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Separate but Equal

I was kind of on the fence about doing a weekly recap for the last week. After my disappointing half marathon I'm kind of floating around without a plan. I've pretty much decided that a marathon on March 18th is off the table. I flip flop back and forth all the time but I know it will be much easier on my body to do the half. I am fine with all the decisions I made the last week for me and for my body - but I was still thinking, "Can't post this on my blog. Everyone will see my lack of miles and no long run!" 

Guess what? Nobody cares. I have to get out of the mindset that I need to run an extra mile or pick up my pace for the people who read the blog or check my stats on Daily Mile. Seriously - I can't believe I even have to tell myself that. I run for me. The end.

That said, here's last week for you:

Monday: 30 Minutes of Spin, 35 Minutes of Upper Body and Core ST.
Tuesday: Ran 3 Miles, 30 Minutes of Lower Body ST.
Wednesday: 35 Minutes of Spin, 30 Minutes of Upper Body and Core ST.
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: Ran 4.5 Miles, 20 Minutes of Lower Body ST.
Saturday: Walked 7 Miles
Sunday: Rest Day

Yeah, reading this makes me feel dumb. So I didn't run for 3 hours on Saturday. I still worked out and hit my goals for strength training. I've been moping like I sat on my ass all week and giving myself a hard time. Yeesh.

Today I worked out right away after waking and had a shot block and lots of water and felt pretty good for 6 miles. I didn't actually have ANY stomach pain for a good 45 minutes so I call that a success!

Most of the time when Tim and I eat we eat the exact same thing - just the portions are different because he's 6 feet tall and I'm 5'4". Since I do most of the cooking, I cook what I like and he eats it. Where do you guys send my nominations for wife of the year? Sometimes though we will make the base of our dishes the same but vary the sides a little. This evening I made a ground turkey Bolognese sauce which Tim put on top of his spaghetti:


I used the same sauce and put it on top of a baked sweet potato with a little Greek yogurt:


I purposely chose a picture where you can't really see the mound of kale chips in the back. They burned to a crisp because I was freaking taking pictures of the spaghetti. I take like three food photos a week and it kills me every time - how do people do it who photograph three meals a day? Note to self: turn oven off and THEN take pictures.

Do you eat the same meals as your husband/wife/boyfriend/roommate/cat? (I think I covered all the bases there.)
Breakfast we put different toppings on our oatmeal (Me = PB and chocolate protein powder. Him = brown sugar and banana) and lunch we do our own thing. Dinners are 80% the same but I make little changes like:
-Corn tortillas for me, flour tortillas for him
-Tacos with cheese for him, Greek yogurt for me 

If you post workouts to your blog/Facebook/Daily Mile does it encourage you to work harder?
It definitely does - and most of the time I would say that is a great thing. Sometimes though I feel the need to keep up with others and obviously that's just going to get me landed in some hospital somewhere.  

Comments

  1. You had an awesome week of workouts!! Realizing that you run for yourself is harder than it sounds! I totally get it :)

    Dean and I will often eat the same things... except he eats a lot more too! He also eat a lot of meat whereas me...not so much!

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  2. I'm an awful cook, so my husband tends to use a lot of condiments. But typically if I make something we eat the same and my husband will just eat more. I use a smaller plate. I'm working on healthier meals, but it is hard because my husband is very meat and potatoes and won't eat some things, like sweet potatoes.

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  3. I understand you feeling defeated, but you still had a great week. Great job! I could never photograph all my meals bc A. people would be bored and B. I would burn something too. The bf and I usually eat the same meals, but sometimes we do some switcharoos too. Tonight we had the same main meal, but different sides. I definitely think any of the social media sites help me stay motivated.

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  4. My husband and I are about the same height and same weight- he eats a bit more than I do and I'm the one that has to fight harder to maintain my "figure." Genetics...

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  5. If I had to eat a freaking sweet potato instead of pasta, I'd cry.

    The funny thing about blogging and Daily Mile is that you start thinking that other people are really paying attention to your mileage and paces, but they aren't. I do the same thing by feeling that I need to justify that I ran longer/shorter when really, no one but me cares. :)

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  6. If it makes you feel better (it probably won't), but I've only run 13 miles in all of 2012 so far (I know - crushin' it ain't I). You're doing great. You are right on - run for you. No one (or at least I would hope no one) is going to read your blog and feel disappointed that you ONLY ran 7.5 miles (UMM - if there are any of those people they are stupid and need to stop reading your blog!). Running is a personal journey that I've discovered helps us learn things about ourselves along the way. It's just like a race - even the most scenic courses run at least a few blocks in the ghetto so . . . hang in there - know that at least I (and probably everyone else too) supports you no matter what you decide or how far you do or don't run! It's your journey - we're just along for the ride.

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  7. I agree with Kara above, I start to worry that people might see that I took two rest days in a row, or that I was off a normalish pace by 2 or 3 seconds....but it doesn't really matter what everyone thinks, because most don't care!

    I would go with the sweet potato too - I had one this evening with dinner and it was deelish!

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  8. I understand what you mean and I think several of us are harder on ourselves than anyone else is. I post my runs to Daily Mile but it's more for me to look back on later than anything else. It only takes reading about 5 blogs to discover someone had a faster or longer run than I did but I don't care.

    Allan and I eat a lot of the same food if we eat together. Often if he works late we each fend for ourselves and it's that way for breakfast and lunch each day too.

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  9. I'd cry if my hubby got cheese on his taco and I didn't!! As hard as it is sometimes, you just have to do what works for you. There will always be someone faster and slower (or runs longer or shorter) than you, so there's no point in beating yourself up over it. :) We all have to remind ourselves of that from time to time. And downgrading to the half just gives you the chance for a do-over on your last one, right? :)

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  10. Posting on DM makes me indignant at trail runners. I'm like, "How dare you run 78 miles in a week and call it a 'base training'?! You're making me look like a slacker!!"

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  11. We rarely eat the same thing... usually, but not always, our meals have the same start, like your sauce but over different things. And the different toppings on oats, etc.

    But sometimes he eats Mac&Cheese (gag me!) for lunch so I will have a giant salad ... and so on. Occasionally we DO eat the same dinner. Tonight we had pizza and salad, but different sized portions.

    I do think I work harder if I am going to go public with it. That is really why I started my running blog. I wanted to be more accountable to myself and I thought going public would do that. And it has.

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  12. I'm a vegetarian and Paul isn't so we eat different lunches but we typically eat the same dinner. If he wants meat he eats that at lunch (we mass produce lunches via crockpot!) and then we'll have a veg friendly meal for dinner.
    I like DailyMile as a way to track my miles. Sometimes I find that I get too competitive and compare myself when that's really a negative thing for me. I see others with their 70+ mile weeks and think I'm not doing enough. But you're right, in the end we have to run for ourselves!

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  13. It helps keep me accountable, that's for sure. But, you're right- we do this for ourselves.

    We were on the same wavelength last week. Kinda cool, eh?

    And Pepto is my secret weapon- take it the night before your run and the morning before you leave. Then, behold miracles.

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  14. I run too many miles, just because I'm crazy and running makes me feel sane. I sometimes want to run slower miles on "slow run" days so that people don't think that I'm too compulsive.

    Ok maybe if I signed up for a marathon or a half-marathon, then people wouldn't think I'm as crazy as I feel right now. I really am going to sign up for something, just haven't found one yet.

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  15. WOW nice workouts!!! super awesome/creative meal change-up. I have never modified. I need to do this. Actually I shouldn't say never....but I have definitely not been as creative as you :)

    and I use dm for the same reason - and I love DM for Steve alone - he literally messages anyone who hasn't posted a workout in a while ;) lol

    it's great for accountability. and you're right sometimes I'm like - oh maybe I'll do yoga too just so I look hardcore :P

    Thanks for voting for me!!!!

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  16. i'm glad u put ur workouts up but more because of the statement it makes: who the 'f' cares outside of YOU wat ur workouts are...u're doing it for urself and don't let blog pressure make u self-conscious. listen to ur body and do wat's right for u. :)

    haha...burning food, are u taking a cue from me?? ;)

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  17. Breakfast and lunch we are at work so we are on our own. Dinners we often eat the same thing (I'm on your plan, I cook what I like and he eats it) but sometimes it's just every man for themselves, particularly where we have a lot of leftovers, or I have class, or have to work late.

    I do the same thing with DM, but, seriously, I never once thought to myself this weekend (or ever) "What the hell happened to Vanessa (or fill in random name)? I guess he/she is sitting on their lazy ass this weekend". If anyone actually does have enough time/motivation on their hands to notice and care, send them my way, because I have kids who need someone to read with and that would be a much better use of their time :)

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  18. In general, we eat the same things for meals but my husband just eats a LOT more. If we're eating smoothies I add greens to mine and he'll add a banana to his...but overall, we eat similarly (though I usually eat more vegetables)

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  19. I sometimes think about wanting to post really good runs to Daily Mile, as if anyone cares. I catch myself running harder than I should sometimes just to get a faster time. So dumb. I have actually thought about just posting mileage and not time, but I like to have a record of things so...

    My hubs and I almost never eat dinner together. I eat mass quantities of veggies and he eats junk. He also eats dinner around 9-10pm, which is pretty much my bedtime. Occasionally on the weekend we will make a meal like tacos or pizzas, where we each add our own toppings, etc.

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  20. would have never thought to put spaghetti sauce on a sweet potato...BRILLIANT!! I usually don't make spaghetti, although my kids love it, because if i'm being honest, I have no self-control when it comes to pasta! there, i said it!

    yes, we usually eat the same foods, but WAY different portions...he's able to eat more and burn with his speedy runs and being 6'4"

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  21. I feel the same way you do. I think that posting my workouts encourages me to do more, but at the same time I feel like I could never run as much as some of the people on the blogs I read. Eventually I realized I'm really doing this for me. My schedule doesn't allow me to run 20 miles on a random tuesday lol. I get in as much as I can and do what I feel my body can handle.

    Oh and my fiance doens't really eat vegetables, so we usually have the same main dish with different sides. Since I've started cooking he now eats bell peppers, cucumbers, and spinach. I'm making progress!

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  22. In general, I don't really care/compete with people on blogs or DM. I do jokingly compete for weekly mileage with some, but in the end, it's MY mileage, so it only really matters what I think. It sounds like you made the right decision for you.

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  23. I do the cooking so hubs usually eats what I eat. However, I'm vegetarian and he's not so when we eat out that is never the case and he eats out more than I do. Hadn't thought of putting spaghetti sauce on a sweet potato...

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  24. I fall into the same trap as you sometimes wondering about if people will think I'm lame if I post mileage that I am not particularly excited about but then I remember that they don't care and if I spent half as much time being proud of myself as I do worried about what other people think then I would probably do a lot better!! I think it's good to be good to yourself.

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  25. Awesome job on your workouts! Even if it's not much running you still had a great week. I have to remind myself too that I run for me and no one else. I tend to want to compare myself or beat myself up over low mileage weeks/months especially right now that I can't run as much as I would like.

    I would probably burn my food if I took pics of it all the time too.
    We normally eat the same dinner and will sometimes vary our sides. But breakfast and lunch we are at work so eat differently.

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  26. Great job staying accountable! You are so right about doing this for yourself not to stay accountable for your readers. That being said, I know I function better when I'm blogging consistently since I stay accountable :) haha

    I LOVE SWEET POTATOES! I'm actually obsessed with them so I love that you top it with bolognese and yogurt.

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  27. Don't beat yourself up, you worked your butt off last week! But I do the same thing and am really in a running slump now and haven't run as much as I know I should and keep frustrated about it. I think social media definitely helps keep the motivation up!


    We mostly eat the same thing, but sometimes vary things a little here and there.

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  28. Good for you for taking it a little easier for a week. Sometimes our bodies are running on burnout mode and screaming for a little break and I think you did the right thing. We need to do what makes us happy not what we think we should be doing.

    Since I am not married I get to cook whatever in the hell I want and I kind of like it that way. Selfish? um yeah just a little bit. ha!

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  29. when my bf lived in ut...i would make what i like but felt like i had to make a billion times more of it. he would eat 3 servings and i would eat 1. haha. now i still eat what i want but eat probably a bazillion more veggies. now as far as the dogs go...no comment. they eat way better than me. my meals never cost as much as a single bone of theirs cost. i mean seriously. they should realize how good they have it...rather than turning their nose up at what they do get ;)

    i def feel motivated by my blog, DM, etc to work out...but i have to remind myself so often just like you said that i run for me. no one out there cares about how hard i run, fast i run, how much i run...except for the dumb amount of pressure i put on myself. i honestly feel like you had a great week of workouts! it looks like you switched it up a lot and did what made you feel good! sometimes we need weeks like that. also...so glad to hear the stomach issues are getting better!

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  30. We eat the same thing for breakfast (nothing!), and the same thing for dinner (lazy!), but unless we both bring leftovers for lunch, we eat different things, since we work very far apart.

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  31. We typically eat the same thing for breakfast, and the same portions. He adds a homemade muffin to his bfast every day. Lunch, he's on his own & I bring leftovers. We also eat the same things for dinner, but he has larger portions + a salad with lots of olive oil (no dressing). He's healthy & not trying to lose weight, so it works for him.

    I don't post mine. Most of my FB friends are coworkers (I'm in the tech industry & that's the culture here - don't really love it), so I keep my FB posts pretty boring.

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  32. yeah vanessa, nice build up with the whole "wahhhhh i was so lazy all week and didn't do anything, booooo" and then... you worked out 5 days last week. NICE TRY.

    kale chips burn SO EASILY and it makes me FURIOUS. EXTENSIVE CAPS LOCK REQUIRED. BOLD UNDERLINE ITALIC TOO.

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  33. My sister lives with me and sometimes I cook for the two of us, but there are alot of foods (the green ones that are good for you) that my sis doesn't eat, so most of the time, I am just cooking for myself and then taking the leftovers for lunch the next day lol

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  34. Those workouts seem pretty good to me -- but it doesn't matter what I think anyway!

    As for food: I'm in the minority. I often eat more than Hubby. We're similar heights, and right now I'm training for longer-distance running while he's doing shorter stuff. Hence: I go back for seconds.

    On meal-types, I eat vegetarian 3-5 days/week. Hubby is only willing to give up meat 1 day. So while our meals are similar, Hubby's usually got meat or seafood on his plate, and I've got beans or soy.

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  35. you're right you shouldn't worry about the miles put in on daily mile. I found that whether I do 5km or 1km the group of friends on there are just as supportive. Add me when you get the chance, i have the same handle as my blog.

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