Nice day today! After a leisurely breakfast of yogurt and banana, I went to the gym for body pump class and a swim. I managed to navigate all the stairs without hurting myself as I left and proceeded to the school bookstore to pick up my books for the semester. They were expensive, but what can one expect? Then I went to Border's to pick up Jared Diamond's new book Collapse. It was on sale 30% off and I had a $10 gift card to bring it down to a very nice price. So of course I ruined the whole deal by buying a few magazines, a calendar for the office and another book that was not on sale. When the young man at the register asked if I had found everything I needed, I told him, "Yes. Too much. Get me out of here and don't let me come back!"
I then went across the street to Whole Foods to scout out their deli. I got Dan some spinach-mushroom enchiladas and for myself a big box of stir-fried and grilled veggies with a piece of sesame tofu. I also got us some Mexican chocolate bread pudding for dessert. Shame on me! But it was sooooo good!
And hey, I worked it off tonight on the elliptical trainer. Right?
Tonight we were a little concerned by a bit of red soiling on Tidbit's tail. We think she just got into something because her social behavior hasn't changed, nor have her eating or... er... other habits. But all the same, a bunny's health can change so fast. Lots of good-health karma for Tidbit, please!
Today's Workouts
Body Pump class (1 hour)
Swim (1000 yds)
Elliptical (1 hour)
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
A Relaxing Week
So far this week has been pretty relaxing. I've slept late every morning, taken naps and gotten a massage (thanks, Mary). I've been to the gym and I'm starting to clean up around the house a bit. I washed some new pillowcases and blankets we got for Christmas, deposited a Christmas check in the bank... just little things like that. Oddly, it all keeps me pretty busy.
Yesterday I managed to twist my left ankle while leaving the Y after a workout. I guess having very flexible ankles is a good thing because this could've been a pretty serious injury. I have some soreness to the ankle and top of the foot today, but no swelling. The moment my foot slipped off the step and I felt my ankle twist almost perpendicular to my body I had visions of this one moment of carelessness (I was fussing with my cell phone) ruining the marathon for me. But now I think I'll be pain-free by the weekend. Thank goodness! Considering that I'm the sort of gal who can twist an ankle while walking in flats on level ground, you'd think I would be more careful!
As for my Christmas, it was nice. I didn't get most of what I asked for, which irked me a bit, since I didn't ask for anything expensive and now I have to go buy those things myself because I need them. But I still got some good stuff, including tennis rackets, which were something that I did ask for. Yay! There are tennis courts just about everywhere I look and I've been thinking for a couple years now that hitting a few balls around would be a nice activity on days when I don't want to train but I do very much want to be able to burn a few calories so I can eat some cookies and not feel bad about it. So thanks, Mom and Dad, for the tennis rackets!
My mom was very excited about the Elizabeth R series I gave her, and Dad seemed pleased that I found the out of print book he had casually marked in a magazine. He also seemed to like the two old postcards I found for him on ebay and framed-- one is a postcard map of the Santa Fe Railroad's Harvey House system, including the one in San Marcial, my grandparents' now-defunct home town. The other shows the Santa Fe State School for the Deaf (where Dad works) in its original 1930s construction. I gave my brother some Beatles and Rolling Stones memorabilia, as usual. And I gave my sister a silk sweater for work, an antique childrens' book about rabbits and a DVD of Dominique's Circus Cats. OMG-- this guy is so weird but his show is hilarious! I know what I'm doing if I ever go to Key West!
I gave Dan some shoes, a couple shirts, a book about Monhegan Island and a book about the life of a domestique in the Tour de France, which was as much a gift for me as for him, I think.
Our furry friends were quite generous this season. Pixel gave us a new blanket and Tidbit gave us some new pillowcases, probably to replace the ones she has chewed on. Thanks, kids!
And finally, on the subject of generosity, anyone who has not yet donated to the tsunami disaster relief-- what are you waiting for? It's easy. All the newspapers have instructions how to give and even our friends at amazon.com are now set up for you to make a donation quickly and easily. Most of us in this country are blessed with good health, cheap food and easy access to jobs. Even a small donation that seems insignificant to me or you will go a long way in Thailand or Sri Lanka. For the cost of a couple of Starbucks lattes or a deli lunch (or fast food, if that's your preference) you can save lives. So give a little bit now. We have over 200 million people in the United States. If everyone gave just a dollar, think how much help we could give! So don't think any gift is too small. Thank you, and may God, the gods, the fates or whatever you believe in, bless you a thousand times for every penny you give to this relief effort. It is only by accident of birth that it wasn't me or you in the path of those waves.
Recent Workouts (since this is supposed to be a triathlon blog)
Christmas Day: 2 hours, bike - Spinervals 9.0 Have Mercy
Sunday: 15 mile run (left quad cramped badly or I would've gone farther)
Monday: 1 hour slow elliptical (no hard workouts on massage days)
Tuesday: 1 hour body pump, 1000 yds swim
Today: Spinervals 5.0 Mental Toughness (1st hour only)
Yesterday I managed to twist my left ankle while leaving the Y after a workout. I guess having very flexible ankles is a good thing because this could've been a pretty serious injury. I have some soreness to the ankle and top of the foot today, but no swelling. The moment my foot slipped off the step and I felt my ankle twist almost perpendicular to my body I had visions of this one moment of carelessness (I was fussing with my cell phone) ruining the marathon for me. But now I think I'll be pain-free by the weekend. Thank goodness! Considering that I'm the sort of gal who can twist an ankle while walking in flats on level ground, you'd think I would be more careful!
As for my Christmas, it was nice. I didn't get most of what I asked for, which irked me a bit, since I didn't ask for anything expensive and now I have to go buy those things myself because I need them. But I still got some good stuff, including tennis rackets, which were something that I did ask for. Yay! There are tennis courts just about everywhere I look and I've been thinking for a couple years now that hitting a few balls around would be a nice activity on days when I don't want to train but I do very much want to be able to burn a few calories so I can eat some cookies and not feel bad about it. So thanks, Mom and Dad, for the tennis rackets!
My mom was very excited about the Elizabeth R series I gave her, and Dad seemed pleased that I found the out of print book he had casually marked in a magazine. He also seemed to like the two old postcards I found for him on ebay and framed-- one is a postcard map of the Santa Fe Railroad's Harvey House system, including the one in San Marcial, my grandparents' now-defunct home town. The other shows the Santa Fe State School for the Deaf (where Dad works) in its original 1930s construction. I gave my brother some Beatles and Rolling Stones memorabilia, as usual. And I gave my sister a silk sweater for work, an antique childrens' book about rabbits and a DVD of Dominique's Circus Cats. OMG-- this guy is so weird but his show is hilarious! I know what I'm doing if I ever go to Key West!
I gave Dan some shoes, a couple shirts, a book about Monhegan Island and a book about the life of a domestique in the Tour de France, which was as much a gift for me as for him, I think.
Our furry friends were quite generous this season. Pixel gave us a new blanket and Tidbit gave us some new pillowcases, probably to replace the ones she has chewed on. Thanks, kids!
And finally, on the subject of generosity, anyone who has not yet donated to the tsunami disaster relief-- what are you waiting for? It's easy. All the newspapers have instructions how to give and even our friends at amazon.com are now set up for you to make a donation quickly and easily. Most of us in this country are blessed with good health, cheap food and easy access to jobs. Even a small donation that seems insignificant to me or you will go a long way in Thailand or Sri Lanka. For the cost of a couple of Starbucks lattes or a deli lunch (or fast food, if that's your preference) you can save lives. So give a little bit now. We have over 200 million people in the United States. If everyone gave just a dollar, think how much help we could give! So don't think any gift is too small. Thank you, and may God, the gods, the fates or whatever you believe in, bless you a thousand times for every penny you give to this relief effort. It is only by accident of birth that it wasn't me or you in the path of those waves.
Recent Workouts (since this is supposed to be a triathlon blog)
Christmas Day: 2 hours, bike - Spinervals 9.0 Have Mercy
Sunday: 15 mile run (left quad cramped badly or I would've gone farther)
Monday: 1 hour slow elliptical (no hard workouts on massage days)
Tuesday: 1 hour body pump, 1000 yds swim
Today: Spinervals 5.0 Mental Toughness (1st hour only)
Saturday, December 25, 2004
Friday, December 24, 2004
Let it snow!
It's snowing tonight! We get snow maybe once or twice a decade here and never on Christmas Eve. We're much more likely to be wearing shorts, but not this year!
We've had flurries all day. At first it was just tiny little ice crystals. Nothing to get too exicted about, although one landed on the lapel of my coat in the exact shape of a star. Cool. But tonight we started getting actual flakes. I haven't seen any bigger than dime-size, but it's still pretty impressive to see them swirling around against the dark of the night sky. Dan and I went up to the park and walked around in it for nearly an hour. The wind was blowing the snow into our faces and it was accumulating in the folds of our clothes. By the time we got back to the car, the trees, grass and tops of cars were turning white. With what we scraped off our car we had enough snow to make a tiny snowman. I put it where maybe a passing runner will see him.
When you so rarely get snow, it really is a magical thing.
After we got home we heated up some homemade tamales Dan got from his aunt. They were delicious and perfect for a cold winter day. Not to mention that I was starving. Later tonight we'll open our presents from each other and from Dan's family. Tidbit will open her present. Pixel will ignore his. And tomorrow we'll go out to my parents' house for turkey dinner and more gifts.
I won't be running in the morning. The roads are wet from the snow and will be icy by morning. So I guess I'll stay in and do some Spinervals. I'm now thinking I'll do my long run early in the week when the weather warms up a bit. I really do want to get in something in the 23 mile range before tapering. It's nice to have the whole week off so I'm not locked into doing my long run on any particular day.
Today's Workouts
Technically, none. But I walked to two different drug stores looking for colored tissue paper after Dan used the last of mine. (Bad planning, Dan!) So that turned out to be about 4-5 miles. And then we walked 3 miles at the park tonight. Not bad for a day when I didn't work out. And wrapping all the gifts (it took hours!) surely counts for something, right?
We've had flurries all day. At first it was just tiny little ice crystals. Nothing to get too exicted about, although one landed on the lapel of my coat in the exact shape of a star. Cool. But tonight we started getting actual flakes. I haven't seen any bigger than dime-size, but it's still pretty impressive to see them swirling around against the dark of the night sky. Dan and I went up to the park and walked around in it for nearly an hour. The wind was blowing the snow into our faces and it was accumulating in the folds of our clothes. By the time we got back to the car, the trees, grass and tops of cars were turning white. With what we scraped off our car we had enough snow to make a tiny snowman. I put it where maybe a passing runner will see him.
When you so rarely get snow, it really is a magical thing.
After we got home we heated up some homemade tamales Dan got from his aunt. They were delicious and perfect for a cold winter day. Not to mention that I was starving. Later tonight we'll open our presents from each other and from Dan's family. Tidbit will open her present. Pixel will ignore his. And tomorrow we'll go out to my parents' house for turkey dinner and more gifts.
I won't be running in the morning. The roads are wet from the snow and will be icy by morning. So I guess I'll stay in and do some Spinervals. I'm now thinking I'll do my long run early in the week when the weather warms up a bit. I really do want to get in something in the 23 mile range before tapering. It's nice to have the whole week off so I'm not locked into doing my long run on any particular day.
Today's Workouts
Technically, none. But I walked to two different drug stores looking for colored tissue paper after Dan used the last of mine. (Bad planning, Dan!) So that turned out to be about 4-5 miles. And then we walked 3 miles at the park tonight. Not bad for a day when I didn't work out. And wrapping all the gifts (it took hours!) surely counts for something, right?
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Bah humbug!
Any other year I would've been thrilled at the prospect of a snowy Christmas Eve. This is the only time in my entire memory of living in this city, let alone this state, that a white Christmas Eve has been more than a fantasy.
And it just happens to be the weekend when I had scheduled my last long training run before the marathon. I've been mentally running through all the possible options. Do I give myself an athsma attack by running my planned street route in cold temps, assuming no ice on the roads? If it's icy out, do I risk driving to the park to run there? (The tricky part would be driving home, not getting there.) Should I try to tough out four hours on the treadmill? Or should I just run on Sunday instead and do a long Spinerval session Saturday in anticipation of Christmas goodies with my folks? If I do a spin session Saturday, will my legs be up for 23 miles the next day? Not likely. Not in any way that won't be really painful. But four hours on a treadmill is pretty painful, too. And so is running with reduced lung capacity, which is the state I'll be in when the 20-something temps hit my screwed up lungs.
So I'm not pleased at all by our Christmasy weather. Just call me Grinch.
Recent Workouts
Monday: 45 minutes core and stretch cords, 45 minutes elliptical, 5 minutes jumprope
Tuesday: 45 minutes core and stretch cords, 45 minutes Spinervals: 3.0 Suffer-O-Rama
Wednesday: no morning workout-- overslept, 30 minutes elliptical, 20 minutes treadmill, 5 minutes jumprope
And it just happens to be the weekend when I had scheduled my last long training run before the marathon. I've been mentally running through all the possible options. Do I give myself an athsma attack by running my planned street route in cold temps, assuming no ice on the roads? If it's icy out, do I risk driving to the park to run there? (The tricky part would be driving home, not getting there.) Should I try to tough out four hours on the treadmill? Or should I just run on Sunday instead and do a long Spinerval session Saturday in anticipation of Christmas goodies with my folks? If I do a spin session Saturday, will my legs be up for 23 miles the next day? Not likely. Not in any way that won't be really painful. But four hours on a treadmill is pretty painful, too. And so is running with reduced lung capacity, which is the state I'll be in when the 20-something temps hit my screwed up lungs.
So I'm not pleased at all by our Christmasy weather. Just call me Grinch.
Recent Workouts
Monday: 45 minutes core and stretch cords, 45 minutes elliptical, 5 minutes jumprope
Tuesday: 45 minutes core and stretch cords, 45 minutes Spinervals: 3.0 Suffer-O-Rama
Wednesday: no morning workout-- overslept, 30 minutes elliptical, 20 minutes treadmill, 5 minutes jumprope
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Feeling Run Down
In spite of my best intentions, I just couldn't get on the bike today. I've been dragging all day, in spite of a long afternoon nap. They say these longer runs can take their toll, so I guess I'm still recovering from yesterday.
I seem to have hit on a good post-run therapy for my legs, though. Cold water soak, hot shower, a few minutes of gentle massage on the foam roller, a little stretching and then arnica and a menthol-containing lotion. My legs are only very slightly stiff today-- I've felt worse after a hard 5K. It's the rest of me that doesn't want to do anything! I've read that overuse of arnica can be bad for the liver, though. I don't know if that applies to topical solution or not, but after the marathon my focus will return to half-ironman distance triathlon (Gulfman Tri in Galveston, April 3) so my longest runs will probably be around 15 miles. Not enough to justify such an intensive post-run therapy. No more arnica.
I ran a few errands today, spent some time online, hung out with the bunny, took a nap and went for my customary Sunday night walk with Dan at Memorial Park. It's nice to know that even though we don't spend huge amounts of time together during the week, there are certain things we always do together. It's better to always wish you had a little more time with someone that be constantly wishing they would go away and leave you alone.
I talked to my family on the phone this evening. Dad made green chile enchiladas tonight. I wish I'd known-- I would've driven over there! But he promised to freeze some for me and said he'd be making posole and red chile enchiladas (New Mexico style) after Christmas. I'm looking forward to that. I really need a posole fix sometimes. Over 400 years of New Mexico ancestry and I guess these things end up encoded into your DNA or something.
My sister sounded pretty good on the phone, although my mother insisted on giving me a blow by blow account of the professional cleanup of the spot where her boyfriend shot himself, all the stains, dribbles and particles they found, etc. It didn't upset or disgust me, but I found it pretty tacky of her. Like I really care?
My sister is still in worship mode of her boyfriend. I guess this will take longer than I thought. I had hoped that after a week she'd be starting to remember how screwed up things really were and how she had complained about him, wanted to leave, etc. But no. She's still reluctant to part with so much as a piece of lint he might've touched. And she's crediting her Prozac with keeping her from crying as much as she thinks she should be. Like there's some kind of "right" way to grieve. And as if the Prozac wasn't what kept her in this doomed relationship to begin with. Funny, she didn't need it before she moved in with him, he lost his job and things started spiraling out of control. Typical for the mentality of our modern age-- don't fix your screwed up situation, take a pill instead!
Today's Workouts
Nothing, unless dealing with the Sunday crowd at Central Market counts.
I seem to have hit on a good post-run therapy for my legs, though. Cold water soak, hot shower, a few minutes of gentle massage on the foam roller, a little stretching and then arnica and a menthol-containing lotion. My legs are only very slightly stiff today-- I've felt worse after a hard 5K. It's the rest of me that doesn't want to do anything! I've read that overuse of arnica can be bad for the liver, though. I don't know if that applies to topical solution or not, but after the marathon my focus will return to half-ironman distance triathlon (Gulfman Tri in Galveston, April 3) so my longest runs will probably be around 15 miles. Not enough to justify such an intensive post-run therapy. No more arnica.
I ran a few errands today, spent some time online, hung out with the bunny, took a nap and went for my customary Sunday night walk with Dan at Memorial Park. It's nice to know that even though we don't spend huge amounts of time together during the week, there are certain things we always do together. It's better to always wish you had a little more time with someone that be constantly wishing they would go away and leave you alone.
I talked to my family on the phone this evening. Dad made green chile enchiladas tonight. I wish I'd known-- I would've driven over there! But he promised to freeze some for me and said he'd be making posole and red chile enchiladas (New Mexico style) after Christmas. I'm looking forward to that. I really need a posole fix sometimes. Over 400 years of New Mexico ancestry and I guess these things end up encoded into your DNA or something.
My sister sounded pretty good on the phone, although my mother insisted on giving me a blow by blow account of the professional cleanup of the spot where her boyfriend shot himself, all the stains, dribbles and particles they found, etc. It didn't upset or disgust me, but I found it pretty tacky of her. Like I really care?
My sister is still in worship mode of her boyfriend. I guess this will take longer than I thought. I had hoped that after a week she'd be starting to remember how screwed up things really were and how she had complained about him, wanted to leave, etc. But no. She's still reluctant to part with so much as a piece of lint he might've touched. And she's crediting her Prozac with keeping her from crying as much as she thinks she should be. Like there's some kind of "right" way to grieve. And as if the Prozac wasn't what kept her in this doomed relationship to begin with. Funny, she didn't need it before she moved in with him, he lost his job and things started spiraling out of control. Typical for the mentality of our modern age-- don't fix your screwed up situation, take a pill instead!
Today's Workouts
Nothing, unless dealing with the Sunday crowd at Central Market counts.
Saturday, December 18, 2004
Saturday Run
I had a good run this morning-- 20 miles. It was starting to get painful toward the end, but that's no surprise. Stopping actually hurt more than continuing, so I was quite a sight once I got home, stumbling painfully around as I tried to change clothes so I could go soak my legs in the cold swimming pool. That water was cold! It hurt so bad I actually had to get out for a minute, get my courage back up and then get back in. But I eventually settled in, had my hot chocolate (what was left of it after I Frankenstein-walked to the pool) and toughed out ten minutes.
Today was the local Team in Training's 20+ mile run, their last long run in preparation for the marathon. Their rest stations looked so good! They had cookies, bananas, watermelon and other goodies. I was very tempted to stop and beg a bit of Gatorade off them or something, since I was running on water, Endurolytes and Hammer Gel only. But I resisted the temptation and didn't bother them. I'm guessing Houston Fit will be out there next weekend and since I know a lot of those people maybe I can beg a Clif Bar or something. I intend to do 22 or 23 next weekend and then taper. I'm already trying to decide on my route for next weekend. I've been intentionally staying close to home and close to where I know I can find clean restrooms, but it's so boring doing loops! A training run of 20 miles or more is kind of hard to deal with even under the best circumstances. Unlike race day, there are no bands, no one cheering.
I've decided, based on how I felt today and last Saturday, that foot and calf weakness are my biggest run limiters at this time. I should've continued with jumping rope every week, after starting it last summer and then getting lazy about it. I might've even been able to prevent the injury I got last month. I'm wondering now if it's too late to make a difference if I were to do just 5 minutes of jumprope every day, as opposed to the longer 15-20 minute sessions once a week that gave me so many calf and arch cramps over the summer. I think I'll give it a try, since 5 minutes shouldn't be long enough to injure myself, but doing it daily should give me some good results quickly. Anything that doesn't injure me will help at this point. I don't buy the bullshit about not being able to make any more significant gains this close to a marathon. How silly. Even small gains in strength or flexibility will help, and these can certainly happen in two to four weeks.
After today's run and after I did a bit of maintenance on my sore and tired legs, Dan and I went for Indian food-- my second Indian feast in two days! Yesterday's office party was full of Indian food, much to my chagrin. I can resist lasagna, poboys, ham and other such fare, but I'm a hopeless case when they set out saag paneer, three kinds of daal and paneer in curry sauce. It's been interesting to see the shift in what shows up at our potlucks over the past few years. I'm sure having an Indian boss has something to do with it, but in general our Indian employees have started to realize that the office is full of Indian food lovers and they are happy to accomodate us by bringing their favorite recipes from home or bringing goodies from their favorite restaurants. I don't know how they all stay so thin, though. I have to limit myself to Indian food only once a week on long run days or I'll be huge! Oh, did I mention I brought home some naan from today's lunch with Dan? He probably thinks he'll get to eat it all. Ha! I think it will make a great accompaniment to my butternut squash dish or to a salad tomorrow. Dan better move fast if he thinks he's getting all that naan!
Today's Workout
Run - 20 miles
Today was the local Team in Training's 20+ mile run, their last long run in preparation for the marathon. Their rest stations looked so good! They had cookies, bananas, watermelon and other goodies. I was very tempted to stop and beg a bit of Gatorade off them or something, since I was running on water, Endurolytes and Hammer Gel only. But I resisted the temptation and didn't bother them. I'm guessing Houston Fit will be out there next weekend and since I know a lot of those people maybe I can beg a Clif Bar or something. I intend to do 22 or 23 next weekend and then taper. I'm already trying to decide on my route for next weekend. I've been intentionally staying close to home and close to where I know I can find clean restrooms, but it's so boring doing loops! A training run of 20 miles or more is kind of hard to deal with even under the best circumstances. Unlike race day, there are no bands, no one cheering.
I've decided, based on how I felt today and last Saturday, that foot and calf weakness are my biggest run limiters at this time. I should've continued with jumping rope every week, after starting it last summer and then getting lazy about it. I might've even been able to prevent the injury I got last month. I'm wondering now if it's too late to make a difference if I were to do just 5 minutes of jumprope every day, as opposed to the longer 15-20 minute sessions once a week that gave me so many calf and arch cramps over the summer. I think I'll give it a try, since 5 minutes shouldn't be long enough to injure myself, but doing it daily should give me some good results quickly. Anything that doesn't injure me will help at this point. I don't buy the bullshit about not being able to make any more significant gains this close to a marathon. How silly. Even small gains in strength or flexibility will help, and these can certainly happen in two to four weeks.
After today's run and after I did a bit of maintenance on my sore and tired legs, Dan and I went for Indian food-- my second Indian feast in two days! Yesterday's office party was full of Indian food, much to my chagrin. I can resist lasagna, poboys, ham and other such fare, but I'm a hopeless case when they set out saag paneer, three kinds of daal and paneer in curry sauce. It's been interesting to see the shift in what shows up at our potlucks over the past few years. I'm sure having an Indian boss has something to do with it, but in general our Indian employees have started to realize that the office is full of Indian food lovers and they are happy to accomodate us by bringing their favorite recipes from home or bringing goodies from their favorite restaurants. I don't know how they all stay so thin, though. I have to limit myself to Indian food only once a week on long run days or I'll be huge! Oh, did I mention I brought home some naan from today's lunch with Dan? He probably thinks he'll get to eat it all. Ha! I think it will make a great accompaniment to my butternut squash dish or to a salad tomorrow. Dan better move fast if he thinks he's getting all that naan!
Today's Workout
Run - 20 miles
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to my brother Jacob, who is 31 today!
I am so ready for this week to be over. It seems like I can't manage to do anything I set out to do at work. Today my assistant came in late and the boss was anticipating various important phone calls, so I had to play receptionist and sit by the phone. I only have one line, so I couldn't make any calls of my own or talk more than a few seconds with anyone who called me. Adding to the frustration, I had to keep an eye out for job applicants coming in for scheduled interviews. I don't normally mind helping with any of this, but I had a lot of work of my own to do and it involved phone calls, going to other offices, etc. But no, I was stuck at my desk waiting for the phone to ring until almost noon.
Then we had to scramble to get any budget-affecting documents ready for higher level signatures since it would be the last day before the new year that we could do this. Why do so many people take whole week of Christmas off? I understand the ones who go out of town, but the ones who stay here? I had planned to leave early today or at least on time, and get signatures at the end of the day Friday. Finding out I had to do it today just added to my workload. And since my assistant is the only one by policy allowed to generate certain types of documents, we simply didn't get everything ready because she came in late today. Well, it's not my silly policy that says we can no longer just sign them and take them to accounts payable. It's not the university's policy, either.
But at long last I got a few of the more important things done. It was a day I just felt like I couldn't settle in and get any one thing completely finished. I hate days like that. And for all that, I didn't even get to leave early. If I'm going to not get anything done completely, it should at least be because I was doing something fun instead.
Our office holiday party is tomorrow, the last of the parties for this season. Thank goodness. I hate to be part of the bah humbug crowd, but it took me all year to work off last year's holiday weight gain and I can do without the sabotage. I made a lasagna to take to the party tomorrow, cutting into my workout time tonight. I'm not happy about it, but at least I'll get my gold star for being a team player.
Today's Workouts
Morning: 45 minutes core and stretch cord exercises
Evening: 20 minutes elliptical, 20 minutes treadmill - 8 min/mile pace
I am so ready for this week to be over. It seems like I can't manage to do anything I set out to do at work. Today my assistant came in late and the boss was anticipating various important phone calls, so I had to play receptionist and sit by the phone. I only have one line, so I couldn't make any calls of my own or talk more than a few seconds with anyone who called me. Adding to the frustration, I had to keep an eye out for job applicants coming in for scheduled interviews. I don't normally mind helping with any of this, but I had a lot of work of my own to do and it involved phone calls, going to other offices, etc. But no, I was stuck at my desk waiting for the phone to ring until almost noon.
Then we had to scramble to get any budget-affecting documents ready for higher level signatures since it would be the last day before the new year that we could do this. Why do so many people take whole week of Christmas off? I understand the ones who go out of town, but the ones who stay here? I had planned to leave early today or at least on time, and get signatures at the end of the day Friday. Finding out I had to do it today just added to my workload. And since my assistant is the only one by policy allowed to generate certain types of documents, we simply didn't get everything ready because she came in late today. Well, it's not my silly policy that says we can no longer just sign them and take them to accounts payable. It's not the university's policy, either.
But at long last I got a few of the more important things done. It was a day I just felt like I couldn't settle in and get any one thing completely finished. I hate days like that. And for all that, I didn't even get to leave early. If I'm going to not get anything done completely, it should at least be because I was doing something fun instead.
Our office holiday party is tomorrow, the last of the parties for this season. Thank goodness. I hate to be part of the bah humbug crowd, but it took me all year to work off last year's holiday weight gain and I can do without the sabotage. I made a lasagna to take to the party tomorrow, cutting into my workout time tonight. I'm not happy about it, but at least I'll get my gold star for being a team player.
Today's Workouts
Morning: 45 minutes core and stretch cord exercises
Evening: 20 minutes elliptical, 20 minutes treadmill - 8 min/mile pace
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Mid-week update
Nothing very interesting has been happening this week, thank goodness. Just a lot of meetings and errands at work that keep me there late and keep me from getting much desk time. I'm staying late and I'm unproductive! Who wouldn't want that?
I haven't talked to my sister this week, although I've tried a couple times to call to get more info about the pets she's trying to find homes for. In a way I dread actually talking to her. I don't handle other people's emotions very well, and she and Mom are emotional people. I'll be glad when the worst of this mess is over.
Recent Workouts
Mon: Morning - 45 minutes core and stretch cords
Evening - N/A (I don't work out the evening after a massage)
Tue: Morning - 45 minutes core and stretch cords
Evening - 30 min elliptical (5K pace), 15 min treadmill (8 min/miles)
Wed: Morning - 45 minutes core and stretch cords
Evening - Spinervals 7.0 Uphill Grind (45 min)
I haven't talked to my sister this week, although I've tried a couple times to call to get more info about the pets she's trying to find homes for. In a way I dread actually talking to her. I don't handle other people's emotions very well, and she and Mom are emotional people. I'll be glad when the worst of this mess is over.
Recent Workouts
Mon: Morning - 45 minutes core and stretch cords
Evening - N/A (I don't work out the evening after a massage)
Tue: Morning - 45 minutes core and stretch cords
Evening - 30 min elliptical (5K pace), 15 min treadmill (8 min/miles)
Wed: Morning - 45 minutes core and stretch cords
Evening - Spinervals 7.0 Uphill Grind (45 min)
Monday, December 13, 2004
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Sobering weekend
The weekend started off well enough. I ran 17 miles and followed up with half an hour on the elliptical trainer. I had a bit of pain in my arch at mile 16, but walked a few minutes and was fine running the rest of the way. My legs got a bit knotted up, but I felt strong throughout. As an experiment I rubbed my legs down afterward with arnica gel and Nemidon's black and blue ointment (which is not black and blue, btw). I don't know if it helped or if I was just lucky, but my legs felt pretty darn good the rest of the weekend. Much better than last weekend when I did less mileage. Go figure.
Dan and I went to lunch and then I took a long nap. When I got up I had a message to call my mother. She informed me that my sister's boyfriend of more than five years had committed suicide. He had had a lot of problems and to those of us on the outside, I don't think it was a big surprise. But my sister is a mess, of course. So I spent some time talking on the phone with her. I offered to come over but she said she'd rather I come over Sunday.
So today I got up and puttered around on the computer for awhile. Then I went to Central Market and got some things for me and for my sister and her bunny. After that I came home and did a Spinervals session, then took a nap. This evening I went out to my parents' house and spent some time with everyone. My father is just in from New Mexico, which is great but I feel really bad for him getting all this thrown at him when I'm sure he was looking forward to a relaxing winter break. My sister was as well as could be expected-- sometimes okay, other times not. I urged my mom to make sure the girl gets food, rest, vitamins, and a bit of fresh air and exercise every day, even if it's just a walk around the block. I also stressed the importance of constructive activity. I hope Mom was listening. I've often felt like Cassandra in that family.
It's unfortunate that my sister is having to learn the same hard lesson I had to learn, in the same hard way. You can't save a person who isn't making any effort to save himself. You'll only get dragged down to his level. It's not like taking in a stray dog who will be grateful for your efforts. When you decide to fight for someone who won't fight for himself, he'll only keep taking until you're left with nothing. There's no future in it.
So I hope once my sister's initial shock and grief have passed she can begin to understand that there are lessons to be learned here. As many times as she thought it might be wise to leave this guy, she could never bring herself to do it. It would've been hard. There would have been a lot of complicated things to work out-- things she still has to work out now, so what did she gain? Sometimes in life all your options suck. You just have to pick the option that sucks the least and has the least possibility of even worse consequences down the road. If you sit around waiting for it all to magically get better, you'll still be sitting there when the worst happens.
And so as not to end this on such a dismal note, I scored some Smithsonian magazines, pumpkin bread and dried apples tonight. (The apples came from the New Mexico farm.) My feet feel pretty darn good and I'm feeling ever more optimistic about the marathon, although I'm not letting myself get enthusiastic yet. I have a massage appointment for tomorrow. And my bunny is unbearably cute!
This Weekend's Workouts
Saturday: 17 miles running, 30 minutes elliptical
Sunday: Spinervals 5.0 Mental Toughness
Dan and I went to lunch and then I took a long nap. When I got up I had a message to call my mother. She informed me that my sister's boyfriend of more than five years had committed suicide. He had had a lot of problems and to those of us on the outside, I don't think it was a big surprise. But my sister is a mess, of course. So I spent some time talking on the phone with her. I offered to come over but she said she'd rather I come over Sunday.
So today I got up and puttered around on the computer for awhile. Then I went to Central Market and got some things for me and for my sister and her bunny. After that I came home and did a Spinervals session, then took a nap. This evening I went out to my parents' house and spent some time with everyone. My father is just in from New Mexico, which is great but I feel really bad for him getting all this thrown at him when I'm sure he was looking forward to a relaxing winter break. My sister was as well as could be expected-- sometimes okay, other times not. I urged my mom to make sure the girl gets food, rest, vitamins, and a bit of fresh air and exercise every day, even if it's just a walk around the block. I also stressed the importance of constructive activity. I hope Mom was listening. I've often felt like Cassandra in that family.
It's unfortunate that my sister is having to learn the same hard lesson I had to learn, in the same hard way. You can't save a person who isn't making any effort to save himself. You'll only get dragged down to his level. It's not like taking in a stray dog who will be grateful for your efforts. When you decide to fight for someone who won't fight for himself, he'll only keep taking until you're left with nothing. There's no future in it.
So I hope once my sister's initial shock and grief have passed she can begin to understand that there are lessons to be learned here. As many times as she thought it might be wise to leave this guy, she could never bring herself to do it. It would've been hard. There would have been a lot of complicated things to work out-- things she still has to work out now, so what did she gain? Sometimes in life all your options suck. You just have to pick the option that sucks the least and has the least possibility of even worse consequences down the road. If you sit around waiting for it all to magically get better, you'll still be sitting there when the worst happens.
And so as not to end this on such a dismal note, I scored some Smithsonian magazines, pumpkin bread and dried apples tonight. (The apples came from the New Mexico farm.) My feet feel pretty darn good and I'm feeling ever more optimistic about the marathon, although I'm not letting myself get enthusiastic yet. I have a massage appointment for tomorrow. And my bunny is unbearably cute!
This Weekend's Workouts
Saturday: 17 miles running, 30 minutes elliptical
Sunday: Spinervals 5.0 Mental Toughness
Friday, December 10, 2004
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Best laid plans
So it started out as a normal, quiet day at the office. I had some tea, a snack, updated a spreadsheet, looked at a website with some cute kitties... and then around lunchtime I got hit with three urgent, must-do-today projects! Luckily my sluggish brain ramped up to the task quickly and the time just flew. The biggest project was one of those number-intensive, change mental tracks and you'll forget it all, type of things. So by the end of the day I barely even looked up when my boss went home, my assistant went home... hey, why am I here all alone?
Another day late at the office. This makes three this week! Maybe I can leave early tomorrow. I better not plan on it though, or surely something else of life or death importance will come up and I'll be the only one who can save us from certain doom with my Excel pivot table skills.
By the time I left the office it was after 5 and I was tired, hungry and a bit out of sorts. So instead of going to the gym for pilates and body pump, I came home with a vague notion of doing my Spinervals Big Gear Strength video and maybe some weights later in the evening. But I took a nap and overslept, ending up doing short sessions on the stairmaster and elliptical trainer instead. It was probably better for my marathon training, but it's frustrating to have none of my plans for the day work out.
Today's Workouts
Morning: 45 minutes core and stretch cord exercises
Evening: 20 minutes elliptical trainer, 20 minutes stairmaster
Another day late at the office. This makes three this week! Maybe I can leave early tomorrow. I better not plan on it though, or surely something else of life or death importance will come up and I'll be the only one who can save us from certain doom with my Excel pivot table skills.
By the time I left the office it was after 5 and I was tired, hungry and a bit out of sorts. So instead of going to the gym for pilates and body pump, I came home with a vague notion of doing my Spinervals Big Gear Strength video and maybe some weights later in the evening. But I took a nap and overslept, ending up doing short sessions on the stairmaster and elliptical trainer instead. It was probably better for my marathon training, but it's frustrating to have none of my plans for the day work out.
Today's Workouts
Morning: 45 minutes core and stretch cord exercises
Evening: 20 minutes elliptical trainer, 20 minutes stairmaster
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Mid-week ramblings
Today was the Staff Council Christmas party. Since Dan has been going to a holiday party almost every day this week, I took the lasagna I made earlier in the week for his lunches. He won't need it. As it turned out, there was a little left over, so I took that and a plate of other food and cookies to him at his office since this was the one day he didn't have a party to go to. It was fun hanging out with him for a bit. There are advantages to working at the same place as one's spouse.
Once back at the office I was suddenly hugely sleepy and grumpy. I think the high fructose corn syrup in the cookies I ate may be to blame. I wasn't going to have any of the desserts, but there were some delicious-looking cookies that appeared to be homemade. I should've known by the way I couldn't keep my hands off them once I'd tasted one, that they contained HFCS. I ate about six. And then a little later my blood sugar dropped like a rock. I should've known. I found out later that they weren't exactly homemade-- they were made from pre-made cookie dough from a tube, then mixed with a few homemade extras. They were delicious, but I've been trying to eat as "clean" as possible for more than a year now, and I think I'm just a lot more sensitive junky stuff like HFCS now.
I ran on the treadmill tonight, with no pain. I did an interval drill. It's too late to make huge amounts of progress at this point, but I think doing various kinds of short intervals once or twice a week will help my marathon. My original plan had also called for some jump rope and plyometric drills. Do I dare attempt that? Obviously the jumping would be harder on my feet than anything else I've done so far. I'll see how my weekend long run goes and make a decision based on that. I know I would make some very big improvements quickly with some plyometric drills.
I had a good spin session last night (Spinervals 4.0 - Muscle Breakdown) and am planning a long gym session for tomorrow.
Unsolicited Tip of the Day
Do not under any circumstances, eat half a box of Kashi Go Lean cereal at one sitting! No, not even if you are already accustomed to a high fiber diet. Just trust me on this.
Today's Workouts
Morning: 45 minutes core and stretch cord exercises
Evening: 30 minutes elliptical - 10K pace, 30 minutes treadmill - ladder drill
Once back at the office I was suddenly hugely sleepy and grumpy. I think the high fructose corn syrup in the cookies I ate may be to blame. I wasn't going to have any of the desserts, but there were some delicious-looking cookies that appeared to be homemade. I should've known by the way I couldn't keep my hands off them once I'd tasted one, that they contained HFCS. I ate about six. And then a little later my blood sugar dropped like a rock. I should've known. I found out later that they weren't exactly homemade-- they were made from pre-made cookie dough from a tube, then mixed with a few homemade extras. They were delicious, but I've been trying to eat as "clean" as possible for more than a year now, and I think I'm just a lot more sensitive junky stuff like HFCS now.
I ran on the treadmill tonight, with no pain. I did an interval drill. It's too late to make huge amounts of progress at this point, but I think doing various kinds of short intervals once or twice a week will help my marathon. My original plan had also called for some jump rope and plyometric drills. Do I dare attempt that? Obviously the jumping would be harder on my feet than anything else I've done so far. I'll see how my weekend long run goes and make a decision based on that. I know I would make some very big improvements quickly with some plyometric drills.
I had a good spin session last night (Spinervals 4.0 - Muscle Breakdown) and am planning a long gym session for tomorrow.
Unsolicited Tip of the Day
Do not under any circumstances, eat half a box of Kashi Go Lean cereal at one sitting! No, not even if you are already accustomed to a high fiber diet. Just trust me on this.
Today's Workouts
Morning: 45 minutes core and stretch cord exercises
Evening: 30 minutes elliptical - 10K pace, 30 minutes treadmill - ladder drill
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Monday, December 06, 2004
Rainy Monday
I could tell it was a Monday because the day began badly. I had been looking for some kind of ointment that would work on my injured foot and bought some Capzasin on Sunday. I used some right before going to bed and was disappointed that for $12 it seemed to do nothing at all. Well, nothing until 4:30 am when I woke up in pain, feeling like my ankle was on fire! I got up and washed it with soap and water, then put some aloe on it. It helped, but only a little. And after all that ruckus, who could go back to sleep?
So of course having not gotten a full night's rest, this was a late day at work, having to get documents signed. My business officer mentioned that the CIO realized he was spending a lot of time looking at documents and is going to phase this out. Well, duh. I could've told him that looking at each and every document in the former IT division would be a monster of a time-consumer. So it looks like there is finally a light at the end of this tunnel. People are starting to realize that this takes a lot of time and delays our getting anything accomplished. I just need to try to stay positive for a few more weeks and things should be back to (somewhat) normal. But in the short-term, I go back for more signings tomorrow. Well, it beats unemployment and most days it beats waitressing, too.
I put some gel heel cups in my shoes today as another measure to try to cure my foot pain. I don't know if it's helping, but the little gel thingies sure feel nice!
In other training news my quads and my right calf have been sore since Saturday night when they tightened up after my run. This doesn't bode well for the marathon. But there's still... what, 5 weeks? Why did I ever register for this thing?
Today's Workouts
Morning: 45 minutes abs and stretch cord exercises
Evening: 45 minutes elliptical trainer, about 10K pace
So of course having not gotten a full night's rest, this was a late day at work, having to get documents signed. My business officer mentioned that the CIO realized he was spending a lot of time looking at documents and is going to phase this out. Well, duh. I could've told him that looking at each and every document in the former IT division would be a monster of a time-consumer. So it looks like there is finally a light at the end of this tunnel. People are starting to realize that this takes a lot of time and delays our getting anything accomplished. I just need to try to stay positive for a few more weeks and things should be back to (somewhat) normal. But in the short-term, I go back for more signings tomorrow. Well, it beats unemployment and most days it beats waitressing, too.
I put some gel heel cups in my shoes today as another measure to try to cure my foot pain. I don't know if it's helping, but the little gel thingies sure feel nice!
In other training news my quads and my right calf have been sore since Saturday night when they tightened up after my run. This doesn't bode well for the marathon. But there's still... what, 5 weeks? Why did I ever register for this thing?
Today's Workouts
Morning: 45 minutes abs and stretch cord exercises
Evening: 45 minutes elliptical trainer, about 10K pace
Saturday, December 04, 2004
My Saturday run
Well, I was a bad girl today. I was only going to run 9 miles and ended up doing 12. I'm sure runners everywhere are screaming at me about the 10% rule, but I don't have time for someone else's rules if I'm going to make the marathon. I felt so good I even considered going a little farther, but I came home and did an hour on the elliptical machine instead. So it came out to about the equivalent of 18 miles from the consistent-effort perspective.
After I finished working out I soaked in the cold water of the small unheated pool outside my building. Immersion works better than laying a few bags of frozen corn on my legs, but it sure isn't fun. Today seemed more painful than usual, for some reason. Luckily I had a newspaper and a cup of hot chocolate to distract me until my legs went numb and I didn't feel any more pain. And I felt very fresh and tingly after a hot shower, so that part was nice. I'm a little bit sore tonight, but it's been worse. In fact, for not having run long since early November, I feel pretty good. Maybe the running-specific strength training I've been doing with the stretch cords is helping.
I'm going to experiment this week with a new theory that maybe my sore arch has something to do with tight calves. I've noticed that I've been having little teaser pains in the general area of the anterior tibialis, so I'll put some extra effort in loosening that area. It can't hurt anything and I have noticed in the past that when my calves are tight I'm more prone to foot cramps when I swim. Maybe this is sort of the same thing. Anything reasonable is worth trying at this point.
Dan and I had our usual "date" for Indian food today, then I took a long afternoon nap. It's great to get caught up on my sleep! It was supposed to rain most of the day, but it ended up not raining at all. Now they're saying the rain will come tomorrow. Whatever. I'm planning to spend some time on the bike trainer and then maybe stop in at the Y to use the hot tub on my feet. So it can rain all it wants to. I don't care.
Today's Workouts
12 mile run
1 hour elliptical trainer
After I finished working out I soaked in the cold water of the small unheated pool outside my building. Immersion works better than laying a few bags of frozen corn on my legs, but it sure isn't fun. Today seemed more painful than usual, for some reason. Luckily I had a newspaper and a cup of hot chocolate to distract me until my legs went numb and I didn't feel any more pain. And I felt very fresh and tingly after a hot shower, so that part was nice. I'm a little bit sore tonight, but it's been worse. In fact, for not having run long since early November, I feel pretty good. Maybe the running-specific strength training I've been doing with the stretch cords is helping.
I'm going to experiment this week with a new theory that maybe my sore arch has something to do with tight calves. I've noticed that I've been having little teaser pains in the general area of the anterior tibialis, so I'll put some extra effort in loosening that area. It can't hurt anything and I have noticed in the past that when my calves are tight I'm more prone to foot cramps when I swim. Maybe this is sort of the same thing. Anything reasonable is worth trying at this point.
Dan and I had our usual "date" for Indian food today, then I took a long afternoon nap. It's great to get caught up on my sleep! It was supposed to rain most of the day, but it ended up not raining at all. Now they're saying the rain will come tomorrow. Whatever. I'm planning to spend some time on the bike trainer and then maybe stop in at the Y to use the hot tub on my feet. So it can rain all it wants to. I don't care.
Today's Workouts
12 mile run
1 hour elliptical trainer
Friday, December 03, 2004
Tired
Well, after my Thursday evening at the gym and no nap, it was all I could do to stay awake today. Ginseng, sugar and caffeine weren't even touching this! I had an hour to kill between campus meetings so I came home and picked up Tidbit's hay from the leasing office, since I wasn't sure if I'd be working late and might not get home in time to pick it up. I didn't want Dan picking up any packages because I was worried one of his Christmas presents might have been delivered. As it turned out, it hadn't been. Maybe he isn't on Santa's "Good" list, after all.
So after I got my packages, I took a 20 minute nap. I've always been skeptical of those stories that say a 20 minute nap is "refreshing" and that more than 20 minutes makes you sluggish. Ha! They obviously haven't met me! I was dragging just as bad afterwards as before, only now with sheet wrinkles on my face. Great. My other meeting ended up being cancelled, so it didn't matter. I was too eager to get back to bed to really care. But on a less immediate level, I'm irked. The CIO won't sign payment docs unless we show up with them in person. Then he regularly cancels the meetings. WTF? At some point, someone is going to have to develop a sense of perspective about this. Someone besides little unimportant me, that is.
Dan came home with a rumor that my department is aquiring part of another department. I can see the logic of it, but I don't know what to think. If it's true and no one on the inside told me in advance, does that mean I'm on someone's blacklist? I'd like us to aquire more people because then I can justify asking for a promotion. But if I'm being kept in the dark...
Well, it's no use dwelling on such things. It'll only ruin my weekend and I'll be no better informed for it.
Tomorrow I'm going to try to run again. The plan is to run 9 miles and do an hour on the elliptical trainer. Hopefully the rain will hold off and I can run at the park, but I'll use the treadmill if I have to. If I'm pain-free after tomorrow's workout I will start to feel very optimistic about the marathon, but I still think sub-four will be an unrealistic goal.
Today's Workouts
45 minutes abs and stretch cords
So after I got my packages, I took a 20 minute nap. I've always been skeptical of those stories that say a 20 minute nap is "refreshing" and that more than 20 minutes makes you sluggish. Ha! They obviously haven't met me! I was dragging just as bad afterwards as before, only now with sheet wrinkles on my face. Great. My other meeting ended up being cancelled, so it didn't matter. I was too eager to get back to bed to really care. But on a less immediate level, I'm irked. The CIO won't sign payment docs unless we show up with them in person. Then he regularly cancels the meetings. WTF? At some point, someone is going to have to develop a sense of perspective about this. Someone besides little unimportant me, that is.
Dan came home with a rumor that my department is aquiring part of another department. I can see the logic of it, but I don't know what to think. If it's true and no one on the inside told me in advance, does that mean I'm on someone's blacklist? I'd like us to aquire more people because then I can justify asking for a promotion. But if I'm being kept in the dark...
Well, it's no use dwelling on such things. It'll only ruin my weekend and I'll be no better informed for it.
Tomorrow I'm going to try to run again. The plan is to run 9 miles and do an hour on the elliptical trainer. Hopefully the rain will hold off and I can run at the park, but I'll use the treadmill if I have to. If I'm pain-free after tomorrow's workout I will start to feel very optimistic about the marathon, but I still think sub-four will be an unrealistic goal.
Today's Workouts
45 minutes abs and stretch cords
Thursday, December 02, 2004
Marathon training frustrations
I have finally gotten all my calendars at work and at home turned to December so I'm no longer living in the past.
I received an email from the Houston Marathon yesterday reminding me that the marathon is only six weeks away. Great. Just pressure a girl, why don't you? I can't tell this week if my foot feels worse or not. Sometimes I think it hurts, but then I move it a bit and it doesn't hurt any more. I'm hoping it's only my imagination. I've had imaginary pain after recovering from bone stress and from tendonitis, so maybe it's all in my head. The arch feels a little tight, but that might not mean anything bad. I'll put my foot in the water jet at the hot tub at the Y tonight, and that should loosen it up. And I'll know more about what's going on when I go for my Saturday run. I need to be able to do nine or ten miles this weekend if I'm going to get back on track for a January 16 marathon.
But back to the email... They mentioned that everyone finishing under four hours will be eligible for an expenses-paid trip to the Athens Marathon. One male and one female will be selected at random. Well, hell. It just figures that this would be another year when I can't train competitively because of injury. And to think that if I hadn't gotten this weird random injury that I don't even know the cause of, a sub-four finish would've been doable. Okay, so I never win anything really super cool like a trip to Athens, so it's almost guaranteed that my name wouldn't have been picked, but... I coulda been a contender!
So I will console myself tonight with a long session at the gym and maybe a big bowl of oatmeal and pumpkin butter when I get home. I know it sounds weird, but it's really, really good!
Today's Workouts:
Morning: 45 minutes core and stretch cords
Evening: Kickbox class, Pilates, Body Pump, and either a short swim or deep water "sprint" session
I received an email from the Houston Marathon yesterday reminding me that the marathon is only six weeks away. Great. Just pressure a girl, why don't you? I can't tell this week if my foot feels worse or not. Sometimes I think it hurts, but then I move it a bit and it doesn't hurt any more. I'm hoping it's only my imagination. I've had imaginary pain after recovering from bone stress and from tendonitis, so maybe it's all in my head. The arch feels a little tight, but that might not mean anything bad. I'll put my foot in the water jet at the hot tub at the Y tonight, and that should loosen it up. And I'll know more about what's going on when I go for my Saturday run. I need to be able to do nine or ten miles this weekend if I'm going to get back on track for a January 16 marathon.
But back to the email... They mentioned that everyone finishing under four hours will be eligible for an expenses-paid trip to the Athens Marathon. One male and one female will be selected at random. Well, hell. It just figures that this would be another year when I can't train competitively because of injury. And to think that if I hadn't gotten this weird random injury that I don't even know the cause of, a sub-four finish would've been doable. Okay, so I never win anything really super cool like a trip to Athens, so it's almost guaranteed that my name wouldn't have been picked, but... I coulda been a contender!
So I will console myself tonight with a long session at the gym and maybe a big bowl of oatmeal and pumpkin butter when I get home. I know it sounds weird, but it's really, really good!
Today's Workouts:
Morning: 45 minutes core and stretch cords
Evening: Kickbox class, Pilates, Body Pump, and either a short swim or deep water "sprint" session
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Ordinary Tuesday
Not much to say about today. It was a cool wet day and not conducive to going for a walk at lunchtime. But the day moved along pretty quickly. It was one of those quiet, steady days when there was plenty to do but none of it terribly urgent.
Dan took some of the lasagna to work, then called me halfway through it on his lunch break to tell me it was so good he wanted me to marry him. I said okay. Since I'm already married to him, what do I have to lose?
I was disappointed but not surprised to read today that Tyler Hamilton and Phonak have parted ways. I really want to believe Tyler, but it sure doesn't look good and it seems like things just keep getting worse. I know he's limited in what he can say since his case is pending and I'm sure the lawyers have told him not to talk too much, but I'll be glad when the whole matter is over and resolved. I'm sure someone already is writing the screenplay to make the whole fiasco into a movie. It's the American way.
Today's Workouts:
Morning: 45 minutes core and stretch cords
Evening: Spinervals 7.0 The Uphill Grind
Dan took some of the lasagna to work, then called me halfway through it on his lunch break to tell me it was so good he wanted me to marry him. I said okay. Since I'm already married to him, what do I have to lose?
I was disappointed but not surprised to read today that Tyler Hamilton and Phonak have parted ways. I really want to believe Tyler, but it sure doesn't look good and it seems like things just keep getting worse. I know he's limited in what he can say since his case is pending and I'm sure the lawyers have told him not to talk too much, but I'll be glad when the whole matter is over and resolved. I'm sure someone already is writing the screenplay to make the whole fiasco into a movie. It's the American way.
Today's Workouts:
Morning: 45 minutes core and stretch cords
Evening: Spinervals 7.0 The Uphill Grind
Monday, November 29, 2004
Domesticity
I spent this evening in the kitchen! A strange place for me to be, aside from the fact that the kitchen is so small. But I'm committed to cooking fresh foods instead of buying so much deli and frozen food, so I made a veggie lasagna and a butternut casserole tonight. They're easy dishes that don't require a lot of counter space, which is a good thing since I don't have any. One good thing about a small kitchen though, is that it forces you to be efficient and clean up after yourself right away. Back in my big kitchen on Woodhead, I had acres of counter space and while I cooked more, I also left more messes. If you leave so much as a teacup sitting out in my kitchen here, it looks like all hell broke loose.
I saw Mary after work today and got the knots worked out of my legs so I should be ready to start training again tomorrow. I was pretty bad off but I feel much better now. My foot aches a little because I didn't tape it up when I came home, but I'll tape it after my shower this evening and I'm sure it will be fine. I probably won't run again until the weekend, though. I'd rather save what I have for my long runs rather than risk an injury on a faster short run that won't do as much for my marathon preparation.
It was 80 degrees today and so humid I was wishing I had gills out there! It's nice to have the compression problem on the car fixed though, so I can run the a/c without having to worry that the engine will falter on idle. Anyone who read my earlier offer of an RX-7 is hereby notified that the offer is rescinded. The car runs great and I'm keeping it. For now, at least.
Work was quiet today. No one wanted to be there and I don't think anyone was feeling very motivated. I know I sure wasn't. I got a few things done, but not as much as I would've on an ordinary Monday. Well, there's always tomorrow.
Today's Workouts:
Morning: 45 minutes core, stretch cords
I saw Mary after work today and got the knots worked out of my legs so I should be ready to start training again tomorrow. I was pretty bad off but I feel much better now. My foot aches a little because I didn't tape it up when I came home, but I'll tape it after my shower this evening and I'm sure it will be fine. I probably won't run again until the weekend, though. I'd rather save what I have for my long runs rather than risk an injury on a faster short run that won't do as much for my marathon preparation.
It was 80 degrees today and so humid I was wishing I had gills out there! It's nice to have the compression problem on the car fixed though, so I can run the a/c without having to worry that the engine will falter on idle. Anyone who read my earlier offer of an RX-7 is hereby notified that the offer is rescinded. The car runs great and I'm keeping it. For now, at least.
Work was quiet today. No one wanted to be there and I don't think anyone was feeling very motivated. I know I sure wasn't. I got a few things done, but not as much as I would've on an ordinary Monday. Well, there's always tomorrow.
Today's Workouts:
Morning: 45 minutes core, stretch cords
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Back to the salt mines...
Well, it's back to work in the morning. The daily routine is nice, because I'm in many ways a creature of habit. I get a little lost with too much time on my hands. But four days off is just a tease. It's long enough to be very productive, but not long enough to finish the backlog of projects and just relax. I feel like I spent the weekend catching up on everything and only just this evening finally reached a point where I could consider maybe taking a little break. Too late! Now it's time to steam some veggies for lunches this week, iron some clothes for tomorrow, feed the bunny and have my bedtime tea.
Where does the time go?
I was lazy today and didn't work out. Too many things were sore, so I decided to rest and just work on my website and various things around the house I had been putting off. I don't know how I ended up so sore. I don't feel like I did very much this weekend. But I'll get it all fixed tomorrow and start training fresh and pain-free on Tuesday. At least I can run again. I'm so happy to think maybe my marathon registration fee won't be wasted after all!
Where does the time go?
I was lazy today and didn't work out. Too many things were sore, so I decided to rest and just work on my website and various things around the house I had been putting off. I don't know how I ended up so sore. I don't feel like I did very much this weekend. But I'll get it all fixed tomorrow and start training fresh and pain-free on Tuesday. At least I can run again. I'm so happy to think maybe my marathon registration fee won't be wasted after all!
Saturday, November 27, 2004
On the road again!
The sport tape is working! Yay, me! I ran six miles today at the park with no pain. Well, no pain in my foot, at least. Plenty of other things were hurting from recent sessions on the bike and at the gym, but I don't count any of that. So I'm going to keep babying this foot, it's staying taped up at all times, and if all goes well I should be able to do my 20-22 miler on schedule in late December. I had hoped to go under 4 hours for this marathon, but since I haven't been able to do hills or speedwork, I'll just be happy to get there and finish without further injury.
Thanksgiving was good. I had dinner with Dan and my immediate family. My father wasn't there because he decided to spend a long Christmas break with us rather than two shorter breaks. I missed him, but I talked to him on the phone, so that was okay. Mom made a pie with the apples Dad sent her from the farm last month. It was great! There are some wild rabbits that feast on the windfall apples every autumn, and boy do they get a treat!
I'm enjoying this long break from work, but it sure is going by fast. It feels like I'm going and doing every second of the day. When I mentioned this to Dan, he said it's because I am going and doing all the time. Go figure.
Recent Workouts:
Thursday: Spinervals 9.0 Have Mercy, 45 minute abs, legs and upper body
Friday: Body Pump class, 700 meter swim, 3 mile walk
Saturday: Spinervals 5.0 Mental Toughness, 3 mile walk, 6 mile run
Thanksgiving was good. I had dinner with Dan and my immediate family. My father wasn't there because he decided to spend a long Christmas break with us rather than two shorter breaks. I missed him, but I talked to him on the phone, so that was okay. Mom made a pie with the apples Dad sent her from the farm last month. It was great! There are some wild rabbits that feast on the windfall apples every autumn, and boy do they get a treat!
I'm enjoying this long break from work, but it sure is going by fast. It feels like I'm going and doing every second of the day. When I mentioned this to Dan, he said it's because I am going and doing all the time. Go figure.
Recent Workouts:
Thursday: Spinervals 9.0 Have Mercy, 45 minute abs, legs and upper body
Friday: Body Pump class, 700 meter swim, 3 mile walk
Saturday: Spinervals 5.0 Mental Toughness, 3 mile walk, 6 mile run
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
'Twas a dark and stormy night...
We had quite a storm blow through here tonight-- lots of wind, rain, hail and lightning. Luckily it didn't last long. Just long enough to scare the bunny. I held her and rubbed her ears until the worst of it was over.
One benefit (although I hate to admit it) of not being able to run is that my legs are finally feeling springy again. The last few times on the bike I've been back to my old speed. I had a great Spinerval session tonight! I also haven't had as many ITB problems, although that's probably due to adding 5 minutes of myofascial release with my foam roller to my morning workout, and not due to lack of running. Before I took up cycling, I never had a moment's trouble with my IT bands.
The taping seems to really be helping my foot. The first day I was kind of stupid and taped it like I taped my other foot last year for the weird problem no one was ever able to diagnose. The taping helped, but that evening I had sort of a "duh" moment and remembered that plantar support taping needs to be X-shaped across the sole of the foot, not lateral only. First the anchors, then the X, then some lateral, then another X, then tape over all the loose edges so it doesn't come apart when you put a sock on. Voila!
Now that I'm taping it properly, my foot feels really, really good. I feel like running in the halls at work, it's that good. It's hard to hold myself back each night from running, but I'm doing my very best to be patient. I want to feel good for the weekend and try an hour on the trails. If I can start running again this weekend, I just might make the marathon after all!
Speaking of the marathon, I noticed that my birthday is the Friday before the marathon and MLK day is the following Monday. I'm going to ask for Friday off and make it a four day weekend. Whether I end up running that weekend or not, it will be nice to have a long break!
Today's Workouts:
Morning: 30 minutes abs, upper body, legs
Evening: Spinervals 3.0 Suffer-O-Rama
One benefit (although I hate to admit it) of not being able to run is that my legs are finally feeling springy again. The last few times on the bike I've been back to my old speed. I had a great Spinerval session tonight! I also haven't had as many ITB problems, although that's probably due to adding 5 minutes of myofascial release with my foam roller to my morning workout, and not due to lack of running. Before I took up cycling, I never had a moment's trouble with my IT bands.
The taping seems to really be helping my foot. The first day I was kind of stupid and taped it like I taped my other foot last year for the weird problem no one was ever able to diagnose. The taping helped, but that evening I had sort of a "duh" moment and remembered that plantar support taping needs to be X-shaped across the sole of the foot, not lateral only. First the anchors, then the X, then some lateral, then another X, then tape over all the loose edges so it doesn't come apart when you put a sock on. Voila!
Now that I'm taping it properly, my foot feels really, really good. I feel like running in the halls at work, it's that good. It's hard to hold myself back each night from running, but I'm doing my very best to be patient. I want to feel good for the weekend and try an hour on the trails. If I can start running again this weekend, I just might make the marathon after all!
Speaking of the marathon, I noticed that my birthday is the Friday before the marathon and MLK day is the following Monday. I'm going to ask for Friday off and make it a four day weekend. Whether I end up running that weekend or not, it will be nice to have a long break!
Today's Workouts:
Morning: 30 minutes abs, upper body, legs
Evening: Spinervals 3.0 Suffer-O-Rama
Monday, November 22, 2004
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Lazy
This was one of those days I just couldn't get motivated to do much of anything. I did an hour on the elliptical trainer and a little leg work at the Y, but that was it. Pretty lame, huh? Well, I wanted to swim but all the lanes at the Y were double-occupied and I didn't want to sit around all day waiting. And I probably would've done some more work at the gym tonight, except that I had a lot of cooking to do.
I did a butternut squash casserole tonight. For such a simple dish, it sure takes a long time, mostly in the cutting, cleaning and cooking of the squash itself. I've decided that cubing and steaming the squash is the best way to cook it. Baking is easier, but heats up the whole house-- not a desirable thing when you live where it never gets cold. After I did the squash I steamed some broccoli, yellow squash and zucchini for lunches this week and then cleaned the kitchen and ran the dishwasher. I would love cooking if my kitchen were any bigger than a shoebox. Well, you can't have everything.
I allowed the bunny to visit the bedroom this weekend. Actually, she darted past me and I just didn't feel like chasing her out. She had a great time investigating everything. She ended her visit by marking a few items by rubbing her chin on them. Tidbit is now the proud owner of a copy of Battle Cry of Freedom and a cowboy boot. What she plans to do with these items is anyone's guess.
I did a butternut squash casserole tonight. For such a simple dish, it sure takes a long time, mostly in the cutting, cleaning and cooking of the squash itself. I've decided that cubing and steaming the squash is the best way to cook it. Baking is easier, but heats up the whole house-- not a desirable thing when you live where it never gets cold. After I did the squash I steamed some broccoli, yellow squash and zucchini for lunches this week and then cleaned the kitchen and ran the dishwasher. I would love cooking if my kitchen were any bigger than a shoebox. Well, you can't have everything.
I allowed the bunny to visit the bedroom this weekend. Actually, she darted past me and I just didn't feel like chasing her out. She had a great time investigating everything. She ended her visit by marking a few items by rubbing her chin on them. Tidbit is now the proud owner of a copy of Battle Cry of Freedom and a cowboy boot. What she plans to do with these items is anyone's guess.
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Rainy Day
I feel bad for anyone who had planned to do some sort of outdoor activity this morning, because it rained almost non-stop until nearly 11. The arch of my foot is still bothering me, so I had already planned to spend the morning on the trainer, so it was no big incovenience to me, at least. I went through three Spinervals and figured that was enough to be able to enjoy the Indian buffet for lunch. Is there anything better than saag paneer and some fresh hot naan?
I have discovered that taping my arch diminishes and even eliminates the pain, so I'm keeping it tightly taped now. Maybe I've been wrong to focus on massage, stretching, etc. My new strategy will be to keep it taped and immobilized so whatever is pulling will maybe have a chance to heal. Luckily it will be a short and slow week at work, so I can probably get away with dressing more casually and wearing shoes that won't make it obvious that my foot is bandaged. Thank goodness for the season change, too! Even though the weather hasn't been consistently cold, it's getting close enough to what passes for winter around here that I can wear black tights with my skirts and no one will think anything of it. The tights will hide the tape nicely.
I just hope this works and I can get back into my running soon. I don't know how I'll do the marathon if I can't train for it. I had been hoping to go under 4 hours this year, but there won't be much chance of that at this rate. If the tape seems to help though, I think I may go for a short run later this week and see if it might work well enough for me to resume training. If I can run pain-free with my arch taped, I'll just stay taped for the season. I can deal with that. What I can't deal with is all this down time from running.
Today's Workouts
3 hours bike (Spinervals): 7.0 Uphill Grind, 5.0 Mental Toughness, 1.0 No Slackers Allowed
I have discovered that taping my arch diminishes and even eliminates the pain, so I'm keeping it tightly taped now. Maybe I've been wrong to focus on massage, stretching, etc. My new strategy will be to keep it taped and immobilized so whatever is pulling will maybe have a chance to heal. Luckily it will be a short and slow week at work, so I can probably get away with dressing more casually and wearing shoes that won't make it obvious that my foot is bandaged. Thank goodness for the season change, too! Even though the weather hasn't been consistently cold, it's getting close enough to what passes for winter around here that I can wear black tights with my skirts and no one will think anything of it. The tights will hide the tape nicely.
I just hope this works and I can get back into my running soon. I don't know how I'll do the marathon if I can't train for it. I had been hoping to go under 4 hours this year, but there won't be much chance of that at this rate. If the tape seems to help though, I think I may go for a short run later this week and see if it might work well enough for me to resume training. If I can run pain-free with my arch taped, I'll just stay taped for the season. I can deal with that. What I can't deal with is all this down time from running.
Today's Workouts
3 hours bike (Spinervals): 7.0 Uphill Grind, 5.0 Mental Toughness, 1.0 No Slackers Allowed
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Back to normal
Or what passes for it around here, at any rate.
I got my car back Wednesday evening for about double what I was hoping to pay. They had replaced a lot of old, rotting hoses. No big surprise, given the condition of the big easy-to-reach radiator hose a couple months ago. The hoses were cheap, but the labor involved in removing various other things to get to them was not. Well, what can one do? I would love to be able to walk, run or ride my bike to work and back, but there is no safe route. And public transportation would take an hour and fifteen minutes. I can drive the distance in ten. Is it any wonder this country is at the mercy of petroleum-producing nations? This will all come back to haunt us someday.
We had a big party today for all business staff in what used to be our division and is now sort of a grouping in a larger division. Morale had been questionable lately and getting together for some food and fun cheered us all up. Since I hate party games, I agreed to be responsible for them, figuring that way I could make sure we had some good ones. I made Mad Libs out of some of our policies, including the Business Casual Dress Code. It was pretty funny.
Then I had to go get documents signed... in person, per the new decree. Well, at least our new CIO has a way of making me feel good about the decisions he makes, even when I don't agree. This is a very fine quality in a manager of any kind, especially someone in a senior executive position.
Nevertheless, I was dismayed when the meeting, which was supposed to run to 4:30, ran on until 5:30. I had thought it would run a bit late since we got started half an hour late, but even by that standard we should've been done by 5:00, which would've left enough time for me to get to the 5:30 kickboxing class at the Y. No such luck. But I went to the Y anyway, worked out in the gym for half an hour and then went to the other classes on my schedule, so it all worked out okay.
And then I came home, late and very hungry. What a long day! And tomorrow is our office Thanksgiving party! It seems that we're into the holiday food season now. This will be my third big office party this week and of course next week is all the family stuff. All this food, just when I finally lost last winter's weight gain and got back into my old clothes!
Today's Workouts
Morning: Abs, quads/hip flexors and upper body
Evening: 20 minutes elliptical, quads and hip flexors in weight room, pilates, body pump, 500 meter swim with focus on form
I got my car back Wednesday evening for about double what I was hoping to pay. They had replaced a lot of old, rotting hoses. No big surprise, given the condition of the big easy-to-reach radiator hose a couple months ago. The hoses were cheap, but the labor involved in removing various other things to get to them was not. Well, what can one do? I would love to be able to walk, run or ride my bike to work and back, but there is no safe route. And public transportation would take an hour and fifteen minutes. I can drive the distance in ten. Is it any wonder this country is at the mercy of petroleum-producing nations? This will all come back to haunt us someday.
We had a big party today for all business staff in what used to be our division and is now sort of a grouping in a larger division. Morale had been questionable lately and getting together for some food and fun cheered us all up. Since I hate party games, I agreed to be responsible for them, figuring that way I could make sure we had some good ones. I made Mad Libs out of some of our policies, including the Business Casual Dress Code. It was pretty funny.
Then I had to go get documents signed... in person, per the new decree. Well, at least our new CIO has a way of making me feel good about the decisions he makes, even when I don't agree. This is a very fine quality in a manager of any kind, especially someone in a senior executive position.
Nevertheless, I was dismayed when the meeting, which was supposed to run to 4:30, ran on until 5:30. I had thought it would run a bit late since we got started half an hour late, but even by that standard we should've been done by 5:00, which would've left enough time for me to get to the 5:30 kickboxing class at the Y. No such luck. But I went to the Y anyway, worked out in the gym for half an hour and then went to the other classes on my schedule, so it all worked out okay.
And then I came home, late and very hungry. What a long day! And tomorrow is our office Thanksgiving party! It seems that we're into the holiday food season now. This will be my third big office party this week and of course next week is all the family stuff. All this food, just when I finally lost last winter's weight gain and got back into my old clothes!
Today's Workouts
Morning: Abs, quads/hip flexors and upper body
Evening: 20 minutes elliptical, quads and hip flexors in weight room, pilates, body pump, 500 meter swim with focus on form
Monday, November 15, 2004
Sans voiture...
Well, I am still among the carless. This morning they said it would probably be ready by the end of the day but then they had to get dealer parts which took longer, so my RX-7 won't be sprung until tomorrow, and for more than I wanted to pay. Well, what can one do?
I went and saw Mary today and she found a big knot in my foot, which she hopefully got out. Maybe this will solve the problem and I'll be able to run again. So far my marathon training has looked like just an extension of my tri training-- swimming, strength training, cycling, and very little actual running. I was supposed to start my speed work last week and here I am wondering if it's safe to try to trot around the indoor track at the gym tonight!
And in the comedy of the absurd that is my job, our interim CIO has decreed that documents requiring his signature can no longer be dropped off or sent via inter-office mail, but must be delivered in person at 3:30 pm each day. WTF? Is making me a gofer every time we want to buy paper clips really the best use of my time? So now we have Associate Vice Presidents who want to review each and every expenditure and sign it, no matter how small and pedestrian, and we have business managers who must personally shepherd the whole process. If I had known my place of employment had this much money to waste I would've insisted on a promotion. After all, I can sign orders for paper clips with the best of them!
Finally, in an effort to save money I've been doing a bit of cooking. I love cooking, don't get me wrong. But when your kitchen is the size of a shoe box and you have to leave the room just to have enough space to boil an egg, anything more adventurous than heating up a frozen dinner is an exercise in frustration. Nevertheless I steamed some veggies for lunches yesterday and made up a big butternut squash casserole. Tonight or tomorrow I intend to make a veggie lasagna. That should do us for the week without having to resort to frozen foods or takeout. However, I have to wonder if it's really any cheaper to cook vs buying frozen, if you use only high quality ingredients. Good pasta, good sauce, fresh organic vegetables and good cheese from the deli... it all ads up and probably isn't much of a cost savings in the end. Oh well. It's a quality improvement, at least. I like Amy's Organics and all, but frozen is still frozen.
Well, it's time to take a little nap and then consider what I'll do for the rest of the evening. Cooking, walking and working out with my weights are all options. I had wanted to go to the 4:45 Body Pump class at the Y tonight, but no such luck since I was carpooling with Dan. Carpooling is a bit of a hassle, but I'm glad we can do it. It wouldn't be possible if our hours were vastly different or if we worked on other sides of the city. And hey, since he goes in to work later than I do, it means I can sleep in a bit in the morning! One has to look on the bright side of things.
I went and saw Mary today and she found a big knot in my foot, which she hopefully got out. Maybe this will solve the problem and I'll be able to run again. So far my marathon training has looked like just an extension of my tri training-- swimming, strength training, cycling, and very little actual running. I was supposed to start my speed work last week and here I am wondering if it's safe to try to trot around the indoor track at the gym tonight!
And in the comedy of the absurd that is my job, our interim CIO has decreed that documents requiring his signature can no longer be dropped off or sent via inter-office mail, but must be delivered in person at 3:30 pm each day. WTF? Is making me a gofer every time we want to buy paper clips really the best use of my time? So now we have Associate Vice Presidents who want to review each and every expenditure and sign it, no matter how small and pedestrian, and we have business managers who must personally shepherd the whole process. If I had known my place of employment had this much money to waste I would've insisted on a promotion. After all, I can sign orders for paper clips with the best of them!
Finally, in an effort to save money I've been doing a bit of cooking. I love cooking, don't get me wrong. But when your kitchen is the size of a shoe box and you have to leave the room just to have enough space to boil an egg, anything more adventurous than heating up a frozen dinner is an exercise in frustration. Nevertheless I steamed some veggies for lunches yesterday and made up a big butternut squash casserole. Tonight or tomorrow I intend to make a veggie lasagna. That should do us for the week without having to resort to frozen foods or takeout. However, I have to wonder if it's really any cheaper to cook vs buying frozen, if you use only high quality ingredients. Good pasta, good sauce, fresh organic vegetables and good cheese from the deli... it all ads up and probably isn't much of a cost savings in the end. Oh well. It's a quality improvement, at least. I like Amy's Organics and all, but frozen is still frozen.
Well, it's time to take a little nap and then consider what I'll do for the rest of the evening. Cooking, walking and working out with my weights are all options. I had wanted to go to the 4:45 Body Pump class at the Y tonight, but no such luck since I was carpooling with Dan. Carpooling is a bit of a hassle, but I'm glad we can do it. It wouldn't be possible if our hours were vastly different or if we worked on other sides of the city. And hey, since he goes in to work later than I do, it means I can sleep in a bit in the morning! One has to look on the bright side of things.
Sunday, November 14, 2004
A weekend without running
Well, this is the first weekend in a long time I haven't been able to do a long run. My foot was feeling sort of okay last night when I decided that maybe rubbing the arch would help. Big mistake! I was Ms Gimpy after that, and since it still hurt this morning, all thought of a run or even a long elliptical session was out.
So I went to the Y and did some leg work in the weight room, swam awhile and worked on some of the sore spots with the water jets in the hot tub. I was feeling almost well enough to run after all that. But I was hungry and didn't want to push things, so I went to Central Market and got some lunch for Dan and a couple of big salads for me. My roommate from my first year of college once told me I made the most appetizing salads she had ever seen. I was flattered but noticed she never asked me to make her one. Hmm...
I had hoped I could get a massage this afternoon, since I didn't run today, but I can't seem to reach Mary. Too bad. The 8 mile round trip walk would've been a nice low-impact substitute for a real workout. I know, I know... I could go for an eight mile walk anyway. But then what do I do if Mary calls?
Today's Workouts:
Morning: 30 minutes strength training - legs, and 1000 meter swim
Evening: 3 mile walk with Dan
So I went to the Y and did some leg work in the weight room, swam awhile and worked on some of the sore spots with the water jets in the hot tub. I was feeling almost well enough to run after all that. But I was hungry and didn't want to push things, so I went to Central Market and got some lunch for Dan and a couple of big salads for me. My roommate from my first year of college once told me I made the most appetizing salads she had ever seen. I was flattered but noticed she never asked me to make her one. Hmm...
I had hoped I could get a massage this afternoon, since I didn't run today, but I can't seem to reach Mary. Too bad. The 8 mile round trip walk would've been a nice low-impact substitute for a real workout. I know, I know... I could go for an eight mile walk anyway. But then what do I do if Mary calls?
Today's Workouts:
Morning: 30 minutes strength training - legs, and 1000 meter swim
Evening: 3 mile walk with Dan
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Saturday musings
Today was a fairly typical Saturday-- long workout in the morning followed by Indian buffet with Dan and a long afternoon nap. Unfortunately I'm still having heel/arch pain, so I did two hours on the trainer and only ran 4 miles. Typically this would be my long run day, logging about 15 miles or so. Actually, since I'm in marathon training I would've like to have done around 18. But instead just a lousy four.
I seem to have the worst luck with the Houston Marathon. I train for it every year, and only once have I actually run it, in 2001. Even that was a questionable choice, since I had been injured since November and unable to run during that time. It made for a painful marathon! But I had already paid, the race was on my birthday and even if my doctor hadn't cleared me to run, I might've still done it anyway. Runners are stupid that way.
But in subsequent years I've tried to be smarter, training for the marathon but figuring I wouldn't actually pay my money until I was sure I could finish the training without injury. I never have. I always turn up hurt somehow. But this year, with registration already over 70% and having had a biomechanical problem fixed last spring, I felt that I both could and should sign up early. So with $75 gone, now I have yet another one of my weird injuries that no one else ever gets. No, this arch pain isn't plantar fascitis. That would be too easy. This is something else and I haven't a clue what it could be. A bruise would be my first guess, based on the type of pain I feel, but I haven't had an injury that I recall.
So I think I'll play around with different combinations of shoes and orthotics tonight and see if I can come up with something that might feel comfortable for even a short run tomorrow, or at least a decent session on the elliptical trainer. Most likely I'll just end up at the Y. Swimming, maybe a bit of pool running and some weight training. Now I'm wishing the weather hadn't turned cooler. Deep water running can be fun in open water, but deadly dull at the pool.
In other news, the car is still in the shop. It's not a radiator leak, thank goodness. There are apparently two leaks, though. One is a hose leak around a clamp. That's a cheap and easy fix. The other leak is a little further back, where the radiator connects to the engine. The mechanic needs to remove a few things to get a better look, but thinks it's probably a flange. This will be a little more expensive, but shouldn't be outrageous. Of course one can never tell with an older car, but I'm feeling somewhat optimistic. At least it's not the radiator itself.
Having the car in the shop puts me in a bind for my Monday massage. I'm way too slow and stiff to forego it, and it will be a tricky thing to manage since Dan and I will be carpooling. And since he has a therapist appointment Sunday afternoon, I'm not sure if I want to try to get a massage Sunday instead. It would mean walking over there, which isn't so bad, but might not work with the other things I have to do tomorrow, or with the pain in my foot.
Decisions, decisions...
Today's Workouts:
Two hours on the bike (Spinervals 9.0 Have Mercy)
4 mile run
I seem to have the worst luck with the Houston Marathon. I train for it every year, and only once have I actually run it, in 2001. Even that was a questionable choice, since I had been injured since November and unable to run during that time. It made for a painful marathon! But I had already paid, the race was on my birthday and even if my doctor hadn't cleared me to run, I might've still done it anyway. Runners are stupid that way.
But in subsequent years I've tried to be smarter, training for the marathon but figuring I wouldn't actually pay my money until I was sure I could finish the training without injury. I never have. I always turn up hurt somehow. But this year, with registration already over 70% and having had a biomechanical problem fixed last spring, I felt that I both could and should sign up early. So with $75 gone, now I have yet another one of my weird injuries that no one else ever gets. No, this arch pain isn't plantar fascitis. That would be too easy. This is something else and I haven't a clue what it could be. A bruise would be my first guess, based on the type of pain I feel, but I haven't had an injury that I recall.
So I think I'll play around with different combinations of shoes and orthotics tonight and see if I can come up with something that might feel comfortable for even a short run tomorrow, or at least a decent session on the elliptical trainer. Most likely I'll just end up at the Y. Swimming, maybe a bit of pool running and some weight training. Now I'm wishing the weather hadn't turned cooler. Deep water running can be fun in open water, but deadly dull at the pool.
In other news, the car is still in the shop. It's not a radiator leak, thank goodness. There are apparently two leaks, though. One is a hose leak around a clamp. That's a cheap and easy fix. The other leak is a little further back, where the radiator connects to the engine. The mechanic needs to remove a few things to get a better look, but thinks it's probably a flange. This will be a little more expensive, but shouldn't be outrageous. Of course one can never tell with an older car, but I'm feeling somewhat optimistic. At least it's not the radiator itself.
Having the car in the shop puts me in a bind for my Monday massage. I'm way too slow and stiff to forego it, and it will be a tricky thing to manage since Dan and I will be carpooling. And since he has a therapist appointment Sunday afternoon, I'm not sure if I want to try to get a massage Sunday instead. It would mean walking over there, which isn't so bad, but might not work with the other things I have to do tomorrow, or with the pain in my foot.
Decisions, decisions...
Today's Workouts:
Two hours on the bike (Spinervals 9.0 Have Mercy)
4 mile run
Friday, November 12, 2004
Car troubles - again
Okay, so I know there's no really good time to have car trouble. But with the all the Giftmas expenses coming up and having to register for classes so I can stay in student loan deferment, this is a lousy time to have to put my car in the shop. It's too soon to tell at this stage what's going on. With any luck it will just be another leaky hose like a couple months ago. Worst-case scenario would be a radiator leak. I think I would look into selling the car if it were a radiator leak, since there are other things that need fixing as well. I can live with cosmetic problems and little things that don't make the car undrivable. But this is starting to be more than I bargained for. Okay, the car was almost free, but still... Anyone want a used RX-7?
Today's Workouts:
Morning: 30 minutes abs and upper body
Mid-Day: 30 minute walk
Accidental Workout: 1 mile walk home from car repair shop
Today's Workouts:
Morning: 30 minutes abs and upper body
Mid-Day: 30 minute walk
Accidental Workout: 1 mile walk home from car repair shop
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Bunny Alert!
I got an email from Mary, my massage therapist, that there was a domestic rabbit running around loose at the picnic loop Tuesday night. Domestic rabbits don't live long in the wild, so I've asked Mary for more information and I'll try to go over there tonight and see if the bunny is still there. She said it was trying to cross the road, so I'm not feeling optimistic.
Not much else is going on. We had a managers' meeting here at work and luckily it didn't bore me silly. It didn't run on forever, either. On top of that, I've been asked to do only two impossible things today! Will wonders never cease?
It's supposed to turn cooler tonight, just in time for the weekend. I can't help wondering if the weather will ever turn cooler and stay that way, or if we'll just keep having these one or two cool days as a tease followed by a return to temps in the 80s. It's getting really old. It's not that I particularly like cooler weather, but I get so bored wearing the same things all the time. I know I'm not the only one. The instant the temps drop below 80, people start showing up in sweaters. We're really not that wimpy down here in the South! It just gets tiresome to wear summer clothes all year long. Being able to even remotely justify a sweater is a novelty. So quit laughing at us, Yankees!
Bunny Update:
Well, I walked around the area Mary described, as well as the adjoining areas, but no bunny. Hopefully someone saw it Tuesday or Wednesday and gave it a home. If Dan is interested, maybe we'll go back later tonight. It seems likely that it's gone, though. Hopefully a coyote didn't get it. I don't know why people insist on dumping pets when there are shelters all over this city. Domestic animals just cannot survive in the wild! I wish I knew what was so hard to understand about this.
It was nice up at the picnic loop this evening. I ended up wishing I had taken my bike with me because there weren't a lot of hammerheads out there zipping around in pace lines, trying to be like Lance. In fact, it wasn't very crowded at all. Maybe I'll go up there and ride one day after work next week. I don't mind being on the trainer watching a Spinervals video, getting yelled at by Coach Troy, but now that there won't be as many opportunities to get out on the roads, I should make a point of doing what I can.
Today's Workouts:
Morning: Abs and upper body
Mid-Day: 30 minute walk
Evening: TBA. Probably elliptical, since it's too late now for kickboxing or pilates class.
Not much else is going on. We had a managers' meeting here at work and luckily it didn't bore me silly. It didn't run on forever, either. On top of that, I've been asked to do only two impossible things today! Will wonders never cease?
It's supposed to turn cooler tonight, just in time for the weekend. I can't help wondering if the weather will ever turn cooler and stay that way, or if we'll just keep having these one or two cool days as a tease followed by a return to temps in the 80s. It's getting really old. It's not that I particularly like cooler weather, but I get so bored wearing the same things all the time. I know I'm not the only one. The instant the temps drop below 80, people start showing up in sweaters. We're really not that wimpy down here in the South! It just gets tiresome to wear summer clothes all year long. Being able to even remotely justify a sweater is a novelty. So quit laughing at us, Yankees!
Bunny Update:
Well, I walked around the area Mary described, as well as the adjoining areas, but no bunny. Hopefully someone saw it Tuesday or Wednesday and gave it a home. If Dan is interested, maybe we'll go back later tonight. It seems likely that it's gone, though. Hopefully a coyote didn't get it. I don't know why people insist on dumping pets when there are shelters all over this city. Domestic animals just cannot survive in the wild! I wish I knew what was so hard to understand about this.
It was nice up at the picnic loop this evening. I ended up wishing I had taken my bike with me because there weren't a lot of hammerheads out there zipping around in pace lines, trying to be like Lance. In fact, it wasn't very crowded at all. Maybe I'll go up there and ride one day after work next week. I don't mind being on the trainer watching a Spinervals video, getting yelled at by Coach Troy, but now that there won't be as many opportunities to get out on the roads, I should make a point of doing what I can.
Today's Workouts:
Morning: Abs and upper body
Mid-Day: 30 minute walk
Evening: TBA. Probably elliptical, since it's too late now for kickboxing or pilates class.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Busy day - what's going on?
So after several weeks of low-key days, I come in this morning and am hit with a hundred things to do. Naturally this was the day I had planned to take off around noon to run an errand. It figures. But maybe I'll get everything done or at least hit all the inevitable roadblocks in time to still drop by the bunny vet for flea medicine on my lunch break. Yes, my poor bunny has fleas. I've only had her since this summer, and the fleas are a legacy of her time in the dog kennel at the shelter. What kind of sadists keep a bunny with the dogs???
Anyway, I'm hoping to get a few things around here straightened out soon, but the boss is sure to be throwing fits today, since we're trying to understand the byzantine complexities of PeopleSoft's scheduled fee increases. Talk about a racket! Are these guys affiliated with the Mafia or something?
Later...
Well, I never did get out of the office to walk or to go to the bunny vet, so I left a little early instead. The PeopleSoft thing is crazy. And what's scary is that someone at the university actually agreed to these obviously unfavorable terms!
Dan and I went for a run at the park this evening. The weather was nice-- cool but not cold. They've resurfaced part of the run loop, which is nice. Then after we came home I made a big bowl of oatmeal with pumpkin butter and raisins mixed in. Good stuff. Now I'm sleepy.
Today's Scheduled Workouts:
Morning: Abs and upper body
Evening: 4 mile run at the park
Anyway, I'm hoping to get a few things around here straightened out soon, but the boss is sure to be throwing fits today, since we're trying to understand the byzantine complexities of PeopleSoft's scheduled fee increases. Talk about a racket! Are these guys affiliated with the Mafia or something?
Later...
Well, I never did get out of the office to walk or to go to the bunny vet, so I left a little early instead. The PeopleSoft thing is crazy. And what's scary is that someone at the university actually agreed to these obviously unfavorable terms!
Dan and I went for a run at the park this evening. The weather was nice-- cool but not cold. They've resurfaced part of the run loop, which is nice. Then after we came home I made a big bowl of oatmeal with pumpkin butter and raisins mixed in. Good stuff. Now I'm sleepy.
Today's Scheduled Workouts:
Morning: Abs and upper body
Evening: 4 mile run at the park
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
My first blog post!
I've been thinking about starting a blog for awhile, ever since I tried it on my website a few years ago but found it too much of a pain to keep up with. I can do HTML and all that, but I find it a hassle. Besides, with all my training, reading and quality time with the bunny, when do I have time to muck around with things like that? I haven't even gotten my summer vacation online yet, and it's almost Thanksgiving! Oops.
There's not much to say about today. The boss stayed out of my way and October finally closed so I could start getting the budget report ready. It was another beautiful day today-- too pretty not to go for a run after work, but I've had a bruise-like pain in the arch of my foot since last Saturday's run, so it looks like it will be me and Coach Troy tonight!
Today's Training Plan:
Morning: Core and swim-specific stretch cords
Mid-day: 30 min walk
Evening: Spinerval session (2.0 - Time Trial Special) and short run on treadmill. Maybe a bit of strength training after, if it's not too late.
There's not much to say about today. The boss stayed out of my way and October finally closed so I could start getting the budget report ready. It was another beautiful day today-- too pretty not to go for a run after work, but I've had a bruise-like pain in the arch of my foot since last Saturday's run, so it looks like it will be me and Coach Troy tonight!
Today's Training Plan:
Morning: Core and swim-specific stretch cords
Mid-day: 30 min walk
Evening: Spinerval session (2.0 - Time Trial Special) and short run on treadmill. Maybe a bit of strength training after, if it's not too late.
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