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July 31, 2005
Exploring
Since the conditions this morning were not too horrendous, I decided to go exploring some. Those who know me realize this could be very dangerous. I actually do have a pretty good sense of direction most of the time, but when I get lost, I get really lost. This can happen more when I run because when I am having a good run I can totally and completely zone out, therefore not pay any attention to where I am. This has turned a ten mile run into a 17 miler before. Oops!
I wanted to find some sort of extension to the G trail that didn't involve an out and back. The little out and back isn't bad, but I have been told there was a loop on grass if I crossed the road, so I decided to try it. I figured that if K and K could do it yesterday without getting too lost, I could probably do it too. J had told me that he did this loop many years ago and that it was about a mile. They say that what goes up must come down, but I swear that this kept going up and never came down, yet I did finally end up close to where I started. It was definitely more than a mile, probably about two based on how I felt today. I made it out to the end of the G trail in just over 19 minutes (it usually takes me just under 20) and this loop with the neverending uphill took about 14 minutes, then the final portion back was just under 19 as well. I was hoping to run an hour so that I could hit 50 miles this week. In order to get to sixty minutes I kept looping around near the parking area.
I was surprised by how good I felt this morning. Yesterday's run was tough. It may not be one of our longest runs, but the hills in it are some of the toughest hills we ever hit. I really believe that subjecting myself to sitting in the bathtub with 16 pounds of ice is my saving grace.
This afternoon I went to the gym and did the elliptical for half an hour and then went to yoga. One of my gym friends gave me a card for a free yoga class at one of the real yoga studios, not the cheap/free classes they hold at the gym. The pass expires on August 8th, so I'm going to have to use it up soon.
Well, that's about all folks. Hope that everyone had great weekends!
Posted by Blondie at 07:00 PM | Comments (0)
July 30, 2005
The Return of the Muggies
After two beautiful days, the muggies returned today. In my grogginess getting ready this morning I hardly payed attention to the weather report. I don't think that they even stated what the humidity was. I knew that the temperature was not all that bad, so I put on a long sports bra and shorts. I figured that I would be OK in that. Was I ever wrong. As I headed out the door with all my stuff in tow to head to the gym after the run I was surprised to discover how moist the air was. The saving grace was that it really was not very hot at all.
We got started without much of an agenda as to which course we were going to do. Some of the high school boys decided they were going to do the 16 mile out and back course. Calling them the high school boys is a little unfair since only one of them is still in high school. One is going to be a freshman, one finished his freshman year and the other will be a senior in high school. Two of the other guys (K and K) wanted to go about 90 minutes, a little bit further than I am ready to do, so I stuck with M and B. K and K ran with us for the first part and then added a little extra loop on. The course we did is pretty but has some nasty hills on it. We went out like we would do the out and back, but went straight up an up and down road to a covered bridge (where I run to on my "trail" run) and then did the road portion of my trail run. Then we jumped on the trail that I have become best friends with over the past few weeks. Once we finished the trail portion of the run the fun part started. The road that we turn onto has been under construction for at least six months. There is a six foot ditch right now with a board that is about 10 inches wide as a bridge over it. Needless to say, we had to stop to climb over this board. Once on the road the fun began since this road is about a mile and a half of series of steep uphills. After reaching the top there is a slight down hill section before turning for home. The last half mile or so is the most difficult part of this course for me. You think that you are almost done, but still have a bit left. Not only that, the road is a slight uphill that you can't really see is uphill, but after the bitch of a climb you have just finished, your legs are telling you to please stop running uphill. Anyhow, we finished the run in 80 minutes. We have run it faster, but under nice temperate conditions. I think that the last time we ran it in the summer it was a little bit over 80 minutes. We think the course is about 11 miles, but it is hard to guess since there is the trail part to it. If it is short, I don't mind calling it 11 because those hills are tough. B kept complaining about how hard the hills are. M is so strong at running hills and I fall somewhere in the middle.
I went to the gym and thought I would do the elliptical for half an hour, but my feet were not going to have it. My feet were burning up, so I decided to get off the elliptical after ten minutes. I rode the bike for the remaining fifty minutes to get an hour of cross-training in. I stretched out some of my tight spots and will do some more later on this afternoon. I also lifted, I could not get as much as I wanted to get in because the weight area was more crowded than usual.
This afternoon I wanted to go vegetable shopping. I don't know if it is national or only in this area, but I wanted to go to Produce Junction to get some fresh veggies. I've been buying them in the grocery store, but at Produce Junction you can get so much for next to nothing. Most people don't like to buy produce there because you get such a large quantity, but I've been eating so many veggies lately that I am going to the grocery store on an almost daily basis to buy veggies. Speaking of veggies, I have to head out to my garden to pick some of the ripe tomatoes that I didn't get around to picking yesterday.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
Posted by Blondie at 01:04 PM | Comments (1)
July 29, 2005
Being Vindictive
Well, maybe not. I am invited to a wedding next weekend, the same person whose shower and bachelorette party I have alluded to recently. I responded to her invitation in a timely fashion, I attended the shower and brought a gift, and even went to the god-awful bachelorette party. I still have not bought a wedding gift, and at this point really have no desire to do so. The shower was three weeks ago and I have yet to receive a thank you note. This makes me want to spend no more of my very little money on a gift for the happy couple. I thought that the etiquette for thank you notes for a shower was two weeks. Right now the only reason I want to go to the wedding now is to get dressed up and wear the dress I wore to a wedding last summer that I really like.
No running today. I did the elliptical for 40 minutes, sandwiching a yoga class. I have found that I am so much less flexible in the morning hours and loosen up as the day goes on. This morning there was no way that I could touch my toes, but right now I could easily reach the ground.
As I was going into the gym this morning I saw two women who I frequently see on the G Trail. They asked me if I was going to run and I reminded them that Friday is my day off. Then I mentioned that I was out there on Wednesday and didn't see them. They both proceeded to tell me how stupid I was to go out and run in such awful conditions. What can I say, I like my schedule and am a creature of habit.
There really isn't too much to write about when you don't do a workout. I could write about my boring day, but that would put everyone to sleep. Hope that everyone has a great weekend!
Posted by Blondie at 06:56 PM | Comments (1)
July 28, 2005
Good Days Are Returning
After what was probably one of the most disgusting days in recent memory, today was absolutely beautiful. My suspicion that the heat and humidit were so difficult to tolerate because it had been such a long time since we had such extremes was verified last night. Before this recent spell of heat and humidity, the last time it had felt like it was over 100 degrees was in August of 2001. It seems as if the whole country is being gripped by higher than normal temperatures this summer, it has been on the national news about heat waves everywhere. Major thunderstorms last night brought comfortable weather today.
I am finally starting to feel good again. I had read somewhere that recovery can take longer after a bad race. This author hypothesized that you should take one week easy for each bad mile you have in a marathon. Since I had about eight really bad miles, this would make sense. The actual speed and turnover are not necessarily back yet, but it is not nearly as taxing as it had been just a few weeks ago.
Tonight's "workout" was on the top loop of our warm-up course. The loop is about 0.9 miles with a bit of a hill. We jogged down to the bottom and the workout was to push up to the top and then jog back around to the bottom. At least it was not an up and down, it was a loop to make it slightly less boring. The workout was to do three ups or 20 minutes. I tried to keep the tempo up for the entire loop, pushing more on the up. I got done the third up in 14 minutes, so I would have had enough time to do a fourth, but J told me to jog out for 3 minutes and jog back for the last three. I got to the turn for the up portion in less than 3 minutes so I just jogged the up portion of that loop instead of turning just to turn around. I didn't really make any difference since I finished that loop in just over 20 minutes.
I spent some time today looking for flights for the race that I am running. I was trying to find something that does not go over my travel stipend, but have not had any luck yet. The closest I have found is about $25 more which considering that is probably the only money that I will spend for this race is not too shabby, I pay more for some of the local 5K's. In addition, most people do not get travel stipends to go to races, so I should not be complaining about it at all. I'll book a flight in the next few days and then there's no backing out.
Posted by Blondie at 08:13 PM | Comments (2)
July 27, 2005
Gardening
Plants really are not my thing. I don't know what plants are what, or even flowers for that matter. I do, however, enjoy planting vegetables. We don't really have a garden, per se, we have a container garden. Next year, if I still live at home, we may have a real plot of a garden. Most of our vegetables are tomatoes, primarily cherry tomatoes, but we also have some pepper plants as well as an herb garden. With the hot weather, they have been so thirsty. The plants require watering at least twice a day, and even with that, the basil plant looks like it is going to dry up by the middle of the day, only to revive itself once the sun goes in. I was too busy on Monday to tend to the garden, so yesterday when I picked the vegetables there must have been close to 100 tomatoes to get picked. I'm not quite sure what to do with all of them. I may make some kind of summer tomato soup, a tomato sauce, or salsa. It took me nearly half an hour to pick all of the tomatoes that were ripe and I was so hot even though I was hardly doing anything.
This morning was not quite as nice as yesterday morning. It did not really cool off over night, the low was in the 80s. I woke up early, but it took me a while to get on the road to run. I was having some kind of eye issue. My left contact was causing that eye to tear and water uncontrollably. I looked like I was crying and was having a hard time keeping that eye open. I didn't want to get out in the middle of nowhere and have eye issues, so I waited until that was under control before I got started. As I pulled into the little parking lot at the head of the trail there was a weather report on the radio stating that the heat index was already at 98. This reinforced my plan to just take it very easy.
I carried a small bottle of water with me again today. I find it very awkward and barely touch it, but would rather have it if I need it since there is not a fountain on the trail. Once again I decided to stay completely on the trail to stay out of the sun. I would rather run out to the bridge on the road because that makes the run just about the right length, but sometimes staying cool is more of a priority. I felt like I was running slower than yesterday, but when I got back to the car it was 35 seconds faster. One of those weird things I just don't get. I had to add on another ten minutes, but I didn't feel all that bad. I hardly touched my water yet again. In fact, both yesterday and today I put the bottle down when I got back to the car for the final portion. Today when I tried to squirt water in my mouth most of it ended up down my sports bra, but that actually felt really good. I was thinking that I wasn't nearly as sweaty as usual, but when I got done I looked at my shorts and realized that I was sweating just as much as usual.
Tonight I plan to go to yoga during my mom's water aerobics class so I won't be back until late. I've been noticing that when I don't have to work I feel like I am busier. I think that it may have something to do with that I try to do more things with my mom out of the house. For example, last night we went out to get her soft sports bras because she is getting burned from the radiation. During school, I would not have been able to do that since I would have to get to bed so early. In general I also seem to be less productive when I'm not working, probably because I think that I have all of the time in the world.
Stay cool and drink up!
Posted by Blondie at 12:38 PM | Comments (2)
July 26, 2005
Hot Hot Hot
Today was HOT!! With the heat index it felt like 110 this afternoon. Hopefully today was the worst of it. My fear is that this morning was not as hot as tomorrow morning is going to be. The afternoon is not supposed to be quite as bad tomorrow since there is the threat of thunderstorms. I was very happy that I got my run in during the "cooler" morning hours.
I didn't feel too bad this morning. I made an effort to stay relaxed and not do too much. The G Trail had hardly anyone on it, so most people did take the excessive heat warning seriously. I did something that is not one of my favorite things to do: I carried a small water bottle. My saving grace last night was chugging as much water as humanly possible. I'm trying to do the same tonight. I hardly touched the bottle, I drank about two ounces of water. My other decision was to stay exclusively on the trail rather than coming off for my addition. I got about 7 miles in total, perfectly fine considering the conditions.
After my run I headed over to the gym and rode the bike for an hour. Somebody left a Runner's World from last summer there, so I read that. I can read them over again if they are old enough. After riding I lifted. By the time I started to lift it was nearly lunch time, so I kind of scrimped. I actually had some motivation to lift, but hunger was more of a concern.
Hope that everyone is staying cool and drinking lots of water!
Posted by Blondie at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2005
4:12
That is what time I woke up to thunder and lightning this morning. I don't understand how some people love thunderstorms. I am petrified during them, but some of my experiences would definitely contribute to that fear. I can hardly sleep during a storm in the first place, but my bed is right next to a window and I sleep facing that direction, so the lightning wakes me up very easily. I also ate late last night since I was not satisfied after the barbeque that I went to; there wasn't much other than hamburgers to eat.
The good days are coming more and more often now. Yesterday was relatively pleasant. The weather was on the nice side. I still decided to run on the G trail to take some of the pounding off of my legs. I felt so good that I decided to add five minutes on to what I planned to do. If my true OCD tendencies were in full force action, I would have added on ten minutes, but my mind won out that doing an hour was not going to be a good idea.
The rest of yesterday was spent entertaining my brother and one of his law school roommates who came by for lunch on their way back to DC. Then my mom and I ran some errands and I went to a barbeque. Since P and E were here for so long, I didn't get to go to yoga or stretch, or even do my core exercises.
The heat and humidity started to come back today. By the time I got to the track for tonight's workout it was so sticky. I was dripping with sweat just standing around before we started out on the warm-up. Tonight's "workout" was to do 30 seconds on and 90 seconds off. J isn't running since he hurt his knee (again) playing in the ocean, so he blew a whistle to let us know when to go up and down. He kept telling me to slow down, but after I didn't really back off the pace he asked how I was feeling. I told him that I felt good and he did comment that I looked relaxed (a huge accomplishment for me) and my splits were really even. We did 10 sets, or 20 minutes of these. I was soaked when I got done the workout and even more so after the warmdown.
I had to buy some groceries so that I could eat dinner tonight and had no dry shorts to put on, so I ended up in the grocery store in my soaking wet outfit. I decided that I would buy some ice and take an ice bath after tonight's speed work. The ice melted so quickly when I tried this on Saturday, so I bought the bigger bag of ice. The problem was that some of it had melted and refrozen so there was a huge clump that would not separate. My hope is that it will help me feel better tomorrow morning. My other change tonight is that I am just chugging as much water as I possibly can to help the run in the morning.
Posted by Blondie at 08:47 PM | Comments (0)
July 23, 2005
Heat Wave
Did you know that to technically be considered a heat wave it must hit 90 for three consecutive days? So say the meterologists we have around here. That makes me wonder if the same criteria applies in other places. Like, in Minnesota, where it is always much cooler, does it have to hit 90 to be considered a heat wave; or is the criteria relative to the usual climate for a region? I believe that our heat wave has "technically" ended, since the forecast high for the day was only 89. Tomorrow is supposed to be even cooler, at 86! If you ask me, it is still hot.
The humidity was supposed to be lower today, but it seems to burn off after we are done running. The best time of day for the lower humidity around here is 8-10, but then you run into the problem of the heat. You have to pick your poison, our group has decided to deal with the humidity rather than the heat. It was very moist when we got started at 7 this morning. It was not as moist as last Saturday when it actually did rain on us, but it was still wet out.
This week we changed things up some and ran the back roads, or I should say, the hilly roads. This is not to say that going out the front is flat, but leaving from the back is just on killer hills. The whole time we were running I was wondering why I said that I wanted to go the way we did. The group seems to avoid going this way because it is hard. The last time I remembered going out the back was in early January. Other than the hills, I don't like to run on these roads because I get lost easily. All of the roads look the same and I end up all turned around and can not trust my usually decent sense of direction to get back.
This time of year is hard for me besides the weather. The high school boys who run with us all want to be the champ. All of their runs are like races, they don't even talk when they run, they are racing each other. Don't get me wrong, it is wonderful that they have the determination and drive to want to be great, but they do not seem to be having fun and enjoying the camaraderie of the group. In other words, they are just running too fast. The rest of the group tends to run at a pace that feels a little bit awkward to me. Not really slow, but just too slow to really feel comfortable. It actually feels harder to run at their pace than to run at a faster pace. We did try to more or less stay together, so we did stop at the top of lots of the hills. This also made it hard, I may not be the strongest hill runner out there, but I can maintain better than most once we crest the hills.
My plan was to run for 70-75 minutes to slowly get my long run back up to the 16-18 mile range. In the last 20 minutes or so I was so thirsty, but we didn't have any water. Stupid, I know. Usually J or someone will put water out somewhere and tell us what route we are going to run if we want any water. He's on vacation, so nobody took control of doing that. I got back to the parking lot at 67 or 68 minutes and thought about getting my water from the car, but I knew that I would not run the last 5 minutes if I did that, so I kept on going. I ran the back loop around the school and finished up with just over 75 minutes, maybe 10.5 to 11 miles. Although we weren't running as fast as I normally do, we were definitely going at a good pace.
I headed over to the gym and rode the bike for an hour. I stretched some and then lifted. I'm still on my wimpy-light weights since I did not touch a weight for over two weeks. I did do more exercises than usual, not that I felt particularly good, but I just think that my arms are not looking as good as they could. After lunch I did the core strength DVD which is a little cheesy and some sit-ups. To keep the ball rolling, I also did some better stretching. I have really noticed that my groin area is loosening up quite a bit, hopefully that will translate into a longer stride length again.
Returning to the heat wave...it is supposed to be hazy, hot, and humid again next week. The most depressing part about this is that it is only July. The worst weather usually hits us in August. If it stays this way I better get used to it!
Posted by Blondie at 04:56 PM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2005
Not Ready to Spill the Beans
I just love all the curiousity about what race I've committed myself to running. Keeping secrets is something that I am good at doing, a job-related talent/skill. I won't keep you in the dark forever, I'm just going to throw out a few more hints today. Nanda, I will probably run the race that you are thinking of, but I have not officially committed myself to that one, I'm still waiting to hear from them. If I tell the distance it will probably give it away...it is shorter than the one that I think Nanda is guessing. I looked into travel options for the race in question today. It looks like I will be flying because the thought of driving the better part of a day each way is not appealing to me. Let me clarify-my dad would be driving and I would be riding in the car, but the parents would have to find their own accomodations. A 70 minute flight looks much better. Any ideas yet?
I chose a wonderful day to take off from running. The worst days this summer seem to have fallen on Fridays, convenient for me! I went to yoga this morning, but it took me a while to get out the door. I also rode the bike for a little bit in there. My body was significantly tighter than earlier this week. My hunch is that neglecting stretching last night is the culprit. Instead of stretching I talked on the phone with one of my friends who is having a difficult pregnancy. Shame on me. No stretching after even light speedwork spells very tight legs in the morning.
It seems like in order to do all the little things that makes running more enjoyable, i.e., not painful, takes all day. Between stretching, core exercises, strengthening, getting massages, taking ice baths, not to mention running, can take an entire day. I guess I notice this because I am trying to make an effort to improve on the things that I (and others) tend to ignore. Stretching, for example, I usually will choose to run another mile than to take the time to stretch. Since I don't have the constraints of a full-time job at the moment, I've been trying to make better habits about these extras. The desired outcome is that when I do get a regular job and schedule again I can fit these things in. I know that if I have an appointment twice a week to stretch I will fit it in. This is why I'm using yoga, the classes meet at a set time that I can just make part of my schedule.
Anywho...I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend. The forecast looks to be a slight improvment over the past week. Good luck to anyone who is racing.
Posted by Blondie at 04:54 PM | Comments (1)
July 21, 2005
A Decision Made
Not too much has happened since I wrote this morning. That's the problem with writing about the previous day in the morning. I feel like I just wrote, but I don't want to put it off until tomorrow. When that happens it gets too easy to just keep putting it off and then the next thing you know it's been over a week and the blog still remains untouched.
Tonight's "workout" went much better than expected. The humidity was not up as much as originally forecasted. The temperature was well into the 90s, but the humidity was at a bearable percentage. I had made the decision that we were not going to do the workout on the track since it was based on time, but once we got moving we realized it would not be all that bad on the track. I felt very choppy during the warm-up, so I had very low expectations for the workout. This may have been due to the fact that we had to stop during the warm-up. We came around a bend in the road and found a huge tree down. Not only was there a tree down, but it was covered in poison ivy. I wouldn't have known that and climbed right over it, but two of the people running with us are horticulture people. It took some creativity, but we found a way around the tree. I made the decision that we were going to do the same workout as last week. We had the option of adding one more segment, but if the weather was oppressive we were to stay at 16 minutes. I felt much better than last week and was able to maintain the pace this time. We shortened the warm-down by cutting through the grass to avoid the poison ivy covered tree. I added a few laps on the track when we got back to hit the time I was shooting for.
Today I committed to a race for the fall. This ought to light a fire under my ass to get myself back in gear. It won't take long to get back in shape. If anything, this will give me something to focus on. I think that some other bloggers may be running this race, but I'm not sure. It was one that I had been considering and then this opportunity came up, so that made the decision final.
Posted by Blondie at 08:04 PM | Comments (5)
An Improvement
It took an unbelievable amount of energy to get moving yesterday. Once awake, at a normal time, there was no way going out the door to run was a good idea. Sitting comatose on the couch watching the morning news was a much safer prospect. It took nearly an hour of laying in a semi-awake state to be awake enough to consider going out to run. The reason for being so tired is a mystery, I got a good night sleep and plenty of it. Oh well.
Yesterday was not nearly as bad as Tuesday on two fronts. I felt significantly better and the weather was slightly less oppressive. Don't get me wrong, it still was not a beautiful day to go to run, it was just not as awful as it has been.
I went and did my run on the G trail. I ran to the end of the trail, hopped on the road and ran to the covered bridge to turn around. Other than feeling like I had to use the bathroom early on, which was misleading since when I stopped to use the bathroom it didn't happen, it wasn't too bad feeling. I tried to stay relaxed and not push too hard. I think that I have been trying to push hard and run as fast or faster than usual in these awful conditions-a sure way to feel pretty bad on every run.
Last night I went to yoga while my mom was in her water class. The problem with carpooling is that we get done so late. The woman who teaches this class is a chiropractor and is pretty cool. One of my friends actually goes to her! She came up to me after class and asked me if I was who she thought I was. I rode the bike for half an hour while my mom was finishing her class.
The weather is supposed to be worse again today, Boo!
Posted by Blondie at 08:37 AM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2005
Even I Would Look at Me Like I Was Weird
When going into the gym today I got a lot of looks like I was weird. People looked at me like I had the plague and they did not want to be anywhere close to me. Now to be honest, if I saw someone else who looked to be in the same state as I was in, I would probably tried to stay away as well.
It all started with my run this morning. I went on the G trail since it was hot and humid early this morning. The heat index at 9 this morning was over 100, so no matter what or where I wanted to do, it was going to be oppressive. Early on wasn't that bad, but about 20 minutes in, things started to get ugly. I ran to the end of the trail, turned left on the road and went out to my turnaround point at the covered bridge. About 20 feet after the bridge I had to stop to tie a shoe. Within the next five minutes everything totally and completely fell apart. I looked like I had jumped into a pool, was kind of thirsty (with no means to get water) and just felt terrible. I usually will not to stop to walk during a run, but on days like this I think that it is better to walk some than to risk serious long term damage to the body. The rest of the way back was a run/walk with my mantra being "you can only do harm by trying to force through the run, there is nothing to be gained by trying to run". I can pinpoint most of my feeling terrible to: running longer than I should have last night and not being able to replace all of the fluid lost last night.
Even after such a crummy run, I went to the gym. I wanted to ride the bike and lift since I would have been half an hour late for the yoga class. I didn't really like that instructor anyhow, I was tighter when I left that class than when I went got there. I felt weak and not so great while I was on the bike, even after drinking 40 ounces of water. I lifted some, but again felt pretty lousy. I got home and all I wanted to do was lie down. I did manage to shower and eat and go into work for my parents.
After about another 60 ounces of water and some simple sugars, I did start to bounce back. When I got home I did the core strength DVD that B had burned for me and found that it is getting easier. I'm going to do some of my stretching and more core exercises later on tonight. My Wharton's stretching book came in, but I'm in for the night so it'll have to wait until tomorrow to get picked up!
Posted by Blondie at 07:05 PM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2005
Another One Bites the Dust
It just was not meant to be. My feet will never be able to be body part models, they are just too mangled for that. On the bright side, my right and left feet are now symmetrical. The nail on my second toe on my right foot decided to come off last night. Now the stub of a nail that was growing under it can match the stub of a nail on the second toe on my left foot. The left one has just been growing "wrong" for years, the right one was from the massive blister under that nail suffered during the marathon. On a happier note for my poor feet, they were treated to new shoes this afternoon. They got a nice brand new pair of Mizuno Wave Riders to soften the blow.
OK, so we are in something along the lines of "Code Red"-you should not do any outdoor activity because it may be hazardous to your health. With the temperature in the ninties and something like 100 percent humidity the heat index is well over 100, so the news reporters are telling everyone all that stay inside, don't do anything strenuous, make sure you drink plenty of water, etc, etc, etc... So with all those warnings, the best thing to do is go and run outside!!
We had a small group tonight. It was probably for a few reasons-the heat and J was not going to be there since he and his family are on vacation. This leaves me in charge and whenever I am in charge one person in particular never wants to do what we are supposed to do. This person is very nice and does mean well, but this person is also an inexperienced runner and does not really know that the ideas put forth are, well, not what should be done. Once we figured out what we were going to do, about six of us decided that we wanted to do a little more than what the other "leader" wanted. One of the guys with us actually remembered all of the turns from our new loop that we did last week, so we did that. What a difference a week made, we ran it two minutes faster but it felt easier and it was so much more humid. I actually wrung a ton of water out of my shorts when we got done. A short warm down finished off the night for a total of 61 minutes, a little shy of 9 miles for the night.
I think that I am going to do my short, cheesy yoga video tonight. My legs feel tight and the added stretching will be very good for me. I hope that everyone is staying cool.
Posted by Blondie at 08:20 PM | Comments (0)
July 17, 2005
I Hope This Doesn't Mean I'm a Miserable Person
The bachelorette party last night most definitely was NOT fun. It was awful. I wanted to get the heck out of dodge, but was stuck because we carpooled. The night started out all right. The bride was about 45 minutes late, but that is normal for her. It drives everyone crazy. She'll probably be late for her own wedding. So, we have a toast at the maid of honor's place and discover that A, the bride, has not eaten. We make a stop on the way to get her some food. Still not too bad. We get to our destination without too much trouble. Since we were a large party, we had to wait for a few minutes at the bar at our desination, which was a very nice establishment, The Swann Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel. I had a nice glass of wine, everyone else had a cocktail, they ordered two dessert platters which were devoured. I was given a hard time for not eating any of the desserts, but such rich food does not agree with my stomach. So far all is fine. Now A, our bride, announces that she wants to go out dancing. OK. Well we kind of have her 17 year old sister with us. A decides what club she wants to go to and thinks that we can convince them to let S, her sister, in. A tells us where she thinks this club is...turns out as far as we can tell it is closed-there was no information listing for it. We drive around waiting for A to call us back. She gets on the speaker phone and announces that she wants to go out, she wants to danc, and it is her bachelorette party. We finally decide that our best option would be Dave & Busters since you don't have to be 21 to get in. A's car gets there first, we go in and they are carding everyone because it is after 11. A's other sister, L, calls up and tells A the situation. A tells everyone else to come on up and let L try to talk the manager into making an exception to allow S upstairs. The manager would not make an exception and then A made a fuss about us getting the cover back. In the car S was telling us how bad she felt since A couldn't do what she wanted. We kept telling S she had no reason to feel bad. She is part of the wedding and if her sister wanted to go out to a club and dance, she should have told somebody before so that the proper arrangements could have been made.
To make a long story short-nobody was particularly happy by the end of the night. I didn't get home until 2:00 in the morning; many, many hours past my bedtime. I would have been much happier staying home and watching a movie. The good news is that it only put me out $11.
After being out so late (and hungry from being up for so long) I slept in this morning. The humidity was at 95% when I went to run. I decided to run on the G trail to avoid the heat. Even being under the trees I was drenched. It seemed like the trees were holding the moisture down this morning. There were more people out that usual today, probably because it was a later hour. I purposely ran easier today because I wanted to save some energy for tomorrow. I also felt kind of dead because I was on the hungry side. I still ran the loop on the faster side. I considered running longer out, but opted against it. Forty minutes seemed to be plenty today seeing as it is the first week back from a break.
This afternoon I went to yoga at the gym. I can already tell a difference in my flexiblity from just a week. Hopefully this increase in flexibilty will translate into faster, easier running soon. When I got home I did the core strength DVD that my ex burned for me. My lower back is definitely weaker than anything else.
Hope that everyone had a great weekend and is staying well hydrated given the excessive heat out there!
Posted by Blondie at 06:51 PM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2005
When Will the Weather Break?
When? This morning was not ungodly hot as it has been on other days, but the air was like soup. When I got up to get ready for my run, the weather report said that the humidity was at 92%. It only got worse as the run went on. My favorite part was the 25 minutes that we ran in a steady rain. The rain felt oh, so good.
Summer running is not my favorite thing to do. I always feel so slow and out of shape. Having thought about it some I know there are a number of factors that influence it. The first is that I sweat so much that it is nearly impossible to stay in a hydrated state. Even drinking water constantly is not enough for me. I should get an IV so that I can hook myself up to quickly rehydrate! Another factor is that the high school kids run with us in the summer. Most of them have no concept of pacing and what they should or should not do. Many of them run as hard as possible until the wheels simply fall off. Some of them are also just plain dangerous to run with on the road. The boys who run with us are very good and hard workers. The girls, well let's just say that they are very talented and tend to get by on that talent.
This morning we did the museum loop. The museum loop is actually on the grounds of a historic estate that I've written about many times. This is a very pretty run with some challenging hills. I can't say that I felt very good during the run. Some of it is my pride, there are just certain people who I have a hard time letting run in front of me. I know that I need to let go of this. The individual I am speaking of at the moment has been a great runner, but isn't as serious now. She and I were running together and talking about how well she is running now. She never races and is thinking about doing some in the fall. One of the differences she mentioned is that she lost some weight (not something that I really want to get on the topic of...enough problems mentally and I don't want to turn this into a eating issue). She also started to lift again and says that she is not falling apart like she used to. The run ended up being exactly 68 minutes, a pretty good clip for this route. At one point I wasn't sure which way to go so the guy who I was running with and I ran around this little circle until the rest of the group caught up to us.
I stupidly forgot to bring clean socks and shoes to wear to the gym. If I go home in between there is no way that I'll go back out, so I had to suffer with wet feet. I rode the bike for an hour and tried to sneak some glimpses at the Tour while I was on the bike, but since I didn't have any headphones to listen. The closed captioning is just too small to read from that far away, so my watching wasn't all that accurate.
I stretched some with a resistaband (they have them but they sometimes disappear) and plan to do some more this afternoon. I really think that improving my flexiblity is going to help me significantly in the end. I also lifted, I ought to be sore soon since I have not touched a weight in about 3 weeks.
Whew, that was quite a bit. I've got to accomplish a bunch of things today since I have a bachelorette party to attend tonight. Thankfully it won't be too bad, we're getting dressed up and going to a lounge for a drink and some desserts (for those who eat dessert) and won't be out too late. My favorite part is the getting dressed up part.
Posted by Blondie at 01:35 PM | Comments (0)
July 15, 2005
Quick Update
Last night was gross-hot and humid. I thought that there might be some relief when it started to spit while we were warming up but it was just a tease. By the time we were done the warm-up I looked like I had been swimming and it just got worse from there on out.
The workout that we did was 16 minutes on the track of one minute on one minute off. The minute on was not supposed to be all out and the minute off was not supposed to be super easy. There was not supposed to be much of a difference between the two paces. I really tried to do the run at the right pace, but as it went on the faster minutes got to be too fast. I lost track of how many laps I did because I was only paying attention to the minutes and how many blocks that I had to go. After asking around some, the little group I was with determined that we did 10 laps. After the warm down it ended up being 7.5 miles for the night.
There was a local race last night that most of the people from the track went to. I wanted to do this race, I did it last year and won. The thing is that it did not fit in my long-term goals. I went to the awesome post race party and discovered that I would have won easily and gotten an awesome prize (a DVD/VCR player I believe) but I know that I made the better choice. Who cares about running a mediocre 5K in July when there are bigger and better things looming in October/November. I ended up staying at the party way too late and didn't get home until way past my bedtime.
This morning I rode the stationary bike at the gym for an hour that was split around a yoga class. My ex also burned a core strength DVD for me that I need to try out tonight.
Well that's the past two days in a nutshell. Hope that everyone has a great weekend!
Posted by Blondie at 06:41 PM | Comments (0)
July 14, 2005
Not Nearly as Bad
Both the weather and the way I felt yesterday were not nearly as bad as on Tuesday. The weather was still bad, but the tempertature was down. The humidity definitely made up for it, it was almost like breathing in water. My body didn't feel anywhere as close to death as on Tuesday. There was probably only one time that I thought that my chest was going to split open and my heart leap out.
Wednesday was not supposed to be a running day, but I decided to run easy after how bad Tuesday was. I went on the trail, which I did discover has a name. I'll call it the G trail from now on. I did my usual out and back along the G trail which is about 5.2 miles. I guessed that it was a little over 5 by the amount of time that it takes. One of the guys in our group has this pedometer that he swears by. He carries more gear on him when he goes out to run than I take on an overnight trip. Anyhow, he told me how far the whole trip is and how far certain sections of the trail are. I had pretty much guesstimated how far each of these sections was based on how long it took. That fact made me feel better about my sense of pace returning.
Well, I did my out and back. It did feel slow and I kept telling myself not to push it, just to stay laid back and relaxed. When I got back it was 30 seconds faster than I've ever run it. Usually I'm doing more, like adding on from the end of the G trail, so I could have run that section faster. Whatever the case, it made me feel much better about the condition that I am in. The first few runs after a layoff are the worst. Staying under the tree cover was probably an immense help as well.
I stopped by my aunt's to pick up an enormous zucchini and visit with her for about half an hour. I stretched some when I got back to our house. My book hasn't come in yet, I expect it either over the weekend or early next week.
Last night I went to yoga while my mom went to her water aerobics class. We did something that really released my hamstrings during the class. I have to figure out what that was because the result was immediate. I couldn't reach my toes and then viola, I could. I rode the bike for 30 minutes while my mom was still in her class. She must win the award for being the slowest person out of the locker room after class, it took her almost 20 minutes to get out. As we walked out the lifeguard from her class was walking out with us. I learned that there were only 2 others in her class last night and the topic of conversation was me. They talked about my job situation, and even worse, my lack of boyfriend. They decided that they want to set me up with one of the other lifeguards. It isn't his only job (in fact he has a very good job) and he is the right age. The guy who walked out with us just kept saying that he was staying out of everything. I swear that my mom feels it is her mission to find a guy for me. I'm in no rush and it does not bother me in the least. She always does something that makes me embarassed when she finds her prospective men for me which in turn makes me turn bright red and blush.
Anyway, got to read about what everyone did yesterday as we didn't get home until bedtime for me.
Posted by Blondie at 09:11 AM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2005
Slow and Out of Shape
Those are the best words to describe how I feel right now. I'm not really sure if this feeling was the desired effect of last week. All day I tried to put a positive spin on how I felt both last night and today. My final theory is that my body feels so fresh that it is trying to run faster than usual because there is so much pent up energy to use. I can't say that I completely fall for this theory, but it makes me feel a little bit better.
This morning I went for a short run. I did the course that I did for my morning runs throughout the winter and spring, about four miles. By the time I got home I thought that my heart was going to explode out of my chest it was beating so hard. It was already hot and humid when I ran at 8:30 this morning.
After running I went to the yoga/pilates combo class. The usual "guide" they don't call themselves instructors was on vacation last week. She was back today. I did not like her class. She didn't do a very good job with the poses and I actually came out feeling tighter than when I went in, most definitely not the desired effect of a yoga class.
I went to work for my dad this afternoon, but didn't get too much accomplished. We keep running into problems in what we are trying to do. When I got to yet another roadblock, I decided to call it a day. I walked about a half mile to Borders to see if I could buy one of the Wharton's stretching books, but they were out of stock. I ordered one that should be in in less than a week. On the way back I stopped in Marshall's and bought a yoga mat/strap/block etc...set so that I can stretch at home and take my own mat to the classes I've been attending. Using the gym's yoga mats is kind of nasty, I'd rather use my own.
Tonight I plan to write some letters to beg for jobs. Also on the agenda are stretching and core exercises. Hope that everyone else was able to beat the heat!
Posted by Blondie at 06:57 PM | Comments (2)
July 11, 2005
The Big Return
Today was the big return to running, the day that I was waiting all of last week for. It was hot, but not that bad of running weather. It was the kind of heat that we never get out east, dry heat. The humidity was way down, even if the temperature was way up there. I think that we had a high of 93 or 95, but it didn't feel the way it usually does when it gets that hot. The humidity is back tomorrow from what I've seen. The nicest part of the low humidity was that I didn't look like I had gone swimming by the end of the workout tonight.
I went to the track, but we weren't doing a workout. The next few weeks are a little bit more laid back, we might do some pick-ups, but no structured workouts. Tonight we "learned" a new neighborhood loop that will be the loop where we do out pick-ups and tempo runs. There were lots of turns and loops, so none of us would feel too confident to do it on our own yet. J says that he is going to go out and put arrows and mile markers so we can know where we are. The full loop is 4.2 miles with some rolling hills. The killer is the slight incline for the last mile.
A whole lot of the high schoolers were with us tonight. They make the run all the more difficult. I don't mind some of them, but some are very inconsiderate to the drivers and say things out loud that they just should not say. Others have two paces-12 minute mile pace or all out. The constant fluctuations in the pace made this run much more taxing than it should have been. Once we got done, I did what the kids were doing, not what the adults did, for a warm-down. When I got done my three laps on the track, I noticed that I was at 59 minutes, so I kept jogging to hit an even hour. It really didn't matter and there was no reason for it other than my obsessive-compulsive tendencies to have a nice even number to write down.
My right ankle was the only thing that bothered me a little. I don't understand why it hurts some more after the time off. I would like to thank everyone for being so supportive during my whiney week off from running. In the end I know it is good for me to do, but it is so much easier to do it when the weather is cold.
Posted by Blondie at 08:33 PM | Comments (1)
July 10, 2005
Sore Tush
Man, my tush was sore today after riding the bike. The gym doesn't open until noon on Sundays since they share a parking lot with the church next door. The church reciprocates by allowing us to use their parking spots during all other times. There are actually two separate lots, but they are thisclose together and not really physically separated. Basically it meant that I had to wait until at least 12:00 to do something today.
There was a "level 1" yoga class this afternoon at 2:00 and I decided that I would go to that. Having not really done any kind of activity since Monday, I really wanted to do something, so I went early and rode the stationary bike for a while. I have not been on one of those for about two weeks and my butt let me know. I rode for about 50 minutes before I had to rush to yoga. The room that yoga is in is so cold and I didn't remember to bring anything to wear, so I was shivering in my slightly sweaty state in the room witht the thermostat set at 57. After the class I went back to the fitness center and rode the bike for another 18 minutes.
Taking this week off has helped some of my minor irritating body parts recover some. My right side from the achilles down is always a mess. If I turn an ankle, you can bet it is the right one. I think that I have done so much to it that it is always going to be a problem. Anyhow, I had been hobbling out of bed because the ankle was so inflamed for the past few weeks. I must have turned it and not even realized it. My other sore body parts are not nearly as sore as they once were. My ankle doesn't hurt in the morning now, but it feels like the tendons are so stretched out that it is kind of sore at other times. I have been paying attention to it and icing it. It doesn't hurt until later in the day, kind of like it is getting tired.
I did learn that I can go for six days without doing any real physical activity and that it will not kill me. This coming week I won't be able to run as much as I'll want to. I think that J wants me to run only Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. I may sneak a stealth run in there somewhere, but he would kill me if I went six days as usual. Even if I don't get to run as many days, I will do more strenuous cross-training next week.
Posted by Blondie at 06:56 PM | Comments (2)
July 09, 2005
Showers
No, I'm not talking about the ones under the water where you wash. I'm discussing baby and bridal showers. I just got back from a bridal shower that I was invited to today. I was also invited to a baby shower today that I did not attend. I didn't particularly want to attend either, but I probably would have had a better time at the one I didn't go to. This was for a girl who used to live accross the street from us. Her parents moved out about seven weeks ago, so it could't be at their house. She is the same age as I am and is getting ready to have a baby! My mom and I were invited...we probably would have had a good time, but it was about an hour and a half away and my mom didn't want to give up her entire day for a baby shower. The bridal shower was for another girl from high school. She and I were nearly inseperable during high school, but have hardly spoken since. I ran into another girl from our circle of friends about two years ago and have done things with her, but not with the bride. The bride is perhaps one of the most unhappy people (in general) that I have ever met. I look back at high school and realize how unhappy she always was. She is very difficult to please and can be very tempermental. Needless to say, it was not the most fun shower. I think that once people hit a certain age if they have not met a spouse, they should be able to register and have a shower for themselves. Apparently there was a Sex and the City episode on a similar topic, but I've never seen it since we don't have cable.
Last night I went out for drinks with a former co-worker. We have been talking about doing this for so long, but haven't ever gotten around to it. One of her friends met us out and he ended up footing most of the bill since he felt so sorry for us. Both D and I were stupid and never got around to eating dinner. I wasn't hungry when we started and sat around sipping wine and water and chatting. By the time we both realized that we had not eaten it was nearly 11 so neither of us wanted to eat that late. I woke up starving with a headache this morning. I know so much better, but sometimes I end up skipping dinner when I go out. I guess that what I did last night (going out for drinks and staying out late) is what normal people my age do. Usually I have to get up so early on Saturday morning that I never go out.
Yesterday I went to an advanced yoga class. It was quite interesting for me since I am completely and totally not flexible. Going in the morning isn't that great for me anyhow, my body has not warmed up to be flexible. J gave me a call to see if I had started to go into convulsions yet from not running. I usually cross train like a crazy woman when I take a week off from running, but given how my body had been so tired, I thought it would be best to refrain from so much extra work. The stretching is probably the most helpful thing. I plan to go to a few of the yoga classes even after I resume regular training.
This morning I went to the pool to swim. Trying to swim hungry, with a headache, maybe a touch on the hung over side is not a good idea. My stroke did not feel smooth or strong. I swam 1000 yards. I kind of checked out what my 500 split was. This was kind of discouraging since that was one of the events that I used to swim. For somebody who has not been swimming it wasn't that bad, especially given how "off" I felt. After the swim (which wasn't that long, about 18 minutes) I put on one of the belts and aqua ran for about half an hour. I sort of broke down, but this is the first form of cardio exercise I have done since the Fourth! This break is one of the hardest I have ever taken.
Not running because you can not run is so different from not running by choice. I have purposely done things so that there is no way that I would be tempted to run. For example, I have not put on a sports bra, I have worn regular clothes, wear sandals, or avoid the roads that I normally run on. Breaks are so important, but it is difficult to determine when to take them. I understand that in order to improve and stay healthy, you need to let your body recover from the trauma of running daily. The problem is that in the back of my mind I'm thinking that competitors are out there working hard and this is going to let them be better than me. I know this is silly because if I kept trying to run the way I was I would end up more tired trying to run even harder because it was taking so much effort to do what should have been comfortable. At this point I'm not even sure if what I just wrote makes any sense since words kept coming and coming and coming, but in short, I am telling myself that this past week is good for me and to not feel guilty at all over it.
Hope that everyone is enjoying their weekends!
Posted by Blondie at 04:21 PM | Comments (0)
July 07, 2005
Idiots
I went to yoga/pilates combo class again last night. The evening class is much more crowded than the morning class was. They only offer these yoga classes so often since it isn't a yoga studio. My assumption is that this is the "normal" people class. The morning class was the retired/stay-at-home moms/teacher kind of class. Anyhow, the evening class was shorter, but I found it had some more beneficial stretches in it.
I was going to do water aerobics with my mom, but the yoga class overlapped with it. We both thought that the stretching of yoga would do me more good than getting in the pool and bouncing around. Her class looks like a bunch of women playing in the pool. They don't look like they're playing as much as the class going on at the same time in the deep end, but they still look like they are playing. My class was over about half an hour before her class was over, so I went and sat at the pool for the remainder of her class. It is so hot in the pool that her class is in. The gym has two pools; one is the cooler, competetive pool and the other is the hot, therapy pool. Her class is in the latter. I think this is payback for all the years that I swam and she had to sit in the "sweatbox" during my practice and meets. The winter team I swam on called the spectator area the sweatbox because it was close to 100 degrees up there. She sat in there countless times to watch me swim, so now I must suffer to watch her exercise.
So while I waited outside the locker room for her to change after class I watched these two guys talk. The one was talking about how he had run some half marathon. The other was asking him how far it was and said something to the extent of "I know a marathon is 26 miles and some more". The first guy started to talk that his dad knew the exact distance since he lives along the route in Boston. Second guy says maybe you'll run it some day. First guy talks about how you need to qualify and the "wall" that he wouldn't be able to handle. Second guy starts to talk about training for a race and says "don't you have to run three times the race distance every day in training? To train for a marathon you need to run 75 miles a day". Huh?? At this point, I walk over accross them so they can see that I am wearing a Boston Marathon tee shirt so they can ask me for accurate information-no luck. They continue talking. Guy number one says, maybe 75 mile weeks. Second guys says that he knows that in order to train for, say, a five mile race, one needs to run three times that distance every day. He really won't let this three times the distance thing go. I'm standing there thinking, does guy #2 know how long it would take to run 75 miles a day? Doesn't he realize that people who run marathons do work? I think that maybe for the next marathon I run (in a few years) I'll try his training theory. Over 500 miles a week, no problem. By running so much, 26.2 miles will feel like nothing!
I got my rejection letter for a job that I sent an application to today. The application was due on Friday. I knew that I didn't really want this job, it's two hours away and I didn't really want to move to that part of the state. I think that I was more upset that they didn't even consider me for the job than that I didn't get it at all. I spent a considerable amount of time this afternoon searching the web for jobs. The problem is that I am way overqualified (they only want a high school diploma) or way underqualified (advanced degree plus like ten or fifteen years of experience)-nothing in the middle.
I had to get out, so I went out and walked for about 45 minutes. I ws going stir crazy. The folks at the track were putting bets on when I would go into withdraw. It hasn't started yet. Most think that it'll be over the weekend. They're probably right. I've tried to plan what I am going to do every day. Tomorrow is yoga, Saturday is a swim, and Sunday is yoga again.
I must say something about the bombings in London. It is such a terrible shame that people feel that violence is going to get them what they want. There are much more effective ways to express your feelings than to hurt people who are not even part of what you are protesting about. The people in the tube had nothing to do with the G8 conference, so why should they have to be hurt or killed because you have a problem with what those leaders want? It is such a tragedy.
I don't know if this is because I am trying to be better about what I eat or not, but I've been wondering if I'm the only person this happens to. I find that when I'm not running I'm hungrier than when I am running. I have tried to eat less junk recently since there are a few pounds that I think I'd like to shed. The other week I said that I liked my arms, but I think that I have changed my mind. Now I think that they look too big. Whenever I comment that I'd like to lose a little weight my mom (and others) say that I look fine now, before I was way too skinny. I really don't know where I am now since I haven't weighed myself in over two years, I just know that some of my clothes don't fit anymore. I also think that the added weight may be part of why I have been trouble running faster in shorter races (or the fact that for the past two years I have focused on 10 miles or 1/2 marathons!).
OK, enough rambling, I have to look for a job!
Posted by Blondie at 05:16 PM | Comments (2)
July 05, 2005
Need Work
Yoga was...interesting. It will definitely be helpful to do some, I'm looking at the schedule to see when I can do it when I have a job. Being a fool, I didn't go to the beginners class, but one of the more advanced classes. I think it was called "pilates/yoga mat combo". Since I didn't really know any poses, I had to look around and see what everyone else was doing. My other problem is that I can't just zone in on myself, I am such a people watcher that I was looking at everyone else the whole time. My hunch was right that my right ankle is seriously damaged. I absolutely could not balance on it, something that I need to work on. Today may have been an unusually stiff day, but I could not even touch my toes. The pilates portion wasn't too bad, at least the parts that worked on the core. I had trouble with the leg lifts etc...it irritates my tender hip flexors and piriformis. Looking back I know that I ran faster when my flexibility was better.
Not too much else to report. My mom and I are heading out to Bed, Bath & Beyond to buy a new pepper mill (for us) and a gift for the bridal shower I have to go to on Saturday.
Posted by Blondie at 07:14 PM | Comments (0)
July 04, 2005
Firecracker, Firecracker, Sis Boom Bah; Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny; Rah, Rah, Rah
Happy Fourth to all! I personally do not like fireworks, ever since I was a little girl. I think that I thought that they were going to fall out of the sky onto me. In college we were out once and one of the incinerated pieces did fall on our blanket. Ever since then I've just have not seeked out the fireworks.
This morning started quite early, I woke up half an hour before the alarm was set. I left for the track around 6:30 after I remembered to put the ice in the cooler with the sodas. There was so much stuff to remember to bring: two pairs of racing flats, cycling shoes, helmet, socks, dry clothes, a towel. I don't think that I forgot anything that was a necessity, but I'm sure that I could have used my trainers (I wore sandals over) but I didn't run that much, so doing everything in flats was OK.
I had to get help lugging the cooler out of the back of my parents car. I couldn't drive mine because there is no way I could get my bike and the cooler in it. I don't own a bike rack and my bike could get in the car, but it would require deconstructing the bike and a lot of manuevering to get it in the trunk or the backseat. Anyhow, the cooler probably weighed as much as I do with the soda and ice in it. Then I chose a spot to "rack" my bike, but there aren't any racks, it's pretty much laying your bike against the fence.
I warmed up about 2 miles and felt really creaky. Taking the rest of this week off will be very good for my body. The race went off and all the young kids took off like crazy. My first two miles was in about 12:10. I can't say that it felt good, but considering how tired I am it wasn't too bad. I got my flats off, put on my cycling shoes and put on my helmet and was off on the bike. I hate biking. I avoid it at all possible costs. I am so scared of falling and hurting myself badly. I would not jump out of a car that is moving 35 mph, would I want to fall of my bike at 35 mph? No. Anyhow, everyone passed me on the bike, especially on the downhills. Give me an uphill any day. I did well on the climb back up, but not enough to make up for all of the earlier downhill. I got off my bike which is quite a process for me. I can unclip my right pedal and then need to come to a stop with my right foot planted firmly on the ground before I can get my left foot out of the pedal. Then I got my helmet off, put on my other pair of racing shoes and was out on the second run. My legs felt like jelly when I got started, but about 150 meters into it, I felt like myself running. The guys I run with swear that I'd do well if I could get over the fear of the bike since I can run so well off the bike. I'm not too sure what my second run split was, probably around 12:40? My total time was just over 70 minutes. After the event, I warmed down a mile on the track and called it a day. Seven miles of running and 13 miles of cycling for the day.
The rest of the day was spent bargain hunting with my mom. I didn't find anything, but she did OK. The week off starts now. Tomorrow I'm going to try yoga-it should be interesting since my idea of being relaxed involves bouncing off the walls!
Hope that all of you who like fireworks get to see a great display tonight!
Posted by Blondie at 07:00 PM | Comments (4)
July 03, 2005
Relaxing Day
Looking back, I can see now that yesterday was a very tiring day. After the run and the gym, I did some errands with my mom. I hopped in the shower and went to the first party. I had a good time at the party and avoided getting thrown in the pool. There was an interesting mix of people and apparently the party went on well into the night. I headed home around dinner time to eat something and change my clothes before heading out to the bar/restaurant where CM was having his birthday. That was OK. I had a better time when we were hanging out outside on the deck and listening to the band. It turns out that most people planned to eat there, but I had already eaten. Once we got seated (about 2 hours later!), I ended up smack dab in the middle of the long table. One end had all the runners and the other end had his family and other friends. I was too far away from either side to participate in the conversation, so I sat there by myself. We didn't know that they were going to have fireworks in town last night instead of tomorrow night so the whole area was just packed. This probably contributed to the fact that it took forever to get seated. There were lots of unhappy people at dinner, but I was happy that I had eaten before I got there!
When I got home I was exhausted. I fell right to sleep and even slept late. I really didn't feel like rushing around this morning. I read some of the newspaper, saw that Lance did well in the time trial yesterday, watched some TV, then decided that it was time to get going. Then it was where should I run? I decided to just go from home today since it was not all that hot or humid. I didn't feel bad, but I did not feel good either. It was just a ho-hum kind of run. I think that I felt more tired than I thought I would, but I also think that I was running faster than I thought as well. I didn't wear my watch on purpose, since I just wanted to run and not worry about time. I can do this from my house since I know how far certain routes are, I can't always do this from other places. I did my regular 7 mile loop and based on the time on the clock, I think it took me about 48 minutes.
For most of the afternoon I putzed around and worked on a crossword puzzle. Some days I can do the whole thing without any trouble and other days I am completely stumped. Today was one of the latter days. It's funny because I can come back to it on another day and have the right mindset for that puzzle. I had to run out to the grocery store and buy soda and ice for tomorrow's duathlon.
After getting back from the store I had to take my bike down from it's perch hanging from the ceiling in the garage. Since it has been hanging for about 10 months it needed air in the tires. That was a lot of fun when I was trying to pump more into the tires than I weigh. It also had a ton of dust on it, so I had to dust it off. I thought it might be a good idea to have actually been on it before tomorrow morning, so I went out for a short ride. I ended up riding a total of 7 miles to make sure that I remembered how to change gears and get in and out of my pedals. Getting out of my right pedal isn't a problem, but the left one is troublesome. I can get out of it once I have my right foot out, the bike stopped, and my right foot stablizing myself on the ground.
Every year the group does a duathlon on the 4th. It is by no means an offical race, it is more like all of us getting together and doing a group training. We do set up a clock and give some prizes, but there are no entry forms or anything like that. Some people take it seriously and some people (like me) just do it for the fun of it. I'd be running anyhow and I like these people, so I do it. They get to make fun of me because I am a terrible cyclist and I get to pass them all on the second run. It starts with a two mile out and back run (uphill on the way out and downhill on the way back), then it is a somewhat hilly 13 mile bike ride, followed by the same two mile run. It is a good workout and that second run is painful!
Hope that everyone enjoys the holiday tomorrow!
Posted by Blondie at 05:54 PM | Comments (0)
July 02, 2005
My Outfit
Today I wore an outfit that I deem worthy of part of my blog entry. I never would have bought it, but it was dirt cheap. In fact, I own very few running "outfits". Oodles and oodles of running clothes, but very few that are actually meant to go together. Anyhow, this outfit is a pair of Nike tempo running shorts (probably one of my favorite styles of shorts) that is kind of a pukey yellow for the main color with a pea green and white on the sides. The top is one of the longer Nike sports bras, the one that looks like two pieces with the zipper in the front. It is mainly that pukey yellow color with some of the pea green on it. The colors are rather ugly, but the two pieces look good together. I'm a sucker for a bargain, and each of the pieces was only $5 each, so I had to get it. Really, if I find a $50 sports bra for $5, I need to buy it, even if I don't really need it. This is one of my big spending problems, I refuse to pay a lot for one piece, but I get lots and lots of stuff dirt cheap.
So this morning was not one of my best mornings ever. I wanted to run longer, but I was put back on restricted duty. In fact, I am going to be on very restricted duty next week (more later). Last week was probably too much for my body to handle just yet. I was supposed to do an hour and keep an eye on D, one the high school boys, who is pretty clueless. The group ran together for about the first 25 minutes and then we splintered off into two groups, one going an hour and the other going about 80 minutes. I would have liked to run longer, but I had a job to perform. I didn't really feel too bad on the run, it was relatively flat with one massive hill about two miles from the finish. Flat is a relative term, as I have been coming to learn. The problem around here is that every hill you go up, you come right back down just as much as you went up and then must go up twice as much. D wasn't much for staying with the group and still needs to learn some of the rules of running on the road. He had a tendency to get in the middle of the road or get on the other side of the road (with traffic at his back). We were lucky because it was still early in the morning and these roads are not very well travelled, but the cars on it do really fly. My guess is that we ran about 8.5 miles, give or take a little bit.
I did go to the gym, but I was really lacking any motivation to do anything. I got on the elliptical for 17 minutes and just didn't feel like doing any more. Then I got on the stationary bike for 20 minutes, but just didn't feel like being there. I did some push-ups and lifted some, but decided that I was just wasting time being at the gym.
Monday we have our annual duathlon, I'll write more about that either tomorrow or Monday. After that I am taking the rest of the week off. J told me that on Thursday. I should know better, but I need someone to tell me to do it. One of the usual indications is when I start to write things like "my mind is telling my legs to turnover, but they just won't do it" in my log book. I seem to follow a different schedule than the rest of the group, but I am the only one who really races and cares about races. We want my races to start later in the season and probably go through the first week in December. He thinks (and I agree) that at this point I could probably run pretty close to my half-marathon PR on a good day. For me, that means that I'll be done racing around the second week in October. We are going to try some different things this fall, just as we did in the spring, in order to find out what works best for me. This means that as much as I love to race the PDR, I'll be going into it undertrained, but that is OK. I'll train right through it, hopefully looking for some fast 10Ks later in the season. As of now, I have three that are tentatively scheduled.
This last paragraph got me to thinking about what Alison wrote about the fine line between being obsessive and training. On Thursday night, I told J that I have a problem. I'm already feeling lazy about taking the week off. This week off is a real week off. No riding, no swimming, no aqua-jogging, nada. I may take the water aerobics class with my mom and go to a yoga class to stretch out, but no real forms of exercise. He said that he regrets telling me ahead of time since he knows that I get that way, he should have just sprung it on me on Monday morning. I preach that taking rest is important, but I get antsy after a few days of not doing anything. Next week will be used to catch up with friends who take a backseat to my schedule at other times. I assume that means that I have a bit of a problem :)
Posted by Blondie at 12:04 PM | Comments (1)
July 01, 2005
Start of the Long Weekend
In my case, every weekend has been a long weekend! This one is a long weekend for everyone, though. When it rains, it pours (as in parties). I have two to go to tomorrow. In addition to the parties, this area is going to be absolutely insane tomorrow because of the Live 8 concert in Philly. On the Fourth, there is also an Elton John concert in Philly. I actually know people who are purposely trying to get out of the city this weekend. They are expecting about a million people, yet the area around the Art Museum can "only" hold about 400,000. To top it off, there are rumors that there are only 440 port-o-pots available!!! It seems that Philly tries to do something special every year for the Fourth since it was the first capital of the country.
Nothing exciting today. It was hot and humid and nasty out. I went for a walk with my former training partner, K. She hasn't been running too much now because she has had other objectives in her life. She has struggled quite a bit with infertility, but she and her husband are now pregnant. She had just gotten back from an ultrasound and is ready to tell people about her pregnancy. She had more than one miscarriage and has had trouble with conceiving as well, so she is very happy. We strolled for about an hour, but it was good for both of us to do that.
One of my exes is having a party tomorrow. One of his best friends is moving accross the country and it is also a going away party for him. B and I were just out running around getting things for the party. B and his friend drove out to Colorado to drop off J's car and boat and just flew back into town this afternoon. The party is going to be thrown together at the last minute. One of the guys who I run with is having a birthday party tomorrow night at a local bar. Given that I'll be outside all day, I'll need a second shower to go out. Not only that, pretty fun clothes need to be worn out at night while during the day comfort rules.
I hope that everyone has a great Fourth of July and enjoys the long weekend!
Posted by Blondie at 05:40 PM | Comments (2)