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March 31, 2006

Feet Frustrations

Yeah, so my feet don't feel too good. They were hurting last night and I knew it wasn't good. This morning it was worse (as would be expected - the mornings are never good). So I'm bummed. But I'm not giving up just yet. I gave some thought to my training plan last night and again this morning while I was swimming (which doesn't lend well to keeping track of how many laps you've swam - trust me) and I've determined that a new approach might help me some.

My old approach was to run 3 days a week, a long run on Sunday (that I wanted to build up to 90 minutes and eventually longer through the summer), a short run after biking on Tuesday and a medium run (where I eventually wanted to add in some harder stuff) on Thursday. This apparently was too much. I don't know if it was the distance or the frequency of runs so I've decided cutting down on both might work.

I have to admit, I wanted to build up my long run in hopes of running a fall marathon. I didn't want to "race" a fall marathon, I just wanted to "run" one, because a couple of my friends and O wanted to do one in Ohio in October. I thought if I could build up my long run throughout the summer and just run 2 other times/week (in addition to all the swimming/biking) that would be good enough to get me through a fall marathon in 3:30 or 3:40. This might not be in the cards though. My feet just don't want to cooperate. Part of me wonders if I'll ever be able to run a marathon again, but then again I'm hoping my PF doesn't last for another 10 years, and I (hopefully) have a long life to live (and run marathons).

Regardless, I've determined that my new approach should involve only 2 runs/week, one after biking and one other shorter run that involves a little more intensity. Truth be told, all but one of the triathlons that I want to do this summer are sprint distances and therefore I don't need 12 mile runs to finish a 5K. What would probably serve me better is to be able to run 6:30 pace more comfortably. So that's my new goal - be able to run after getting off the bike, and be able to run a little faster. Running longer will have to wait. I hope my feet are agreeable to all this!

I know they won't be agreeable to this now though - they are quite upset with me as things stand today. So I definitely won't do my Sunday run and perhaps not Tuesday and will wait and see how they feel Thursday. Ugh. So many people tell me that they struggled with PF for years and then one day it just went away. That's REALLY hard to believe right now, but I'm trying to have faith that it will happen - one of these days! :)

The good news is, I swam a big PR this morning during my 600 yd time trial! I haven't done a time trial for a while, and definitely haven't done one since the botched time trial that I previously wrote about. I think I might have missed a time trial when I had the flu, but per my training log, my last time trial effort was February 10, when I swam 9:51.

This morning I warmed up with 400 yd easy, 200 yd kick easy, 200 yd easy and then launched into my 600 yds hard. I finished in 9:23! I was excited for a 28 second improvement, although I'm really not sure if that's significant. That could be equivalent to running 2 seconds faster over 5K for all I know, but improvement is improvement and I'll take it!

My swim workout looked like this:

400 yd easy, 200 yd kick easy, 200 yd easy

600 yd TT (9:23)
100 yd easy
5x100 yd on 2 (I was swimming them in 1:28-1:30 which is pretty good for me)

200 yd kick easy, 300 yd easy

That's 2500 yds total, 1100 yd hard and I was breathing pretty hard, let me tell you! I was thinking to myself when I was swimming that one good thing about triathlon training is that if one of the sports is going badly (aka running), you can easily be encouraged by another of the sports (aka swimming) and feel okay about things. Compare this to when you are a runner (as I have been for much of my life) and when things are going badly, there is no where else to turn. I'm trying to think positively!

So that's my morning. I love having days off work It's so nice outside too. I have to be good and work on homework this afternoon, but I'm picking up O after he's done at work (he walked to work this morning - that's how beautiful it is!) and we are going to check out some road/triathlon bikes. The cycling store in town is having this big sale and O encouraged me to look at getting a better bike. I'm very torn about whether we should spend so much money on a bike that I might not use that much. But on days when my feet are really hurting (such as today) I think to myself that I may be using this bike a lot more than I think! It would have to be a REALLY good deal. I guess we shall see!

Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Posted by beth at 9:09 AM | Comments (3)

March 30, 2006

Hot Hot Hot!

It was beautiful outside today - absolutely beautiful. In the high 60s, low 70s, a light breeze and a big, blue, sunny sky. This, in my opinion, is the best kind of weather there is. I don't enjoy the freezing cold and I abhor the heat and humidity, but this, this is heaven!

So you can't blame me for wanting to run even though my feet didn't feel that good. O and I drove to the trail (sans pooch - she needed a day off) and ran 8 mles in 62:55. That's actually exactly 2 minutes slower than I ran last week doing the same thing, but that's okay. I think the "heat" actually slowed me down a little! I was pretty thirsty from 3 miles on and was kind of hurting towards the end. Afterall, it was about 30 degrees warmer than the last time I ran. :) We determined that the trail is a perfect spot to run in the summer though, it's shaded and cooler by the river and just really nice.

I don't know what to do with my feet. I don't know if I should back off on running altogether, on days of running, on distance when I do run? I don't like any of those options but they aren't feeling better so I think I need to do something. For now, I'm not going to worry about it because I have a swim and then a swim/bike planned for the next two days, neither of which involve weight bearing on my feet.

I'm so excited that I have the next 3 days off work. I was really dragging at work today. I have a lot to do this weekend, but I'm sure I'll find some time for a nap or two, or three... :)

Posted by beth at 6:44 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2006

A Lift

Nothing too exciting to report today other than it's in the 60s and sunny here today! That's very fun. I walked outside in a short sleeve shirt and wasn't one bit cold. Good deal. I could take this weather every day of the year.

I went to the Pitt gym today after work, before class and lifted. My feet feel a little better today. I'm hoping they feel even better tomorrow so I can run in the 60/70 degree temps!

Time for dinner soon, and then class, and statistics. Oh my, the joy. :)

Posted by beth at 4:41 PM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2006

Trash

My feet felt a bit like trash today so I made the decision about mid-day to only do my spinning class tonight instead of spinning and then running after. I hope a few extra days off in between runs will get my feet to feeling better. They were sore walking around at work today which isn't a good thing. I hate that my feet limit me in what I want to do, but that's life. I've not lost all hope that one day my plantar fascitis will disappear altogether.

So I did my core and feet exercises when I got home from work and then headed over to the YMCA for the spinning class. My quads felt like complete trash during the class so it probably wasn't a bad thing that I had planned on skipping the run afterwards. I've been training pretty hard (for me) ever since I got over the flu 3 weeks ago, so this little break tonight probably wasn't a bad thing.

I'm also feeling pretty tired today. I think the lack of weekend (well I had one, it's just that I worked) is catching up. I usually catch up on my sleep over the weekends, so not getting my weekend naps is killing me! I know - such a harsh life I live! :) I think I'll survive though. Only 2 more days and then a 3 day weekend. The trick will be getting through class tomorrow night. The topic? Statistics. I will be seriously struggling to keep the peepers open for that one!

Posted by beth at 7:39 PM | Comments (4)

March 27, 2006

Brushing the Teeth

You'll be glad to know that every living creature in our house brushed their teeth tonight. That includes Roxy too - although I'm not sure how much of the toothpaste actually made contact with her teeth vs going straight down her hatch while she struggled to eat the toothbrush and I struggled to keep it in my hands. Kids these days!

Today I went to the gym after work to ride the bike (45 minutes w/5x3 minutes hard) and lift. It was fine. My feet needed a day where I wasn't on them while exercising (I'm definitely on them during the day at work). I was enjoying my lifting because I was watching and listening to all the college "kids" do their thing. I don't really feel like I'm that far removed from the college scene - I only graduated from Penn State 5 years ago and I'm still in grad school, but the more I hear the college students at Pitt talk, the older I feel. Today I was listening to a group of 4 guys discuss which dining hall they were going to go to for dinner. I almost asked them if I could go with them. I LOVED the dining halls at Penn State - I lived in the dorms all 4 years, mostly so I could always have a meal plan! It made me remember how much I loved college. I also really liked high school though. And come to think of it, I really like my life now. I guess it's a wash - I'm blessed no matter what the time period!

Anyway, I talked with my best friend today who just had a baby 2 weeks ago. She reported to me that baby Ella eats every 2-3 hours. I quickly did the math in my head and asked - well when do you sleep? She laughed. Hmmm. That was perhaps not the answer I was looking for.

In other news, the patient that I wrote about about a week ago is hanging in there. He's not really doing great, but he's also still living. I went in and sat with him for a little today. Not that he knew I was there, but then again maybe he did. I often wonder how aware critically ill, sedated patients really are. I know they are just that - sedated - but sometimes the way they look at you makes you think they really do have some sense of their surroundings. Anyway, I thought I would give a little update! I'm really hoping he gets off the ventilator again so I can talk with him at least once more. If I do get to talk with him, I've decided I'm going to ask him about his cows. He really liked to talk about them in our previous conversations - so that's going to be my angle.

Hope everyone has a great night!

Posted by beth at 8:26 PM | Comments (2)

March 26, 2006

Long Run, Long Day

Today has felt like a really long day. I'm not sure why - work was fine, nothing too hectic, just your usual every day work experience. When I got home, O, Roxy and I headed to the trail to do our long run for the week. My goal was to run 75 minutes and that's exactly what we did. We ran out for 38 minutes and back in 37. I'm calling it 9.5 miles which is probably right on. I didn't look at every mile split like I usually do so I'm not exactly sure our pace but the 2 random splits I did look at put us right at 7:50-8 minute pace. I wanted to take it a little easier today than my usual Thursday runs. Things worked out pretty well like that.

Now I'm home, showered, stretched and have eaten dinner. I feel like laying on the couch for the rest of the night and watching tv. Alas, I don't think that was meant to be. I have a few items on the to-do-list to tackle yet tonight, although I think the item entitled "homework" might not get touched. I'm so bad.

My feet have been a little on the sore side lately. They usually never bother me when I'm running but I can tell they've been more tender in the mornings when I wake up, and just walking around the hospital, etc... I'm not sure if that's from adding on distance (to the long runs) or the 3rd run on Tuesdays. I'll definitely have to keep my eye on them. I can handle a certain level of pain but I don't want to do anything that will cause irreversable damage.

And on that note, it's time to get to that to-do-list... Hope everyone has a great start to their weeks!

Posted by beth at 6:53 PM | Comments (1)

March 25, 2006

Duck Clothes

So there is this house up the street from where we live that has a duck statue on the front porch. It cracks me up because the duck always has a different outfit on. Sometimes it's wearing Steeler garb, around Christmas it had a Santa hat on. It had a little heart dress around Valentine's Day and naturally it has a shamrock cape on right now. I look for it every day on my way home from work to see if it changed clothes while I was gone. I think I'm going to have to sneak by one day and take pictures for my blog so you all can see it too. :)

Anyway, today I worked. It was a pretty nice, quiet day. Just the way I like it. After work I headed over to the Pitt gym. There was some sort of high school wrestling tournament going on in the building so there were skinny high school boys all over the place. Did I mention that they were STINKY, skinny high school boys? Wrestlers are an interesting bunch. Don't get me wrong, I think they are very tough athletes. The high school I went to had a very good wrestling program (that produced quite a few college All-Americans) and I respected them very much for their discipline and toughness, but the fact remains, wrestlers don't smell very good.

I digress. I did the bike and the elliptical at the gym today, 30 minutes each. I watched the Stanford-Oklahoma women's basketball game and wondered if there was a sport Stanford was NOT good at. We all know how well they perform in cross country and track, swimming, golf, baseball, etc... Anyway I also did my core exercises at the gym and then headed home. I plan on doing my feet exercises today as well.

One thing I don't plan on doing is homework tonight. I just can't bring myself to it. It will have to wait until tomorrow!

Week Summary:

Sunday - 70 minute run, core/feet exercises
Monday - 45 minute bike and weights
Tuesday - 1 hour spinning class, 20 minute run, core/feet exercises
Wednesday - lifting only
Thursday - 60 minute run
Friday - 3500 yd swim w/4x(300,200,100), 2x25 pushups, 2x100 crunchers
Saturday - 30 min bike, 30 min elliptical, core/feet exercises

Posted by beth at 6:49 PM | Comments (2)

March 24, 2006

Swimming PR

I must start by saying that days off work are a delightful thing. Sleeping in is something I believe I would enjoy all the time!

I didn't really get up this morning until 7 am (I was up earlier but didn't get out of bed for a bit). When I got up I didn't feel like swimming. That's odd - I usually look forward to going to the pool because it's something different and it doesn't seem to be as hard on my body. But this morning I was feeling lazy. I eventually got there though and was in the pool by 8.

Once I got in the water I was fine. I did the following workout:

400 yd easy, 200 yd kick easy, 200 yd easy

4 sets of
300 on 6
200 on 4
100 on 2

300 yd kick easy

That's 3500 yds total, 2400 yds hard, a PR on both accounts. I had actually only planned on doing 3 sets of intervals but as I progressed I thought doing 4 seemed like a good idea. For one, I was feeling pretty good, but I also can't swim tomorrow (because I work and the pool hours are much shorter on the weekends) and so swimming a little longer today seemed like a good plan.

And so now that I'm done blogging and icing my feet it's time for a shower and some stretching. O worked today but has an extra long lunch so he is coming home to eat with me. Yeah! And other than that we don't have many fun things planned - homework and cleaning the house tonight - but what can I say, it's gotta get done somehow! I hope everyone has a great start to their weekends!

Posted by beth at 9:36 AM | Comments (2)

March 23, 2006

Encouraging Progress

Today I went for my usual hour long run on the trail. It was warm enough to wear shorts (about 45 degrees) and by the end I was even down to shirt sleeves and shorts. Very promising turn in the weather. I also noticed how late it has been staying light outside. It was after 6 pm when I finished my run and not a hint of dark to be found. The exciting part is this will get even better in a week when we change the clocks back. Spring is here indeed!

Regardless, my run provided a little encouragement today. I ran by myself because O was tutoring and had already run with Roxy in the afternoon. I did have my iPod though which helps me a lot. I honestly think it's so good for me because I turn up the music loud enough such that I can't hear myself breathing so hard and I don't get as discouraged! :)

Anyway, I noticed I was running a little faster than usual on the way out. Not much faster, but more like 7:45-7:50 pace vs 8-8:15 pace. I usually run out for 31 minutes and see how close to the end I can get in 60 minutes. I don't usually get to the 4 mile mark in 31 minutes but I noticed today that as I was nearing the 31 mark, the 4 mile marker was just a bit up ahead and so I continued onto it and got there in 31:15. That only left 28:45 to get back, which I did not accomplish, but I did finish the full 8 miles in 60:55 which is much better than I have been doing. The encouraging part was that I felt much better doing it today. I was really just running comfortable until the last 2 miles or so when I had to concentrate a little more to continue that pace. I'm not breaking any speed barriers by any means, but after feeling pretty slow and out of shape on my recent runs, this was the extra little push I needed to keep going and keep positive!

In other news, Duke, who I had picked to win the National Championship, just lost to LSU. Humpf.

I have tomorrow off work because I work this weekend. I'm kind of glad about that. It will give me a chance to work on some homework and sleep in just a tad bit more than usual. That is never a bad thing!

Good night all!

Posted by beth at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2006

Humpf

I just got home from class and I am SAD with a capital "S"! Nothing bad happened, I'm just starting to feel the pressure of having only 5 weeks of class remaining but still 1 big stat assignment, 1 extremely large paper/presentation/grant project and 1 final exam all yet to be completed. The good news is, the end of a semester is always like this (well, maybe not this bad but still...) and I've survived every other time. I think the prognosis is good... :)

Regardless, I snuck in a lifting session over at the Pitt gym between a very busy day at work and the start of class. Nothing really exciting, although I did overhear a very interesting conversation between two college-type males regarding steroids. They were talking about one guy in particular who they felt was a "user". The fellow they were talking about was one big dude (it was pretty easy to pick out their topic of conversation). I was still surprised at their accusations for some reason though. I suppose it's a very realistic scenario that he could be on steroids but in my own naive world, I never would have suspected that on my own.

Nevertheless, I'm off to fold laundry and dream about statistics!

Posted by beth at 8:35 PM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2006

A Smattering of Thoughts

Today I took a spinning class (1 hour) and then went on a 20 minute run outside. The run was downhill and then uphill when I had to turn around and go back. (unfortunately the YMCA sits on a hill so there really isn't any way around it) The spinning class was very challenging - the hard instructor was there today. But I did pretty well and then actually felt kind of okay (whatever that means) on the run. I also did my core and feet exercises today.

What was going through my head while I was spinning and then running:

Thought #1

What is it about gloves and socks that dogs just cannot resist? I don't know if all dogs are like this but Roxy, and my parents' dog Hershey love to eat socks! They must be like chocolate for humans - just can't get enough. Roxy also loves gloves. Despite the fact that I hid my running gloves underneath my hat and windbreaker on the bed, she still sniffed them out and snarfed one up.

Thought #2

How do people feel about running through cemetaries? When I was in high school one of our running courses went through a cemetary and I didn't think twice about doing it. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. But today when I was running past a cemetary (and thought briefly of running through it to avoid the downhill madness that was soon going to turn into uphill madness), it didn't feel right to run through it. I don't know why the change of heart. Today it just seemed disrespectful.

Thought #3

I mostly thought about one of my all time favorite patients today. I think I've written before how I seem to latch onto some patients and really feel for them. Well there was a gentleman that I met about 3 weeks ago who came in because he was jaundiced (yellow). While he was in our hospital they diagnosed him with pancreatic cancer which, in case you didn't know, has a very poor prognosis. While I was talking to him, he asked me if he was yellow because he ate too many cashews. When he said that, it broke my heart. I was so sad for him because I knew he had no idea how sick he was. I got to know him pretty well after several visits. I just really liked the guy. He is actually from where I was born, a coal miner for 40 years and now, in his 80s, he has 17 head of cattle (whatever that means) that he cares for on his farm. I really, really respect people like him. He has worked harder in his life than I will probably ever work. And I bet he hasn't complained one day of it. He is so nice, very unassuming and non-demanding.

Well he came back in last week to have the surgery that will hopefully help him (but still, his prognosis is very poor) and give him a few more years. I saw him right after surgery and talked with him (still in good spirits!) and I inititally thought he was going to do very well. Unfortunately he's not doing well now, back on the ventilator and GI bleeding and they haven't been able to find the source of the bleeding. I was so sad to see him laying there in his bed today. I want desperately for him to survive this but I know he probably won't.

Anyway, I was thinking about him while I was spinning today. I was thinking how the pain he'll go through with this surgery and the recovery and pancreatic cancer in general is so much worse than any pain we could feel running or cycling or doing whatever it is we do. I prayed very hard for him. He doesn't have anyone that comes and visits (I assume he's outlived most of his family and friends), so I figure I can be his friend until (hopefully) he can go home again. I think I'll go see him first thing tomorrow when I get in. Of course he won't know that I'm there, but hopefully he can sense some surroundings.

And there you have it - my thoughts - just what you always wanted to read about! :) I hope wherever you live it didn't snow too much. It snowed here today some but nothing that stayed on the ground. I saw pictures of the midwest that didn't look so lucky. Of course those bums in the south are probably enjoying 70 and 80 degrees temps and sun, but we'll get them when it's 110 degrees with 900% humidity down there and nice and breezy and in the 70s here!

Posted by beth at 8:10 PM | Comments (7)

March 20, 2006

Happy (Cold) Spring!

Like many other parts of the country, spring started on a pretty chilly note in PIttsburgh. It's in the 30s, windchill in the 20s and it's supposed to snow tomorrow. Humpf. I really don't have any grounds on which to complain as it was a very mild winter and I spent much of it indoors since I didn't run much, but I am so anxious for it to be warm I can hardly take it. Funny thing is, it won't be long before I'm complaining that it's way too hot. :)

Anyway, I actually had to go to work this morning. I haven't worked a Monday for a while - first I was sick, then I had a vacation day. Mondays at work are usually pretty busy so it's not a bad day to miss. Nevertheless, I survived and had a pretty good day at work.

Afterwards I went to the Pitt gym and rode the bike for 45 minutes and then lifted. Nothing very exciting.

Tonight we brushed Roxy's teeth. I think she likes it. When O was trying to rein her in, she was sitting as if she was about to receive a treat and then after we were done and I was putting the toothbrush away, she was following me like she wanted more. She's one weird pup. She's extremely cute though, which has saved her more than once.

Alas - it's almost 8 pm and I still have some stuff to do before bed. Good night all!

Posted by beth at 7:37 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2006

Long Run

When we woke up this morning it was in the mid 20s with a windchill of 20 even (according to weather.com). It LOOKED so nice and warm outside though with a beautiful, sunny blue sky. I was so set on wearing shorts on our run I just couldn't bear the thought of tights, so even though my general rule is no shorts unless temp > 32 degrees, I put on shorts anyway.

So here's the thing - "look" and "feel" are two different things! I actually wasn't that cold (I still wore 2 long sleeves, a windbreaker, a hat and gloves) but occasionally when the wind would blow I felt frozen. And my legs were pretty red. Needless to say, the hot shower after our run felt veryyyy good. :)

Anyway, O and Roxy joined me on my "long" run this morning. I decided it would be a good idea to run to the park where the high school cross country course is, run the course and then run home. It was a pretty good idea and the timing worked out well, but the actual cross country course wasn't in very good shape. It was frozen and pretty muddy in places and a little scary to be running on. Roxy was a little mudball when we were done which necessitated a bath directly after our return home. She does have white paws and a white belly afterall.

We ran for 70 minutes total and although we ran awfully slow on the cross country course, I felt like we were running a pretty good pace on the roads. I also did my core and feet exercises today.

Other than running, we went to church, came home, ate lunch, read the paper and now I'm fighting off the urge to nap so as to finish my homework before we go back to church tonight for a meeting. I would really like to sack out on the couch right now and watch some basketball with my eyes closed. :) Unfortunately my brackets aren't looking too good all of a sudden. As I predicted, my uneducated guesses are starting to take their toll and I fell from 1st place in our contest to 7th in the span of just 1 day. I fear I might tumble even further after today!

Posted by beth at 2:11 PM | Comments (1)

March 18, 2006

Title Block Again

I've been struggling with titles lately. Not sure why. Perhaps after having a blog for 1.5 years I've just run out of ideas? :)

This morning O and I headed over to the YMCA for a swim (me), pitching practice/lifting (him) and a spinning class (both). My swim consisted of the following:

400 yd easy, 200 yd kick easy, 200 yd easy

15 x (50 yd hard, 50 yd kick hard) all with 10 seconds rest

200 yd easy

2500 yds total, 1500 yds hard. I swam in a lane with a big splashy guy. I swallowed water more than once.

Afterwards, the spinning class went pretty well. I've determined that I'm not a good sprinter on the bike, which should come as absolutely no suprirse because I'm not a good sprinter when running either. Turnover seems to be the skill I'm missing. I can't get over how quickly some people pedal - my legs just don't move that fast! I am a pretty good climber though. Not to say I enjoy long, steep hills, but I seem to do better at them.

In other news, I'm proud to announce that I am tied for first in our NCAA tourney bracket contest. I'm even beating O. I haven't lost any big ones yet (like O who had Kansas going to the Final Four), but I shouldn't get cocky. My picks are random and uneducated and bound to fail soon. :)

Summary for the week:

Sunday - 45 minute run, core/feet exercises
Monday - 77 minute bike ride (outside) and weights
Tuesday - 1 hour spinning, 15 min run, core/feet exercises
Wednesday - weights only
Thursday - 60 minute run
Friday - 3000 yd swim w/2x(50,100,200,300,200,100,50), 2x25 pushups and 2x100 crunchups
Saturday - 2500 yd swim w/15x(50, 50 kick), 1 hour spinning, core/feet exercises

Posted by beth at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2006

Rough Day

I'm having one of those days where everyone is being mean to me (okay, maybe not EVERYone) and I'm really busy and I have lots of hard stuff to do and I would rather be at home lounging around. Luckily my work day is going to be over shortly and I will be on my way home! :)

This morning before work I went to the YMCA for a swim. I haven't been to the pool for a while and boy could I tell! I did the following workout:

400 yd easy, 200 yd kick easy, 200 yd easy

2 sets of:

50 on 1
100 on 2
200 on 4
300 on 6
200 on 4
100 on 2
50 on 1

200 yd kick easy

That was 2000 yds hard and 3000 yds total. My arms were revolting towards the end! My quads were pretty sore today too, which I'm assuming is from my run yesterday. I survived just fine though and I'm very glad that I have already completed my workout for the day!

Regardless, I hope everyone has a great start to their weekends!

Posted by beth at 4:34 PM | Comments (1)

March 16, 2006

NCAA Picks

Well, the time has come - it's basketball all day Thursday through Sunday for weeks on end! I think it may be O's favorite time of year. I have to admit, I really like the NCAA basketball tournament as well. All the games are so close and exciting! I'm doing so-so with my picks so far. I was really sweating it out as O gave me the play by play of the Boston College/Pacific game (I have BC going to the elite 8 for goodness sakes!) on my drive home from work. I picked the Montana and Alabama upsets and also got Florida correct, but I messed up with Wichita State and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Let's go Duke! :)

Anyway, today O, Roxy and I went for a run when I got home from work. We drove to the trail. I've been a little frustrated with my running lately. I feel sooooo out of shape and I know it's because I am. It's hard to get in shape (after not running for about 6 months) when you only get out twice a week. I miss being able to run an easy 8 mile run at 7:30 pace and not thinking much of it. I was a little encouraged by today, we ran 60 minutes (actually 60:12 to be exact) by running out in around 7:50-8 minute pace and back in 7:25-7:30 pace. I really have to concentrate to run 7:30 pace though and it tires me out pretty good. I know I have to be patient but that's a hard thing to do when it comes to running!

My feet are hanging in there. They don't feel like a million bucks by any means but they allow me to run a couple times a week and that's all that I can ask. I also have a blister on the back of my heel that I got on our rainy Sunday run, but it seemed okay today. It hurts now after the fact but didn't bother me too badly while I was running.

And that's that! I'm glad tomorrow is Friday. I will look forward to not having much to do this weekend (other than ANOTHER paper to write for my class)!

Posted by beth at 6:57 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2006

Quick Lift

I usually try to lift on Mondays and Thursdays which isn't too bad other than on Thursdays when I run and lift and by the time I'm all done it's pretty darn late. It occured to me that if I lifted on Wednesdays it would really lighten up my Thursdays. I like to have one day totally off with no exercise but with all my recent sick days, knee hurts days, etc, I'm not too worried about it. Regardless, today I took a little break in my work day to go over to the Pitt gym to lift. Now I'm pretty pumped for tomorrow when the only activity on the docket is to run.

Nothing much else is going on. I have class tonight which is never fun. I'll be glad when this class is over - it's a lot of work and work is about the last thing I want to do! I'm even more excited for this spring semester to be done because I'm not taking a summer class. The thought of no homework is just delightful!

Posted by beth at 3:36 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2006

Good News

My bestest friend in the whole world gave birth to a healthy baby girl today! She was 7 lbs 1 oz. She arrived at 12:03 am this morning, holding out those extra 3 minutes so that her and her mom (my friend) would have the same birthday! I just got off the phone with my friend and she told me all the gorey details of the actual birthing process. You need a friend to tell you stuff like that. She told me it wasn't as bad as she thought, painful but doable (she didn't take ANY pain meds!) and that now she's just really tired. Sounds like running a marathon to me. :)

Regardless, today I had to go back to work and it seemed like a shock to the body. I actually forgot my password to one of the computer systems! UGH. But I survived. When I got home I did my core and feet exercises and then headed over to the YMCA for a spinning class. After spinning I attempted my first bike to run transition. I bundled up (it's not 70 degrees here anymore!) and headed outside for a quick 15 minute jog. I ran really easy. At first it felt like everything hurt but about 2 or 3 minutes in I was fine and actually felt better running than I have the past couple times when I just ran. I feel like I could possibly be sore tomorrow but the bike to run wasn't as bad as I thought. Of course there is a big difference between getting off the bike and running as hard as you can. :)

And now somehow it's already 8:30 pm and I need to go to bed soon. Good night all!

Posted by beth at 8:25 PM | Comments (2)

March 13, 2006

70 and Sunny!

I can't believe how nice it is outside! It was in the 60s when we woke up, just like a summer day! Happy! Of course at this time tomorrow it's supposed to be snowing, but I've made the most of the weather today so I can't complain...

I wasn't sure what I was going to do (exercise wise) when I got up but seeing that it was warm and sunny, O and I decided to go on another bike ride. Spinning is great for training, but I feel like I actually have to get on a real bike every once in a while too! On Saturday night we were exploring a little in the car and we made up an 8.6 mile loop from our house. It is on country roads so we can avoid traffic, although country roads = HILLY! Indeed this course in particular has one 1.4 mile uphill, not too bad at first but really steep in the middle and just long and ugly at the end.

We thought we'd maybe ride the course twice but after riding through the first time, we settled on a shorter, flatter loop for our 2nd loop. That 1.4 mile uphill was a killer! The nice thing about biking though is, you can coast and relax on the downhills, much more so than you can when you're running.

In the end, we rode 68 minutes, stopped at the YMCA to lift (both arms and legs) and then road the last 9 minutes home for a total of 77 minutes. I felt like it was a pretty good workout. And now my butt is really sore. :)

When we got home I hurried up and stretched and showered and then O and I went to his favorite, the Pizza Hut lunch buffet. You cannot deny O his pizza! He then dropped me off in town to get my hair cut, he went home to get the dog, they walked up and met me just as I was finishing, and we all walked home. I can't get enough of the warm weather, especially knowing it will be back to cold tomorrow.

So now I'm doing everything I can think of to avoid homework. My problem is, I don't have anything due per se, just a big project due at the end of the semester that definitely needs to be started but that I don't want to start. You know how that goes. What will end up happening is I'll put it off until the very end and then complain that there was no way we were given enough time to complete it properly. It's at that point that O usually reminds me that indeed I had plenty of time to do it, I just chose not to. Oh how I love the games I play with myself! :)

Posted by beth at 2:44 PM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2006

45 in the Rain

This morning when O and I woke up it was actually thundering and lightening! That's such an odd sound to me in the winter. Thunder and lightening is only a summer time thing... Regardless, by the time we got ready it was merely just raining. And it was also in the mid 50s, so not such a bad weather day at all.

We ran 45 minutes total, actually 46:30 to be exact since I underestimated some on the time it would take us to get back and we didn't want to walk home in the rain. It was nice to be out and running but I'm still feeling so slow and sluggish. Part of that might be me still getting over the flu I had, but I think much of it might be being out of running shape. I don't know when (or if!) it will happen, but I will thoroughly enjoy feeling like myself running again. Patience is key.

Afterward we went to church and then came home and haven't done much since! We've been watching a lot of basketball (March Madness is upon us!) and I took a 2 hour nap. I love Sundays! I especially love Sundays when I have the following Monday off as is the case today. I had taken a vacation day for tomorrow just because O has it off (make-up snow day that they never used). I kind of feel bad using it now that I missed much of last week, but I don't feel bad enough to say I am coming into work anyway. :)

Posted by beth at 4:21 PM | Comments (1)

March 11, 2006

Still Alive

So I survived my return to work on Thursday and again on Friday but I learned a valuable lesson - the fact that laying in bed all day is much less taxing than the whole process of getting up, driving to work, working all day, driving home from work, etc... In other words, I was pretty wiped out just from going to work on both Thursday and Friday. Who knew work could make you so tired? Either way, going to work is about all I did the past two days.

This morning I slept in. When we woke up it was in the 40s and the temps were supposed to get up to the 60s. I still felt kind of tired but I didn't want to squander such a nice day. So after lunch O and I decided to go for a bike ride (as in real bikes, not spinning). It was nice to be out in the warm weather and just to be outside in the fresh air in general. We rode for an hour, down along the Allegheny River, that is until we had to come back UP to where we live. This process involved several large hills which turns out really tired out our legs. I'm pretty sure I could have run up some of the hills faster. Then again, considering the running shape I'm in right now, maybe not. :)

In other news, I actually registered for my first triathlon. It's not until June but the race director warns that the race fills up fast and I didn't want to get left out. It's a sprint race, 0.3 mi swim, 13 mi bike and 3 mi run. It's in Charleston, SC, which is on the way down to visit my parents in Hilton Head Island, all part of our grand vacation scheme. I'm really looking forward to actually being able to do a triathlon after all this training, although at this point I feel kind of behind after struggling with my knee, then a cold, then the flu. Hopefully I'll be good from here on out.

And now for the most astounding summary for the week: (hold onto your hats!)

Sunday - 1 hour run, core/feet exercses
Monday - off
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - off
Thursday - still off
Friday - yep, you guessed it, off
Saturday - 1 hour bike ride, core/feet exercises

Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by beth at 3:12 PM | Comments (1)

March 8, 2006

Down for the Count

Hmm...where to start? Perhaps by saying that I don't ever remember feeling so utterly awful in a longgggg time. I also don't remember ever being so bed ridden - as in starting to worry about bed sores and blot clots from lack of movement! UGH!

So I was sick last week with a "cold", which I wrote about and then started to feel much better by Thursday/Friday of last week and was even back to my normal routine of work, exercise, etc... This past Sunday I ran and felt pretty bad but thought that was mostly due to being out of shape (which is still a strong possibility). I started to feel a little yucky Sunday evening but the badness came Sunday night when some how, some way, a truck hit me 10 times over and I missed seeing it. I woke up Monday (after about 1 hour of sleep) and literally felt like someone beat me up with a big stick. My back, neck, head and ears ached like I've never felt ache before. Worse than any muscle soreness I've ever felt. I was freezing cold, than stiffling hot. Well, I don't have to tell you - it was the flu, which I always seem to forget is about a million times worse than a cold.

I literally spent Monday and Tuesday in bed, all day. Every time I got up I was so dizzy I had to sit back down. No bother about food, I wasn't even hungry. That tells you how sick I was - I WASN'T EVEN HUNGRY! I wanted desperately to fall asleep and wake up only when I felt better but I could usually only sleep for about 1 hour at a time.

O made an appointment for me at the doctor's for this morning so he took today off work so he could help me get there and back. It was such a nice thing to do because driving in my state of dizziness would have been a very scary proposition. I didn't think the doctor was going to say much because I know they can't do anything for the flu, but I wanted to make sure I didn't have a sinus infection or something of that nature. Sure enough, he thought I had the flu but took a throat culture too (despite the fact that I don't have a sore throat). He did give me a prescription for some sort of anti-viral something or other and although it was darn expensive (even with my prescription plan) it seems to have helped.

I still get the dizzies and my back still hurts but I seem to be able to function a little better, at least enough to remove myself from the bed and fold some laundry. My goal now is to see if I can survive a full day at work tomorrow (and stop using my blessed vacation days for laying in bed feeling like crap) and then if all goes well, consider some type of exercise a couple days from now. I'm not sure if I got sick again because I came back too quickly from the cold I had last week, but I don't want to repeat the same mistake twice.

I was trying to think of the last time I felt this bad. I think it had to be my senior year in college the day after the NCAA cross country regional meet (where I ran out of my gord to be my team's 5th runner, a season when I was just barely hanging on being on the travel squad). I remember laying in my dorm room bed convinced I had meningitis - after all, what else could it be? :) O took me to the sports medicine clinic (he took care of me back then too) and my favorite doc laughed at me when I told her I had already diagnosed myself. She assured me I had the flu and sent me home with some painkillers. :)

So anyway, that's my story. I am going to go lay down now and watch some tv because I really haven't done that lately... :) I guess this is why people get the flu shot?

Posted by beth at 6:29 PM | Comments (5)

March 5, 2006

Hurtin' Puppies

Actually, to be more exact, it was two hurtin' humans and one happy-go-lucky pup on our hour run this morning!

O, Roxy and I set out with the plan of running for an hour. I could tell right away it was going to be a long run for me. I feel so out of "running" shape, the thought of a hour is quite a daunting task. But we took it easy from the get go and I felt like I could make it.

We had planned on running a course that O and the high school cross country coach did the other week, but it would be about 2 miles farther from our house. As we ran along I realized we had run down for quite a while, no big downhills but gradual down the whole first half, all the way to the river. O confirmed my fears that we were going to have one mighty big hill to run back up in order to get back home. Seeing as how I have done the majority of my running on a flat-as-a-pancake trail, I was a bit intimidated. And for good reason - when we finally got to the hill I was hurtin'. I didn't walk, but I was darn near close I was moving so slow! O was hurting too though, it was only Roxy that was looking around wondering what was taking us so long!

We did survive the hour although I was pretty tired out afterwards and I'm still feeling it now about 5 hours later! Roxy however has begged us to play ball, run around the house as usual, etc... all which made me wonder if there was any way she could do the running portion of my triathlon for me?! :)

I did have a triathlon dream last night, by the way, in which I finished the swim portion of the race but couldn't find my bike to start the cycling portion. That has got to have some sort of significance...

In other news I finished my first book for the year! This has got to be a record. I read Following the Flame, which is well over 400 pages. Now if I can just finish another book by the end of April I think I'll be in good position to reach my 4 book/year goal, and in much better time than last year when I was reading down to the last minutes of the year (literally). Anyway, I really liked the book. It reminded me of my own start in running and the journey that it has been through the years. Running is funny like that - in so many ways it shapes our lives, even if we don't think of it that way. I'm sure glad to have started the sport...oh, I guess about 15 years ago now? (that seems like a really long time ago) And I hope to continue (in whatever capacity my body will allow) for many years to come.

Posted by beth at 1:44 PM | Comments (4)

March 4, 2006

Swim and Bike

Apparently swimming has become very popular in Natrona Heights, PA because there were gads of people at the YMCA pool this morning! So many so that I actually had to circle swim for a bit - something I've not once had to do in my 4 months of swimming. I have my own lane for about 50% of the time and share a lane with just one other person about 50% of the time. But this morning all the lanes were filled up and I saw a guy eyeing up the lane I was in (and already sharing with the "fast" guy that swims and looks really good and does things like butterfly and breastroke). Hmm. Sure enough he asked if he could join in and we could circle swim to which I (of course) said "sure!". I then wondered what exactly circle swimming was. I quickly learned though and then realized my strategy should always be to leave the pool wall directly after the fast guy so it would take him longer to catch up to me. The guy that joined us though was slow and splashy and things got ugly for a while. I wondered how much worse a triathlon in open water would be - let's just add, say 150 others, to the circle swim and then we're talking... :)

Anyway, the circle swimming really only lasted for about 10 minutes because another lane opened up and the fast guy moved over into it. That left me in the lane with slow guy who took a while to figure out we weren't still circle swimming. Man - the complications of swimming! Runners never have to deal with stuff like this.

When it was all said and done I had finished a relatively easy workout of 2500 yds:

400 yd easy/200 yd kick easy/200 yd easy

5x100 yd on 2
5x50 yd kick on 1
5x50 yd on 1

200 yd kick easy/500 yd easy

After I finished my swim, I changed quickly and headed up to meet O for a spinning class. I started off feeling pretty sluggish on the bike but felt better as I got going. That's probably an important thing to remember for the triathlon - the first few minutes after a transition are probably going to be rough - but give it time, things will improve (hopefully!).

In other news, O and I are cooking up a turkey today. It's the turkey that I get every year for Christmas from work, the one that's been hanging out in our freezer for 2 months. We are also making mashed potatoes and an apple pie so if anyone is looking for Thanksgiving dinner tonight, come over our way! Roxy has been showing quite an interest in the turkey - I think she can smell it and has been hanging around the refrigerator far more often than usual (where said turkey is thawing out). We'll have to keep a very close watch on her while the turkey is cooking. I wouldn't put it past her to craw into the oven to get it.

In other, other news, O and I stopped by a bike shop last night when we were out and about. I gawked over the road bikes and almost fell over when I felt how light they are. I really almost fell over when I saw how expensive they were. Perhaps some day it's something I might invest in but for now, the heavy hybrid with big fat tires that I have will do. :)

In other, other, other news we bought a toothbrush for Roxy last night. Don't ask me why. Actually - I'll tell you why. O read an article in the paper how dog owners should brush their dogs' teeth. At first I thought it insane but then after an internet search felt like we were guilty of neglect for not brushing her teeth. Upon reading about all the bad things that can happen if you don't brush - I emailed the vet student who gave us Roxy and asked her what she thought. She confirmed - they need brushed about 2-3 times per week. Now I ask you - how many dog owners out there actually brush their dogs teeth? Either way, we felt guilty so we bought the toothbrush and toothpaste (no rinsing needed!) and are some point going to give it a try. I'll let you know how that one goes. :)

Week's Summary:

Sunday - 30 min bike, 30 min elliptical, core and feet exercises
Monday - 55 min run and weights
Tuesday - laying in bed and more laying in bed (aka off)
Wednesday - off (class)
Thursday - 60 min run and weights
Friday - 3000 yd swim w/5x(50,100,200), 2x25 pushups, 2x100 crunchers
Saturday - 2500 yd swim w/5x100,5x50 kick,5x50, 1 hour spinning class, core/feet exercises

Posted by beth at 12:55 PM | Comments (2)

March 3, 2006

Taking it Easy

I really don't have a hard time relaxing. Actually, if you ask me, I'm pretty darn good at it.

Today I didn't have to work so I got up at 7 when O was leaving for work. I ate some breakfast but didn't feel like going swimming right away (as was my plan) so I laid down in bed to watch the episode of ER that I taped last night. After that was over the pool was not open for lap swimming so I did some odds and ends until 10:30 or so when the pool would be open again. I read some, did some email, played ball with Roxy, all the while ignoring the fact that I could have been working on my big school project or revising the paper that I wrote for publication (that was accepted AFTER the reviewers comments were addressed of course... :)

I did finally make it to the pool where I swam 3000 yds.

400 yd easy/200 yd kick easy/200 yd easy

5 sets of (50,100,200) w/15 secs rest between intervals and 1 minute rest between sets

250 yd kick easy/200 yd easy (with some drills and breaststroke of all things!)

This workout was pretty hard, I think because 15 secs rest isn't very much. I survived though.

I came home and ate some lunch while icing my body down and then decided I needed to keep watching the show I started to watch (Judging Amy) until around 2 pm. And now it's finally time to take a shower and stretch some because O will be home in about 30 minutes and I want to make it seem as if I actually did accomplish something (at least taking a shower is something! :)

It's good to have days like this though because they allow you to run around like crazy on most other days, which is usually what I'm doing. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Posted by beth at 2:15 PM | Comments (0)

March 2, 2006

Back at it

Well I'm feeling much better - thanks for your well wishes! It's amazing what an extra 6 hours of sleep can do... :)

I returned to work yesterday and even survived my mid-term last night. I didn't ace it by any means but I don't think I did poorly either.

Today I again returned to work and came home after to run with O and lift weights. We ran for an hour flat on the trail. I felt okay but a little tired out. It was windy and snowing and blowing and the trail was pretty mushy from melted snow and rain so we were running a little on the slow side. No complaints otherwise. We stopped by the YMCA afterward to lift weights which went fine but thoroughly tuckered me out. I'm very glad to report I have tomorrow off work since I worked last Sunday. The 3 day weekend is a thing of beauty... :)

Posted by beth at 8:48 PM | Comments (1)