Saturday, December 13, 2008
I no longer despise biking.
I read that on someone's blog one time and thought, I wish I knew what that was like. Well today was the day. I crossed over to the "no longer despising side" YAY! Tell you more later.
Friday, December 12, 2008
I want to ride my bicycle ...
I want to ride my bike....
OK... I am bailing on the Jingle Jog previously planned for tomorrow. As it turns out earlier this week I got an invite for sort of meet and greet at a local tri club tomorrow morning. It is a tri club I was interested in joining so it worked out pretty darn well that the event is about 3 miles from the house. Kind of hard to turn it down. The event includes a 15ish mile bike ride which I am kind of nervous about. I know, what kind of toddler is nervous about riding a bike. Seriously. I think the face plant into the motorcycle at that tri still gives me flashbacks. I know. Get over it. Aside from that I am very excited as at the past couple of races I thought that having a group of friends would be great at some of these things.
On a related note, I got an early Christmas present which I dropped a big hint for so I love it when a plan comes together... I got a bike trainer! YAY! Super sweet!
OK... I am bailing on the Jingle Jog previously planned for tomorrow. As it turns out earlier this week I got an invite for sort of meet and greet at a local tri club tomorrow morning. It is a tri club I was interested in joining so it worked out pretty darn well that the event is about 3 miles from the house. Kind of hard to turn it down. The event includes a 15ish mile bike ride which I am kind of nervous about. I know, what kind of toddler is nervous about riding a bike. Seriously. I think the face plant into the motorcycle at that tri still gives me flashbacks. I know. Get over it. Aside from that I am very excited as at the past couple of races I thought that having a group of friends would be great at some of these things.
On a related note, I got an early Christmas present which I dropped a big hint for so I love it when a plan comes together... I got a bike trainer! YAY! Super sweet!
Monday, December 8, 2008
I forgot my pants!
Seriously. It was bound to happen. Frenzied bag packing the night before going to the gym at 5:20ish am. Packing a bag of work clothes, another bag of tennis clothes, breakfast, lunch, snack before tennis. I was bound to forget something. I was hoping it would not be my pants! Somehow, I realized it as I was walking into the gym. Just a feeling. I confirmed that feeling in the locker room when I looked in my bag and there were no pants to be found. DOH! hmmmm.... what to do....
Two options. 1. Go home and change and incur the wrath of crazy time keeping boss by being an hour or more late. Downside - unpredictably tempered boss could lead to mental pain for the entire day or longer. 2. Wear the black yoga pants I have in my tennis bag and hope the top dresses it all up enough to pull it off. Downside - wearing form fitting yoga pants all day is a little unprofessional and I might get sent home to change by the dress code gestapo...
I opted for the yoga pants and stayed in my office most of the day only getting up when necessary so as to go unnoticed by the dress code police. sigh..... It worked like a charm but I did feel oddly uncomfortable all day thinking that people were wondering what was up with the tight pants and just not saying anything to me. Paranoid and proud, that is me. For the record, they were not compression tights - I am not an idiot :) If that were the case, I would have definitely gone home!
On the bright side - there is a meet and greet for a triathlon club literally 3 miles from my house on Satruday so I am very excited... will fill you in later.
Two options. 1. Go home and change and incur the wrath of crazy time keeping boss by being an hour or more late. Downside - unpredictably tempered boss could lead to mental pain for the entire day or longer. 2. Wear the black yoga pants I have in my tennis bag and hope the top dresses it all up enough to pull it off. Downside - wearing form fitting yoga pants all day is a little unprofessional and I might get sent home to change by the dress code gestapo...
I opted for the yoga pants and stayed in my office most of the day only getting up when necessary so as to go unnoticed by the dress code police. sigh..... It worked like a charm but I did feel oddly uncomfortable all day thinking that people were wondering what was up with the tight pants and just not saying anything to me. Paranoid and proud, that is me. For the record, they were not compression tights - I am not an idiot :) If that were the case, I would have definitely gone home!
On the bright side - there is a meet and greet for a triathlon club literally 3 miles from my house on Satruday so I am very excited... will fill you in later.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
the day the reality of long runs set in...
You know, I thought what I had done before seemed like long runs. Not so. Today was a long run. (or long in my book). The reality of how long 17 miles is and how long that might actually take to run hit me like a brick wall today. My last long run post-stress fracture was 13 miles last week so 17 was probably stretching it but I have about 4 weeks to Disney and really wanted to get the miles up there in the next 3 weeks so I could do a shorter distance run the last weekend before Disney. I have been playing catch up ever since the doctor released me to start running again so I think this weekend should put me back on schedule. Seventeen miles is probably a stretch going from a distance of 13 so I hope I don't regret this later this week (or later tonight, or in a few minutes when I try to get up from this chair...).
In all honesty, the hardest part - as usual - is getting out of the house to do it. Not doing it was not an option as a three plus hour run can only be done on the weekend and today is Sunday. I knew it might be mentally difficult to keep running for 17 miles without a group for distraction. (I couldn't meet with the group yesterday as the timing didn't work out my tennis match so I was on my own today). Given it was all about self motivation today, I had 4 different options for routes in my head. I finally settled on Stone Mountain thinking that I could at least stop at the car every 5 miles and get a drink, GU Gel, whatever. Even as I rolled in to the parking lot at Stone Mountain at about 9:15 I was debating which routes within the park I would run. I finally opted for 3 loops around the mountain with an extra couple of miles tacked on the end and then walk back to the car to cool down.
Miles 1 through 5 were OK, mostly just trying to warm up. It was 40ish and windy this morning which normally I think is perfect running weather but is chilly once you get started. I stopped at mile 5, quick drink of Gatorade and gel and kept going. (Oh, quick stop at the bathroom, made the mistake of looking in the mirror - you know I really should run a brush through my hair before I run!) I felt really good on miles 6 through 10. I have no idea why. Maybe all the conditioning is paying off and that leg is no longer torture. Stopped again at mile 10 for another drink and a gel. Miles 11 - 14 still felt good. I think I had that "i am on the last loop" high. At around mile 14.5 I was really feeling it (and probably this is why all the plans only increase mileage by 1-2 miles a week...). My knees were starting to hurt, my crazy big toe joint (I am pretty sure that is the medical name for it) was hurting. The wheels weren't really falling off the cart but the run went from comfort mode to "let's just finish this thing" mode. I FINALLY made it to 17 and started the 1.5ish mile walk back to the car. In retrospect, a dumb idea. It is still 40ish and windy. I don't run in a jacket just a long sleeve tech shirt and knee tights. I cooled down pretty quick and could not convince my legs to run to the car to warm up (darn legs have a mind of their own...) so it was a pretty darn cold walk back to the car. BRRRRRR... The run today was right around 3 hours by the time I got back to my car including the walk.
The run wasn't all torture, don't get me wrong, it was really just that last little bit. I was happy that I felt good right up to the end and honestly, that was my own fault for trying to tack on too much mileage. On the up side, I have gotten really good at attacking the hills from running at Stone Mountain (trust, me there are plenty of them - if you run one direction it is slightly less uphill but for some reason I decided to run the extra hilly way today). I think what works best is to just look down and keep your normal pace and not even look up until you think you are almost there. I know some people have little mantras they repeat when going up a hill. For me, I just put my head down and keep going like it is flat pavement.
I was also working on taking it easy and pacing. I really don't want to start out fast at Disney and expend all my energy in the first half. I would like to run the whole way without long walking breaks if possible. I have been reading a lot of race reports that talk about how surprised runners are that most people are walking at mile 22ish. I want to still feel good to run at that point so I think pacing will be important. I want to enjoy it and not kill myself. It will be my birthday after all!
Not much else to report. I got some major cleaning done downstairs yesterday - FINALLY moved some items upstairs that needed to be moved oh - I don't know - maybe three years ago. ahhhh... DONE! I am doing some cookie baking this afternoon in what time is left after my all morning running adventure. Tomorrow is boot camp in the AM, tennis in the PM. Oh! I made the mistake of looking at my 401k account Friday. For the love of God, don't do it! I am not naive, I know the market is waaaaay down. I just had chosen not to calculate what that might mean to me personally. All I can say is WOW. I will not look at it again. Maybe until I retire.
In all honesty, the hardest part - as usual - is getting out of the house to do it. Not doing it was not an option as a three plus hour run can only be done on the weekend and today is Sunday. I knew it might be mentally difficult to keep running for 17 miles without a group for distraction. (I couldn't meet with the group yesterday as the timing didn't work out my tennis match so I was on my own today). Given it was all about self motivation today, I had 4 different options for routes in my head. I finally settled on Stone Mountain thinking that I could at least stop at the car every 5 miles and get a drink, GU Gel, whatever. Even as I rolled in to the parking lot at Stone Mountain at about 9:15 I was debating which routes within the park I would run. I finally opted for 3 loops around the mountain with an extra couple of miles tacked on the end and then walk back to the car to cool down.
Miles 1 through 5 were OK, mostly just trying to warm up. It was 40ish and windy this morning which normally I think is perfect running weather but is chilly once you get started. I stopped at mile 5, quick drink of Gatorade and gel and kept going. (Oh, quick stop at the bathroom, made the mistake of looking in the mirror - you know I really should run a brush through my hair before I run!) I felt really good on miles 6 through 10. I have no idea why. Maybe all the conditioning is paying off and that leg is no longer torture. Stopped again at mile 10 for another drink and a gel. Miles 11 - 14 still felt good. I think I had that "i am on the last loop" high. At around mile 14.5 I was really feeling it (and probably this is why all the plans only increase mileage by 1-2 miles a week...). My knees were starting to hurt, my crazy big toe joint (I am pretty sure that is the medical name for it) was hurting. The wheels weren't really falling off the cart but the run went from comfort mode to "let's just finish this thing" mode. I FINALLY made it to 17 and started the 1.5ish mile walk back to the car. In retrospect, a dumb idea. It is still 40ish and windy. I don't run in a jacket just a long sleeve tech shirt and knee tights. I cooled down pretty quick and could not convince my legs to run to the car to warm up (darn legs have a mind of their own...) so it was a pretty darn cold walk back to the car. BRRRRRR... The run today was right around 3 hours by the time I got back to my car including the walk.
The run wasn't all torture, don't get me wrong, it was really just that last little bit. I was happy that I felt good right up to the end and honestly, that was my own fault for trying to tack on too much mileage. On the up side, I have gotten really good at attacking the hills from running at Stone Mountain (trust, me there are plenty of them - if you run one direction it is slightly less uphill but for some reason I decided to run the extra hilly way today). I think what works best is to just look down and keep your normal pace and not even look up until you think you are almost there. I know some people have little mantras they repeat when going up a hill. For me, I just put my head down and keep going like it is flat pavement.
I was also working on taking it easy and pacing. I really don't want to start out fast at Disney and expend all my energy in the first half. I would like to run the whole way without long walking breaks if possible. I have been reading a lot of race reports that talk about how surprised runners are that most people are walking at mile 22ish. I want to still feel good to run at that point so I think pacing will be important. I want to enjoy it and not kill myself. It will be my birthday after all!
Not much else to report. I got some major cleaning done downstairs yesterday - FINALLY moved some items upstairs that needed to be moved oh - I don't know - maybe three years ago. ahhhh... DONE! I am doing some cookie baking this afternoon in what time is left after my all morning running adventure. Tomorrow is boot camp in the AM, tennis in the PM. Oh! I made the mistake of looking at my 401k account Friday. For the love of God, don't do it! I am not naive, I know the market is waaaaay down. I just had chosen not to calculate what that might mean to me personally. All I can say is WOW. I will not look at it again. Maybe until I retire.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Time for new shoes...
I had to break down and buy a new pair of running shoes today. My best guess is I probably have between 400-450 miles on them and the tread was starting to show wear so it was time. I had good luck with this last pair so went with the same kind only new :)
Not much else to report.... Although, subconsciously I must have some worry going on about Disney. I had a dream last night that I was at Disney and they were pressuring me to buy all these things like running shoes and clothes. It was stressing me out - so much so that I woke up in one of those panics where it takes forever to get back to sleep. I may be the only person in the world to have a nightmare about the "happiest place on earth".
I ran 3 miles today. It was supposed to be 5 according to plan. Oh well... I was tired. Boot camp tomorrow! I am excited to go back. I skipped Wednesday because I literally had worked my triceps so hard on Monday that I could not bend my arms. OUCH!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Nothing like tennis in the winter!
I headed out tonight for yet another match. With this rain this weekend, I have tennis for the next four nights which, combined with boot camp and my running plan in the mornings makes for a long day. Tonight's match was particularly brutal as it was in the low 40s. Yes, we play outdoors. No, we don't have indoor courts. Tennis is a year round event in Atlanta. It does get cold here but not cold enough to hae an abundance of indoor courts around town. I can think of maybe 2 or 3 in the entire metro area. So you play in the cold or you take the season off and sit inside. I chose playing in the cold.
Tonight was one of those matches where you wonder if you are burning the candles a little too far on both ends to be effective. I just didn't play that well AT ALL. I felt tired (and I guess who wouldn't after getting up at 4:44 and starting the day with a boot camp workout). It was just frustrating because you see your friends getting better and moving on but I stay in the same level, hovering near the top of my division but never quite finishing it off. It is just the reality of having too many things I am trying to accomplish at one time so I can't give enough attention to one or the other to really excel. I feel like I have whined about this to the blogworld before... So. boo hoo me. I am over it now. Just the reality of needing to let one of the tennis leagues go so I have some time to actually rest and not drag my lifeless body from one activity to another. Maybe one day I will take my own advice and take a break. Maybe... someday.
Oh! Boot camp instructor. I really like him. Today he recounted all the foods he made for Thanksgiving dinner. A trainer that eats real food on occasion - nice! The only downside is I have this craving for sausage balls that is not going away... I am not sure what region(s) of the country know the delicious goodness of a sausage ball but I have met several midwesterners who have never had this little bite of heaven. Basically, it is sausage, bisquick and cheese formed into bite size balls and baked. YUMMMMMY!
Double oh! On another front, I realized tonight that my Get Fit Club meets through April so I might be able to get some long runs in with them before Disney which is sweet because who really wants to run for 3 to 4 hours by themselves? That might take a little more focus than I might have. The downside is they run on Saturday mornings across town which kind of conflicts with ... tennis. Yes, the conflict again. I may have to sit myself out of the lineup a week or two to get a run in. We'll see. I'm excited to find out this nugget of information as I thought I had fallen too far behind when I had my stress fracture to keep running with them.
Tomorrow. 6 miles according to Hal Higdon, tennis practice at night.
Tonight was one of those matches where you wonder if you are burning the candles a little too far on both ends to be effective. I just didn't play that well AT ALL. I felt tired (and I guess who wouldn't after getting up at 4:44 and starting the day with a boot camp workout). It was just frustrating because you see your friends getting better and moving on but I stay in the same level, hovering near the top of my division but never quite finishing it off. It is just the reality of having too many things I am trying to accomplish at one time so I can't give enough attention to one or the other to really excel. I feel like I have whined about this to the blogworld before... So. boo hoo me. I am over it now. Just the reality of needing to let one of the tennis leagues go so I have some time to actually rest and not drag my lifeless body from one activity to another. Maybe one day I will take my own advice and take a break. Maybe... someday.
Oh! Boot camp instructor. I really like him. Today he recounted all the foods he made for Thanksgiving dinner. A trainer that eats real food on occasion - nice! The only downside is I have this craving for sausage balls that is not going away... I am not sure what region(s) of the country know the delicious goodness of a sausage ball but I have met several midwesterners who have never had this little bite of heaven. Basically, it is sausage, bisquick and cheese formed into bite size balls and baked. YUMMMMMY!
Double oh! On another front, I realized tonight that my Get Fit Club meets through April so I might be able to get some long runs in with them before Disney which is sweet because who really wants to run for 3 to 4 hours by themselves? That might take a little more focus than I might have. The downside is they run on Saturday mornings across town which kind of conflicts with ... tennis. Yes, the conflict again. I may have to sit myself out of the lineup a week or two to get a run in. We'll see. I'm excited to find out this nugget of information as I thought I had fallen too far behind when I had my stress fracture to keep running with them.
Tomorrow. 6 miles according to Hal Higdon, tennis practice at night.
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