Overtime and Tuscany

Saturday

The morning didn’t start out on a great note. I awoke with a huge cramp in my calf. But, since there was not too much residual pain, and the fact that it was raining, I headed to the gym at about my usual time, but decided on a less intense workout to hopefully make my calves happy. Instead of running, I hit up the elliptical for this 55-minute endurance session:

Time	Level
0:00-5:00	5
5:00-10:00	7
10:00-18:00	8
18:00-28:00	7
28:00-36:00	8
36:00-41:00	7
41:00-46:00	8
46:00-50:00	7
50:00-55:00	5
5-minutes	Cool Down

No calf pain! I was sweating and working hard; don’t let the low levels fool you. The entire workout plus the cool down came out to 4.90 miles, so you can tell that I wasn’t tired from the speed aspect of it (I kept around 5.0mph). Then again, I don’t usually do speed work; I work on endurance. After core work and a shower, I had the usual for a slightly later than usual breakfast. Old-fashioned oats made in Raspberry Zinger tea, mixed with chia seeds, cinnamon, and flaxseed meal, and topped with Grape Nuts, cherry preserves, PB&Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams, and almonds.

I had intended to read for Biology before Lyle and I headed out for his hometown, but, let’s face it; it did not happen (at least very much). Though I did get to use something I learned this morning! A girl friend was having a pretty rough morning after a night out on the town and she asked me what she should eat for breakfast considering that she had been sick all morning. I remembered reading that bananas, fruit juices, and eggs are good for replenishing your body after a night out and so I gave her a banana to try. So far so good!

Since breakfast was so much later than usual, I didn’t eat lunch before we left and instead just brought along an apple and a Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar in case I got hungry on the ride out or before we were able to go out to dinner with Lyle’s mom and dad. I didn’t end up needing to eat them. We went out to a bar-type place and I had a grilled cheese (craved!) and fries.

There was a really big football game for the university this evening against Notre Dame. I was not able to tailgate with my roommates due to visiting Lyle’s family with him, but we were able to make it back in time before the game began and so at least we were able to watch the game and root for the home team. It was a very close, exciting match and we ended up winning in overtime! Unfortunately, the head coach, Coach Mark Dantonio, had a heart attack early Sunday morning. He will not be present at the next game. We are all praying for him to experience a quick recovery.

Sunday

Rest day, which meant sleeping in and it was very well deserved. My legs had hurt for the good part of yesterday,and luckily I did not wake up in pain again today. I did not wake up hungry, and wasn’t even hungry an hour after getting up and about and starting in on laundry and studying, but I knew that I needed to eat something since it was almost noon, so I poured myself a bowl of Cascadian Farm Raisin Bran with cinnamon and USVAB and peeled a banana.

Studying for Biology is becoming harder and harder to do. It is very difficult to read about something that you are not very interested in. Not to say that Biology is not interesting, just my textbook isn’t. I ate a Honeycrisp apple (favorite!) and a square of Lindt 85% dark chocolate a little while later. With 85% cacao, one square is truly all that you need to satisfy your chocolate craving.

Since breakfast was basically lunch, and I had that very satisfying snack, I essentially skipped lunch and went straight to an early dinner instead. Tuscan Veggie Bake (vegan) from Kashi. The smell? Amazing. The taste? Fair and slightly spicy. I wasn’t a huge fan of the texture of the noodles, but the filling and sauce was decent and it definitely made me think about fall and that’s one less item sitting around in our already stuffed freezer.

I started having pain a few minutes before I started eating, unfortunately, and that continued well into the evening. I can literally hear my body being upset with me and and feel the organs working at times, sometimes associated with the pain and sometimes not. As long as the pain goes away in the next 1-1.5 hours I may eat a bowl of cereal or yogurt or cottage cheese or something, but that all depends on how I feel later. Good thing I decided on the early dinner! I may have had to go through the day with hardly any food again, which would be disastrous for my run tomorrow morning.

What do you do for calf cramps and the resulting soreness?