Non Sequitur Box

In the past, I've been eager to "keep up my fitness" during injuries or slight "tweaks" by using the elliptical, arc trainer, or erg. Last week, though, I really wasn't feeling it. I would make it to the gym, but I couldn't complete even a few seconds on the elliptical. I did five minutes on the stair stepper, but I then I couldn't mentally take it. I wound up doing a dynamic warm-up, a short lifting circuit, stretched, and left. I told myself that maybe I was just mentally tired, that I needed a training break from running. Today, though, I had a great workout! I did a workout on the elliptical followed by a lifting session and a good stretch session. I pondered, "What made today so different? How did I get out of my little rut?" Working Out When You're "Just Not Feeling It" Pre-Step. Determining between "Just not feeling it" or "REALLY need a break." Take a break when you need it, mentally or physic

Me, looking a little curvy these days, courtesy of the =PR= race photos Today I ran the Run with Santa 5k, another race in the =PR= Race Series. The race started at the Reston Town Center, did a "B"-lying-on-its-back-shaped loop, and finished at the fountain at the Reston Town Center. Preparation: No preparation, other than taking a lot of recovery days. I ran 3.8 easy miles on Saturday, stretched, went to Panera for soup and a sandwich with chai tea, ate some sour gummy candies, went to the bookstore, and had soup and bread for dinner. I finished the night with watching White Collar (since I finished all the seasons of Dexter on Netflix). This race was a last minute decision, as I've taken a lot of time off this week. When I woke up, I told myself, "Anna, it's 6:30am. If you're going to run, you might as well do a run to count for points. You might as well run fast. You better run now, because the weather is just going to get worse later. No excuse

For my December book, I read Rick Riordan's first book in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, The Lightning Thief . My boyfriend's niece and sisters-in-law read the series, so I decided to give the first book a shot. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and finished it in two days! Percy Jackson & the Olympians is a young adult fictional series that follows twelve-year-old Percy Jackson and his adventures. In The Lightning Thief , Percy attends Camp Half-Blood for the first time. He discovers who he really is--the half-blood (half human, half god) son of the Olympic god Poseidon. He realizes that his ADHD and dyslexia is really because the ADHD will help him in battles and Greek is the language that is more natural for gods and half-bloods. He will need those traits to complete a quest--finding and returning Zeus' stolen master lightning bolt. Percy deals with the same troubles most of us face while growing up--getting into trouble at school, having problems that ma

Recovery is just as important as training. Why is this fundamental concept so difficult for many athletes to grasp? After hard training sessions, a day of rest should sound welcoming. After a season of races or competitions, a short break should be easy. As a wise woman once pointed out to me, there are no "should"'s in life. Once you feel a runner's high, when the gym becomes your favorite place to be, when you just can't wait to execute your next planned workout, sometimes you don't want to stop! A day of rest becomes a day of thinking about working out. Everything falls into place when you get on your endorphin high, and a day off is full of withdrawal symptoms. Rest at least one day a week. Recovery after hard races or difficult workouts is important for your body to repair itself (and actually get stronger). In a workout, you break your body down. In recovery, you build your body up. You can pick a day and stick to that day every week, or you can