The Accidental Two-a-Days

One of the most difficult parts of training is working around daily life- especially when you are training at a high level. Yesterday, since I had gone on a five-mile run the day before (and I usually like to alternate running days with cross training days), I decided to go to spinning class during lunch.  I really like the spinning class at my work gym, because the trainer includes arm weights while we are on the bikes to add in an upper body workout.  One thing I have noticed since I have become more fit, however, is that one hour-long workout per day is not always enough- sometimes I want to do even more.  Unfortunately, there are only so many hours in the day, and on some weekdays I meet up with friends after work, or I may have to use my lunch hour for errands. So I often bike or walk to work in addition to my normal workout to add an extra half hour or two.

Yesterday, however, my lunch hour AND after work was wide open, which happens every once in a while.  I went to spinning and worked hard- we did hill climbs, sprints, and lots of arm weights- but I still didn't feel like I had worked out long enough.  Flash was planning on running after work, and I hadn't been on a run with him in a while.  Even though the humidity was pretty awful (surprise!), I decided to go on a nice run with him after work as well.

Even in the sticky DC summer, I love going on runs with Flash after work on the National Mall.  The slanting afternoon sunlight is much less intense, and there are always dozens of people playing softball and kickball on the fields, or walking around the monuments.  We ran around the Tidal Basin by the Jefferson and along the water, and even though the air was thick there was a fresh breeze as we went over the bridge.  By the time we got to about mile 4, though, I was starting to feel fatigued and dehydrated, since I have been working out a lot and the humidity was really high. We got back parallel to our office, but Flash wanted to run up Capitol Hill to get at least get five miles in... and, of course, I caved and went with him.  Now if any of you have done it, running up Capitol Hill is never fun, but it's especially awful at the end of a run (I have done it several times at the end of a 10 or 12 or 13 miler- brutal).  Since I was starting to actually feel a bit sick, I contemplated stopping and walking back from there, but then I thought, it's only another mile or two, tough it out!  One of the things about hill runs is that if you just put your head down and try to speed up, it actually seems a bit easier; unfortunately, because I had run the five miles the day before and I had spun so much, my legs just didn't have much juice left.  I started to feel like I was going to faint by I got to the top, so I slowed down a little (this is a very important thing to remember, especially when working out in this kind of heat- know your limits!) but then pushed through to get up the rest of the hill.  I thought to myself, this kind of mental toughness is what I will need to get me through the marathon training... and, well, the marathon itself... so pushing through the fatigue is a skill I might as well practice now!

Anyway, so we finished up the run (5.5 miles), then I biked back home, and by the time I got there and had showered it was already almost 9 pm.  I was tired and hungry, and the last thing I felt like doing was cook, so reheating a veggie burger seemed like the easiest possibility. But I really wanted to have something hearty with lots of carbs and protein to replenish my nutritional stores, so I decided to make a quick lentil vegetable dish.  I love lentils because they are loaded with protein as well as carbohydrates, and they have a lot of nutritional value.  Here's the recipe for what I made:

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/11517

Delish! Even though I also sauteed some squash and zucchini in garlic to put on top, this only took me about 30-40 minutes to make from start to eating.  I ate it hot last night, then refrigerated the rest and I had leftovers to eat for lunch today!

It's sometimes hard to balance everything- work, social life, working out and making sure I get enough nutrition (and sleep!!), but somehow I make it work. I end up doing these accidental two-a-day workouts sometimes because I feel like it and because every once in a while I have the time. Believe me, I still make time to go to happy hours with friends and I'm in other activities at night (like DC Bocce).  Sometimes it's just awesome to be able to get that second workout in!