how I feel about it) and felt like they hit the nail on the head with my sugar cravings. I know that if I eat sugar, I CRAVE sugar and will eat ridiculous amounts of the stuff. (I am not willing to publicly admit to the number of Christmas cookies I ate while I was home.) So, I decided to give the paleo lifestyle a try. Despite eating enough sweet potatoes and pumpkin to turn orange, I’m still feeling the typical low energy I feel when I go low carb. If I don’t start bouncing back soon, I’ll have to add in some whole grains. I just can’t risk messing up my training at this point. (And I’ll fess up to a couple of beers and a half of a roll yesterday and more energy on my run today, hmmm.) On the bright side though, I’ve not been having my usual chocolate and sugar cravings that I get each month, so if I can make it through the tired and crabby part, this might be a really good change for me.
Unfortunately, the combined physical and mental fatigue + some minor stress really threw me for a loop and I kind of crawled into my cave. Fingers crossed I’ll start feeling more like myself soon, because pretty much every week from here on out is a “high mileage personal best”. Whoa!
HBBC wrap up
All in all, HBBC was an awesome way for me to keep on track over the holiday. I wasn’t perfect and I wasn’t the highest scorer by a long shot, but it gave me the incentive to eat better and to add some cross training to my running. This year’s addition of a Facebook group was great and added a nice opportunity for accountability. Thanks again, Amanda, for a fun experience.
Total HBBC points = 330.2
HBBC Week 7 – 36.7
Saturday = 6.5 (6.5 mile run)
Friday = 1 (freggies)
Thursday = 10.5 (8.5 mile run + freggies + FB)
Wednesday = 1 (freggies)
Tuesday =9 (8 mile run + freggies)
Monday = 8.7 (6.7 mile run +FB +freggies)
HBBC Week 4 – 54.7
HBBC Week 3 – 51.6
HBBC Week 2 – 46.8
HBBC Week 1 – 50.4
HBBC pre-bonus points – 3
I keep considering going Paleo and trying to kick my sugar cravings to the curb but that is where I get stuck is the low carb no energy for running, so I will be interested to see how it works for you. Good luck, hope you get more energy soon!
The problem with the Paleo Diet and its cousins is that it is selective. It does not take into account that diet back then was based on a region and that diets varied significantly from region to region based on what was readily availble and what could be grown. Hence everyone was eating different levels and types of meats, vegetables/fruits and grains.
The second thing to understand is that while our bodies are adaptive, we are all different in how quickly and how well we can adapt to something new. While diets are quick to promote athletes and such who follow their diet and are successful, there are many athletes who are successful on other diets.
ahhh yes.
I cut out the sugar before our move and am so so so glad i did.
Good luck adjusting to the new diet! Hopefully this week will be a bit easier on your body and mind!!!
I’ve done Paleo – in my opinion the weak feeling is my body wishing it had even more carb fuel (umm all the chips and crap I usually eat, lol) and is learning to adjust to burning other fuel sources. BUT I will admit I have no scientific experiments to back up this opinion haha. Fruits have carbs too, so this + the sweet potatoes I eat makes me believe I am not doing “low-carb” and that it’s just a matter of my body getting used to proper fuel sources instead of being spoiled with the spare tank of potato chip & m&m’s fuel 😉
Hopefully your body will adapt soon and/or you can figure out the right mix of what to add back in!
Eek, I’m not a good dieter/different food eater…but, would it be prudent to go Paleo after the 5 in 5? It seems like you really are asking your body to make a lot of changes at once.
Eh, what do I know…
I am currently reading “The Paleo Solution” to get a better idea of the diet and if I can follow it. I loved the HBBC also!
Good luck with the eating and the training!
good luck with paleo!
I had a lot of xmas cookies and, in fact, I inhaled one yesterday after dinner. what is it about sugared frosting on top of a sugar cookie? 😉
Just be really careful. Coming from someone who’s very intimate with exhaustion and over training it’s important not to let yourself get too run down.
Congratulations on finishing HBBC with so many points! Hope you feel more rested.