Unintended Brick

This morning I received the joyous news that:

my boss's flu has become pneumonia

my assistant would be out with car trouble

they would be turning off the water to our building immediately, no word on restoration

Another day without the boss? Okay, that's cool. But no assistant and no running water, either?

Not. Cool. At. All.

Water line breakages around our building are a fact of life. We get them several times a year. When we're lucky, someone bothers to give us a few minutes' notice and at least tell us what's going on. So it was nice they said something, but I hadn't even had my first cup of coffee yet, so this was going to be serious.

Because I was the only person in the business office, I stuck it out as long as I could. The university made some inquiries and got another building opened to us at the far end of the complex where we rent, so that helped. The restrooms were small, smelly and without paper towels, but they at least looked clean. I've seen worse. I held out until 3:00 and then went home.

I was pretty happy to find myself at home early, so I set up the trainer, queued up some music and hopped on my bike. After about twenty minutes, I started noticing that my rear wheel was slipping where the tire meets the resistance bar. Odd. It felt fine when I started. Maybe I just didn't notice because my quads were stiff and I needed to warm up.

Nope. Something was definitely amiss. I paused Coach Troy and felt the back tire. A bit low. Okay, no big deal, right? I got out the pump and immediately all heck broke loose, so to speak. My slow leak suddenly became a very fast leak and in seconds my rear wheel was useless.

Great.

My mind ran through my options. I didn't feel like changing a tube. Especially not on the rear wheel. Cogs, grease, just the general hassle of it. I could finish up on the elliptical machine. I could run on the treadmill. I could go run the trails. Or I just take a shower, have dinner and call it a day.

No, my muscles were warm and I had only done twenty minutes. That's not a workout. Gotta do something. Pretty day outside. Might be fun to run the small loop on the bayou. That's about two miles, counting from where I start and finish in the little park on Jackson Hill. But my quads-- if I wanted to torture them with hills, I wouldn't have set up the bike in the first place. Maybe…

I looked at the bike again. I so did not want to change a tire. And it was such a pretty day out.

Screw the quads.

So I did a quick change and enjoyed the last bit of sunshine before the sun went down. The banks of the bayou were green with early clover and the sun was warm on my bare shoulders. I took it at a nice quick pace and was back home, cooldown included, in twenty minues.

It wasn't the workout I had planned, but it was a good one.

I hope my office has water tomorrow.

Recent Workouts
Today: 20 minute bike, 2 mile run
Wednesday: Rest. Felt lazy and cranky
Tuesday: 30 minute elliptical, 30 minute core and strength training

Park Run

I wasn't feeling so good last night and wasn't any better this morning, so I went to see my doctor. By the time I got out of her office, got my prescriptions filled and took care of what was supposed to be a quick bank errand, it was late enough in the day that it made no sense to go back to the office.

Suited me just fine. Nothing interesting was happening there, anyway.

So I went home and even though I still wasn't feeling all that great, I had reason to think a run would help. It was a gorgeous day for it-- clear blue sky, a cool breeze blowing. Everything seemed to sparkle. I would've had to have been dying not to have wanted to run.

I drove to Memorial Park rather than run on the trails near home because my quads and hamstrings were tight and wouldn't have liked the hills around the bayou. And besides, I wanted to have restrooms and plenty of water fountains close by in case I started feeling bad again. So the park it was.

I usually only run at Memorial well after dark or as part of my longer Saturday runs. So I was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't very crowded. I walked a little bit to warm up, then took off. Immediately I could tell it was going to be a tough run. My quads were protesting every move and I felt stiff, heavy and slower than tree moss. Ugh. But the glorious weather made it hard to get too bogged down in how my body felt. The sunlight was sparkling off the oaks and magnolias, the shadows were cool and refreshing and from time to time the wind would whip around a corner and play with my hair or tug at my cap.

So what if my body felt lousy? It was good just to be alive.

Toward the end of my run I saw a regular I hadn't seen in awhile-- Anorexic Woman. She's kinda scary with her sunken cheeks, hollow eyes and toothpick legs always encased in thick tights, no matter what the weather. But even she couldn't put a damper on my mood because she got me thinking of some of the other characters at the park-- people I hadn't seen in awhile because I hadn't been by very often in recent months. I thought about Lucky Shirt, who always wears the same dingy gray rag of a wifebeater tank, full of holes and clinging to his body only by threads and misplaced optimism. I thought about Park Guy, a golden-haired Greek god whose speed is matched only by his aura of mystery. No one knows his name. He never shows up at races. He politely and casually drops everyone who tries to run with him and so as often as he comes to run at the park, he remains unknown. I also thought about Park Guy's physical opposite-- an elderly man, torso curved to one side like a comma, who nonetheless manages to heave himself around the three mile loop nearly every night. He's scary, but his determination is fascinating. And then there's the Guru-- shaped like a cannonball, his skin the color of weak tea, sporting a white beard that flows below his waist as he trots around the park, glaring at everyone from underneath his fierce white brows. And watching the drama are two retirees who set up their folding chairs every afternoon in the median near the golf course, where they talk and wave to the regulars as they run past.

It's a strange bunch at the park sometimes.

I ran four miles and decided that splendid weather or no, my body needed some food and rest. I walked around a bit before getting in the car, reluctant to leave. The sun was a little lower in the sky and everything seemed to shine in the golden light. Shadows were lengthening, blue and slightly mysterious, across the trail and into the darker paths where the rabbits and coyotes play out their life and death games. It was that hour when all of nature seems to be holding its breath, teetering between daylight and dusk.

Anything can happen at that hour, because that's when magic happens.

Recent Workouts
Today: 4 mile run
Sunday: 45 minute core and strength training, 45 minute spin

Long Run, Cloudy Day

I so did not want to get up this morning. After yesterday's whine that I was having trouble writing, I had a mini-breakthrough. Oddly, it came from the same character who had helped me out of a previous difficulty. He was only supposed to add a little local color, but I guess he wanted to be more important than that because he solved a plot point for me in a previous chapter. Then last night he went on and did something that really surprised me. It makes me happy when my fictional characters do things even I wasn't expecting. That's always a sign something good is happening with my writing.

So I was up until 3 am trying to finish that particular scene and when the alarm went off at 6:15 I was not happy at all. I reset the clock for half an hour and finally dragged my lazy self out of bed at 6:45. I looked at the cat and told him something to the effect that since the plan was to take a long afternoon nap, it didn't matter if I didn't get much sleep at night. Since the cat has lived his whole life sleeping whenever he feels like it, I think he agreed with my reasoning.

I checked the Doppler and the promised rain looked like it was still in Austin so I got dressed and headed out. I wore one of my new outfits from the expo and felt very trendy and coordinated. Plus the shorts had one of those little zipper pockets in back, which I like. I decided to basically do a repeat of last weekend's run-- bayou trails, River Oaks, Memorial Park and home.

It was an overcast morning, one of those with a lot of low gray clouds moving around, but not a thick enough cloud cover for rain to be imminent. The clouds were fun to watch as they came in on the wind, constantly shaping, regrouping and separating themselves. Sometimes patches of clear sky would open up for a few minutes and we had sunshine, but the wind always brought more clouds to replace them and then the pattern would repeat.

I saw Jack Russell Terrier Guy as I was heading east toward Sabine. He had both dogs with him and I made a point of waving to them. When I got to the part of the trail that goes behind the police officers' memorial, there was a police helicopter sitting on the ground, engines and propellers going like mad. I always enjoy seeing helicopters close up. Or almost any other type of transport vehicle, for that matter. One of my grandfathers worked for American Airlines, the other worked for the Santa Fe Railroad, so I come by my love of transportation naturally.

I crossed the bridge at Sabine and headed west up Allen Parkway, stopping at Eleanor Tinsley Park to have some water and take off my long-sleeved shirt. It was still a little cool and breezy out, but I was warmed up enough to deal with it by now.

Oddly, there were no dogs yet at the dog park, but there were a few azaleas starting to bloom at one of the gardens along the path. It seems a little early for azaleas, but hopefully they won't all reach their peak before the big azalea season in March. When I got to River Oaks, I saw a few more azaleas, marveled over all the January roses at the rose garden, and even noticed a few bluebonnets in bloom at one house. It can't be bluebonnet time yet, can it? Weird weather. It's way too early for bluebonnets.

As I was leaving River Oaks, a white-haired gentleman in a plaid bathrobe came out of his house and down to the sidewalk to retrieve his morning paper. Don't those rich folks have servants to do that for them? He waved and said good morning, so I said good morning, too.

Come to think of it, everyone was pretty friendly today. Except for Memorial Park, it was mostly us regulars out there and the overall mood was very peaceful, very companionable. Just about everyone said hello, and that was nice. I don't know if it was the lack of pressure people were feeling now that the marathon is over, or if we were all just glad that the rain was holding off, but it was a very friendly day to be out running.

My legs felt a little heavy today, but I had a very solid run and my gait felt good. My right foot didn't try to point inward when I got tired, so I think the abductor exercises from hell are helping. The last two miles were a little uncomfortable, but I didn't notice any pain in the usual spots in my hips, knees, or along the IT band. It was only after I had come home and iced a bit that I noticed some pain in my right hip flexor. Oh well. It caused me no trouble on the run, which is the first time that's happened in months.

Small blessings.

Indian buffet was good, as always. The sky was seriously clouding over by this point and the wind was picking up. As we were driving home I told Dan I thought we'd make it just ahead of the storm. And sure enough, we'd only been home a few minutes when I thought I heard a light tapping against the window.

"Hush," I told Dan. "Listen."

We stopped what we were doing and were quiet for a moment. Slowly the light tapping that could've been anything at first grew louder, resolving itself into a steady beat of rain against the glass.

Nap weather.

Today's Workout
14 mile run

Rocker or Rabbit Trap? 

Critters, Weather and Other Miscellany

My mother had to put her cat to sleep today. Poor kitty had been acting a little strange right before Mom went to the hospital. When she came home it was obvious the cat was in poor health. It turned out to be feline leukemia. All of my family's animals tend to be strays that just show up one day, so there's no telling why the cat got sick or how long ago. The cat was so sick that by today there was no longer any point to heroic efforts.

Poor kitty. And poor Mom. Her father died before Christmas, then she was sick in the hospital and now this. It does seem that bad luck runs in cycles, just like good luck.

Speaking of sick pets, Baruchito the hamster hasn't been doing very well. If you like critters, you might want to drop in and offer a few words of encouragement. As of this posting, he was rallying a bit.

I'm still on a reduced training plan as I work on strengthening my core, hips and legs. The abductor exercises are excruciating. The only thing that gets me through them is knowing that they'll get easier if I just keep at it. I'm ready for that to happen, like, yesterday.

They're predicting rain tomorrow, clearing by Sunday, so we'll see how that turns out. As long as the rain holds off until late morning or so, I ought to be able to get in a long run. I'm prepared to do a combination of treadmill and other cardio in the gym if I have to, though. I don't do rain, especially not "a few storms might be severe." And then Sunday is the first bike ride of the spring season (nice to be in southern Texas!) so if my legs don't give me any trouble Saturday, my plan is to go do a nice easy fifty on Sunday morning. If Sunday doesn't work out though, I'm not worried. There will be an organized ride with rest stops and SAG support almost every weekend from now until June.

Sorry I haven't been posting more often. I'm kind of in a slump on my fiction writing right now, too. I'm still working on it every night, but the last couple weeks have been hard. It's work when the words aren't flowing. And I guess that has carried over into my blogging. I’m short on ideas and the words don't come easy.

Or maybe I'm just a dull girl these days. Gotta do something about that.

Recent Workouts
Tuesday: 30 minute core and strength training, 30 minute elliptical
Wednesday: 30 minute core and strength training, 45 minute bike - Spinervals 7.0 Uphill Grind
Thursday: 30 minute elliptical, 15 minute stairmaster
Friday: Rest Day

Be my friend! Pleeeease? 

Rainy Day

Today was one of those days that just never quite cleared up. If it wasn't raining outright, it was misting or threatening more rain.

No matter. I had been up too late the night before to consider a morning ride anyway, even if it hadn't been 100% chance of rain all day.

It ended up being a pretty typical Sunday for me. I read the morning news over coffee. I went to Central Market to pick up a few things, along with lunch for later. Then since I couldn't muster up the ganas to set up the bike, I did core and leg work instead. I'm really making an effort to work on hip flexors, ITB and pelvic stability, but some of these exercises tire me so quickly that I'm almost in tears before I finish my sets. The only thing that gets me through is knowing that if I keep after it, things will get better.

After my workout, I did a bit of writing and editing, took a nap, then got up and did a 90 minute spin session. I was pretty happy with how my legs felt on the bike. Yesterday's run was more difficult than it should've been and I had thought the leg work earlier in the day would finish me off. But I maintained good form and cadence throughout the workout, so I was pretty happy.

I was almost done and was starting to wonder what I should have for dinner when Dan called to tell me he was at a Vietnamese place downtown and did I want anything? I was a little anaerobic and my brain cells weren't working too well, so I told him to just bring me something. A little while later I was putting up my bike and he came in the door with spring rolls for me.

Perfect!

We're already married, but if I marry him again, is it bigamy?

Recent Workouts
Today: 45 minute core and strength training, 90 min spin - Spinervals 5.0 Mental Toughness

Too much drama for me! 

Drama Mama

Okay, I'm going to say a few things that will probably sound callous.

Why on earth do people in my family think it's okay to leave weepy, panicky voicemails about health issues when:

A. There is no clear threat to life or limb.

and

B. My presence is not needed and will not be helpful.

Basically, I got home from work Friday to find two voicemails from my sister (I have no idea why she didn't call me at work) saying that she was with my mother in the emergency room. So I immediately called my sister on her cell, my head full of terrible prospects, only to find that it was merely a case of abdominal pain. I asked a few questions, got a pretty good idea of what the problem wasn't, then talked to Mom, who was on pain meds and sounded pretty good. But even after we ran down the list of potentially scary diagnoses that had already been ruled out, she had to get her little drama dig in with, "But there's always the chance that they might have to do surgery!"

Okay. No picnic, there. And there's always the chance that they'll come back and say it's some really awful, rare thing that always makes for a better TV movie than reality. But isn't it a little extreme to go working the family into a frenzy just yet, without so much as a diagnosis?

As it turns out, it's a case of diverticulitis. No one's idea of a good time, but hardly worth all the dramatic buildup.

They're keeping Mom a few days so they can administer intravenous antibiotics, but after that she's good to go. No surgery and no long-term health implications so long as she goes forth and eats her roughage like a good girl.

Maybe it's me and Dan who are the weirdos here, but neither one of us has ever called our respective families over a medical issue. Not the time Dan needed stitches. Not the time I had to have a benign breast lump removed. (Okay, that freaked me out a little because I'd never had surgery before.) And not when Dan had kidney stones. It just didn't seem important. I don't know how other non-family members do it, but I'm saving my "panic and pity" capital for the big stuff, thankyouverymuch. And praying in the meantime I'll never need to draw on that account.

So if you call me in a panic, wanting me to participate in your little tragic opera, please have it be a real emergency or at least something you need my help with. Speak to me in calm, reasonable tones. Tell me how I can make things better. But don't call just to tweak my emotions. Hit and run ain't cool.

Recent Workouts
Today: 14 mile run
Friday: (attempt to) rest day
Thursday: 30 minute run - intervals, 30 minute core and strength training
Wednesday: 30 minute elliptical, 20 minute strength training
Tuesday: 55 minute bike - Spinervals 11.0 Big Gear Strength, 30 minute core and strength training

Messy Eaters 

Houston Marathon

This year I had the bright idea of watching the marathon splits for the lead runners on my computer before going out to my favorite corner near mile 23 to watch. This worked perfectly. Instead of getting out there way early or just barely too late, Dan and I were out there and ready when the first runner came around the bend five minutes later. I was very surprised that there was no helicopter this year. Usually the lead runner gets a helicopter in addition to the pace car and police escort. Oh well. If I were an elite runner, I'd insist on a helicopter, but that's just me.

Runners trickled by slowly for the first half hour. Many of them were grimacing in pain, but their bodies kept going strong. The next half hour we started seeing runners whose forms had deteriorated. Pain was etched on their faces and there were odd little things like flailing arms, a catch in a step, a sideways tilt of the pelvis.

Things settled down a bit after that. Dan had to leave and I ran home too, to use the bathroom and shed one of my shirts. It was turning out to be a warm day. I would've liked to have ditched my jacket, but I had loaded the pockets with things that my friends on the course might need, and it wouldn't be a disaster if I got a little warm later on.

I ran back to my corner about the time the 3:40s were going by. Then the 3:45s. This is always about the time I start getting misty-eyed. I look up Memorial Drive and think about what I could've done if I wasn't dealing with an injury and if my training had gone according to plan. I can be pretty chipper out there watching the fast runners and the ones who are slower than I would've been even on a worst case day. But when the ones in my pace range go by it's hard to keep my mind from drifting into whatifs.

But luckily I didn't have much time for that. I saw Steve, introduced myself and ran with him to the next water stop. He was doing great and I hope he thinks so, too.

Then I went back to my corner and waited for my friend Bonnie. She came around the corner alone and off pace but looked strong and was chatty, so I fell in with her and we ran up Allen Parkway together. I was disappointed at the music this year. Last year there was music almost the entire way up Allen Parkway, but this year it was pretty scanty. And when we got downtown here was no music at all until we turned the corner onto the last straightaway to the finish line. The finish was six blocks away but even I, who had only run three miles, felt like it kept receding the more we ran. At least we had music, though.

We were almost to the barricades when a guy collapsed up ahead of us. The only person who moved to help him was a guy with a half marathon finishers' medal around his neck, so I said good-bye to Bonnie and went to see if I could help the guy on the ground. His name was Mark and his calves had locked up. I tried to massage one and it was like a rock. I took a packet of Bio-Freeze out of my jacket pocket, gave some to the guy with the medal, squeezed the rest into my hands and we went to work on Mark's legs.

"You're a cyclist," I observed, hoping to distract him from the pain.

"Uh, yeah."

"I could tell by your razor stubble," I teased. "You do tris, too?"

"Not today, he's not," Medalguy said.

"Well of course not today," I replied, and we all laughed.

It took a few minutes, but we finally started making a little progress. Mark's calves were hardly loose, but they weren't bricks any more, either. We got him to his feet and I walked him to the final barricade ahead of the finishing chute. I wished him well and he took off at a slow trot that must've felt like it would kill him. It brought tears to my eyes.

After that I started walking back up the course, looking for other friends of mine. I was around mile 24 when I ran into Sylvia. She was running alone, which isn't typical because she has lots of friends. So I fell in with her and found she had been dealing with a hurt foot since mile 8. I ran with her to the start of the barricades and then walked back up the course again.

I was starting to think I wouldn't see anyone else when I saw Felix around mile 24, walking with the big American flag he always races with. I ran up to him and asked what was up, why was he walking? He said everything was hurting and it was too hot out. I've never run with Felix for very long because he usually has an entourage, but this time he must've been in a pretty bad spot because as I fell in with him and he kicked up the pace to a shuffle, he asked me to talk to him. So I talked. I talked about anything that came to mind. And every time I fell silent, he'd say, "Keep talking." And so we went along like that, sometimes trotting, sometimes walking, down Allen Parkway, into downtown and up to the barricades where I stopped and watched him run through the crowds as the announcer called his name.

By now the race was almost over. The race clock read 5:52 and there wasn't much time for anyone still out on the course. A heavy man, shirtless and jiggly slogged past me. I glanced at my watch and smiled. He was going to make it and have bragging rights forever over all those skinny people at the office. An elderly woman passed me, head up, striding confidently. She would make it too and put the lie to anyone's assertion that you're ever too old to chase your dreams.

I wound through the shadows of the downtown skyscrapers and back into the sunshine and green of the paths along the bayou. Stragglers were still coming in, chased out of the roads and onto the sidewalks, most of them holding up bravely, all of them disappointed. Just finishing a marathon is something to be proud of, and I know they’ll understand once they're beyond the disappointment of today.

By now I was tired and hurting. Both hips hurt and my feet hurt from my new insoles. My muscles were tight from yesterday's run. And I was thirsty. So thirsty! I hadn't taken any of the water offered by the volunteers, so I was glad to come up to the water fountain at Eleanor Tinsley Park.

It seemed to take forever to walk all the way home. Three miles is a long way when your feet and hips hurt. But it was nothing compared to a marathon. So I soldiered on, stopping to help a straggler give directions by cell phone for someone to come pick her up by the dog park at Montrose.

Then there was another water fountain, Waugh Drive, a little dog-leg and I was at my bridge to Jackson Hill. The bridge seemed higher than usual. I guess I was more tired and sore than I realized. At the top I stopped and looked down on my trails and looked toward downtown where so many people achieved their dreams today. It made me smile.

And then I walked down the other side of the bridge and up the street to where my own finish line and my own fans were waiting for me.

Recent Workouts
Today: approx 5 mile run, 5 mile walk

Happy Birthday to Me

Yeppers, today is my birthday! One more year and I'll be racing with the masters!

Exciting, isn't it?

I actually did most of my birthday celebrating yesterday. I took the day off and started things right by sleeping in until 9:00. Then I took my bike to the shop for new tires and to get checked out for the spring ride season. The owner of my LBS is a friend of Dan's and expressed doubt that he could get to my bike this weekend because he was over-biked and short-staffed. "Want me to ask Dan if he has time to come help you out?" I asked. Jeff brightened up immediately and said to have Dan give him a call if he wasn't too busy.

Next I dropped off my RX-7. It had been making a funny noise. We popped the hood and found -- oops -- a broken alternator belt! Amazing that the car was still cranking. So I gave the mechanic the key and walked home, about a mile. It was a nice day for it. I stopped at Walgreen's on the way for a few things and was annoyed that they didn't have multi-packs of 60 watt fluorescent bulbs. I'm trying to change over to all fluorescents as the incandescents burn out, but I can sure get a better deal than $7 per bulb.

So I went home, got the Toyota, and went downtown to the Houston Marathon Expo. OMG! For whatever reason, this was totally my year! I ran into several friends, including Burt and Sally of Luke's Locker, and my massage therapist, Mary. I bought a new pair of Brooks Adrenalines. I ate ice cream and Clif Bar samples. I watched sock demonstrations. (How sick is that?) I visited the animals at the Humane Society booth. No rabbits, darn it, but I dropped some money in their donation jar anyway. I totally ruined my "old school runner" creds by buying not just one but two sets of matching running shorts and tops. I bought socks. And miracle of miracles, I found that Brooks still makes the pants that match my super-soft, ultra-special jacket that I bought last year. The pants were softer than cream and 20% off the $55 price. I grabbed a pair and have found an excuse to wear them everywhere, since. I was about to splurge on yet more socks when for the good of my pocketbook I decided I needed to get out of that hell-hole of worldly temptations.

So what did I do next? Uh… I went to my favorite consignment shop and spent a lot more money.

Right. Aren't other people supposed to buy things for me on my birthday? What's wrong with this picture?

I spent my last $5 on stamps on the way home so I could send out a magazine subscription renewal, then went home and dragged all my loot upstairs. I was still prancing around in my new Brooks pants when Dan came home. He was unimpressed. I looked great in them and they're just so, so soft! What's not to like?

Okay, I'll shut up about the pants.

Dan went and helped out at the LBS today and paid the ticket for my new tires and for trueing the front wheel. We had lunch at the Indian place around the corner and it was a nice, quiet day.

Tomorrow morning is the marathon. I wish I were running, but the hip still hurts. I noticed that next year the marathon will be on my birthday-- my 40th. Now how cool would it be to run my first race as a master on my birthday at my hometown marathon? Maybe 2007 will be the year I break the jinx.

I'll be at mile 23 tomorrow morning to see the runners and check up on my friends. Full report will follow.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Recent Workouts
Today: 1 hour elliptical, 9 mile run
Friday: rest day, some walking

Rabbit. Top view. 

Postal (Dis)Services

For years we've had a problem with mail delivery to my department. We're in a building off campus, but our mail is still routed through the university system. Fine. But even though our building has a ginormous red number on the outside, even though we have a clearly marked mail room and even though we have a very neatly labeled mailbox, our mail still ends up in a totally different building in an unmarked box next to Accounts Payable.

Not all of our mail, mind you. Some of it ends up where it belongs. And therein lies the mystery because there is no difference in mail code or address between what ends up in the correct box vs what ends up in the next building.

We've tried for years to get this problem corrected, but the good folks in our university's Postal Services department deny that this is even happening. They say our mail couldn't possibly be ending up in the next building in an unmarked mail slot and if it is, someone else is doing it.

Right. We have Evil Postal Gnomes that go around moving mail from one building to the next just to confuse us.

So today my assistant was fed up and convinced someone to come out and actually look at the problem. And you know what he found? Not only did he find just what we've said for years-- an extra "secret" mailbox full of our mail in the next building, but he also found another, extra-special, uber-secret unmarked box also full of our mail!

Okay, so our mail is being delivered to three different places, including one so secret that even we aren't allowed to know where it is. Great.

But once again, Postal Services denies that it is they who are doing this! No, it most be those pesky Postal Gnomes again, up to their old mail-stealing tricks!

Well, at least Postal Services now acknowledges that we're neither crazy nor lying when we say we're not getting our mail. It's progress, I suppose.

Gonna buy me some Gnome Spray this weekend.

Recent Workouts
Today: 45 min gym cardio, 3 x 15: 15 min elliptical, 15 min stairmaster, 15 min treadmill
Tuesday: 30 min elliptical, 15 min strength training
Monday: 30 min core and strength training
Sunday: 90 min bike: Spinervals Tough Love (1st half only)

You Can't Be Sirius?

My husband's friend gave him a satellite radio yesterday. Nifty! It's a slightly older model, but it does everything a satellite radio needs to do and it has a cradle and various gizmos for it to work in the car as well as in the home, hooked into speakers. It's pretty cool. And free, except for the monthly payments to Sirius.

I had a pretty good first week back at work. I had thought I would be all sleepy and out of sorts after my spoiled rotten week of no commitments, but everything went fine. No need for more than the usual amounts of caffeine, etc. I put all my Christmas chocolate into a glass dish in the break room and wasn't tempted by anyone else's candy offerings. I got a lot of good work done and even managed to impress a few people by volunteering for a little project that was easy and fun for me but a puzzling conundrum to my business manager.

Yay, brownie points!

I was disconcerted though, when she called me a few days later to ask for an update and called the project by a completely different name. For a moment I was a bit frantic. Holy crap, I'm supposed to be working on a fiduciary whatsit page??? Oh…. the checklist! LOLOL! Two linkage options tested and a third option in testing mode. Whew!

Fiduciary whatsits, indeed.

I had a mostly pain-free week, although as you can see from my stats below, I slacked on the running. But maybe that's what I needed to do because I was able to do the first twelve of my 14 mile run today without any problems and only added my cho-pat strap for the last couple miles because I thought I could feel a little whisper of pain in the patellar tendon and I had some hills coming up. The pain may have been my imagination though, because tonight the only thing that hurts is my right tensor fascia latae.

On this morning's run I saw what I think was the Houston Fit group getting their last pre-marathon pep talk. I almost went over to listen and say hello to some of my friends, but I think it would've only made me feel bad. I ran into a friend over the holidays who will be running next Sunday though, and I'll keep an eye out for her from my usual spot near mile 23. If she's hurting and isn't running with anyone, I'll run with her for a bit and try to distract her and keep her on pace. Miles 23-25 of the Houston Marathon can be brutal because of the hills and dips of the Allen Parkway underpasses.

I'm thinking of taking this next Friday off from work. I did it last year because it was my birthday and I enjoyed having a four-day weekend. (MLK Day is always a holiday for us at the university.) So even though my birthday falls on Saturday this year, I think I might start a little tradition by always taking Friday off and giving myself a four-day weekend. This would give me two four-day workweeks in a row, separated by a four-day "weekend."

I could live my whole life like that, I think.

Recent Workouts
Today: 14 mile run
Friday: Rest day
Thursday: 35 minute bike - Cyclerobx
Wednesday: 45 minute elliptical, core and strength training
Tuesday: 45 minute bike - Spinervals 1.0 "No Slackers Allowed"
Monday: 30 minute elliptical, core and strength training

Happy 2006!

Happy New Year, everyone!

We kept things very low-key last night. I think my years in the restaurant/club business turned me off forever to going out on "amateur nights" and New Year's Eve is one of the biggest amateur nights of them all. With my holiday break rapidly winding down, I was happy to spend the evening at home, no stress, no pressure, just doing things I enjoy doing.

Today was our belated Christmas gathering with my family, so even though the weather was nice for it, I didn't get a run or ride in. Instead Dan and I picked up some breakfast breads and coffee cake at Central Market and we got out to the house around mid-morning. I hadn't seen my father since summer, so it was nice to spend a little time with him. Gifts were only so-so. I only got one thing I really wanted and it was a book. I got a couple of other books that were cool and a lot of useless stuff. Sometimes I swear I'd rather have the money than the stuff, but it's the thought that counts, etc, etc.

I'm not into New Year's resolutions, so you won't see any of that here. If something is a good thing to be doing, then you should be ready to get started any time of the year, not just January 1. But I like Commodore's idea about having themes for the year. I want this year to be about pulling back a little, reassessing and rebuilding instead of just forging on ahead. In sport, my body demands it right now. At work I've strayed too far from the basics that got me where I am in the first place. I'm doing well on the home front, but there is always room for improvement-- getting back into cooking again and being a little less lazy about letting clutter pile up.

So that's where my focus will be in 2006-- getting back to basics, cleaning up, paring down, getting stronger so I can move forward from a place of strength and focus.

Happy New Year!

Recent Workouts
Today: Nothing yet, core work and maybe some cardio if time permits
Saturday: 12 mile run
Friday: Rest day
Thursday: 30 minute run - intervals
Wednesday: 45 minute elliptical, strength training

Still loving those holiday treats! 

Change of Plans

Things are not on track for a January marathon. I've tried to do the longer mileage, but I've reached a point where I think I'm doing myself no favors. I initially started getting worked on because my screwed up biomechanics were leading to overuse injuries that I could no longer work around. The chiropractor and physical therapist have spent six weeks breaking me down and loosening me up so my pelvis would go back into alignment and I've tried to keep doing marathon training during that process, which has been something of a disaster. With nothing where it used to be, my aches and pains have only multiplied.

Now we've reached the rebuilding phase of my therapy. It's hard work. More aches and pains in new places. And while I think I'll be strong enough by mid-January to handle a marathon, I won't have the mileage under my belt to do it with. And one thing I refuse to do is go out there with no certainty that my body is ready for 26.2 miles of running on concrete.

So I'm changing my focus. I'm going to put my energies into getting strong and biomechanically sound. It's base work, really, and it has to all be re-done as if from scratch because as far as my muscles are concerned, I have a new body to work with and nothing is like what it was before. Getting this part right is where my focus should've been all along and not on the stupid marathon.

Live and learn, right? Sure, I'm getting older, but when will I get wiser?

If things go well, I might do a marathon in Austin or Surfside in February.

I had a good Christmas. It's amazing how low-stress the holiday can be when you're not trying to juggle multiple family commitments. With my parents out of town and Dan wanting to opt out of his aunt and uncle's get-together, our only obligation was Christmas morning with his mother and sister, which went pretty well. We didn't stay long enough for me to get bored, thank goodness.

And then we were free! We had some overpriced but very good Indian food and a long afternoon nap. Yeah, it's no one's idea of a traditional Christmas, but we felt relaxed and happy and didn't dread the day as we have in other, more harried years.

In all, it's been a good holiday so far. Low stress, nice weather, no big time commitments so that my sleep/wake cycle has reverted to up-all-night/sleep-part-the-day. My body's clock has never been right and it's nice not to have to fight it for a week. I'll be suffering that first week back at the office, but for now, why worry? God made caffeine because he loves us and to make up for little mistakes like giving some of us bio clocks that think staying up until 3 am is a good idea.

I hope everyone else had a merry Christmas and/or is having a good Hanukkah!

Recent Workouts
Saturday: 1 hour elliptical, 1 hour bike - Carmichael Training Systems: Climbing
Sunday: Rest Day - Merry Christmas!
Monday: 5.25 mile run
Tuesday: 30 min core and legs, 45 min bike - Spinervals 3.0 Suffer-O-Rama

What is this? Did Santa come? 

It's a basket of treats! Thanks, Santa! 

Merry Christmas, Friends! 

For me?  

An ornament? That's it? 

Solstice Run

I went for a really nice run today when I got off work. It was just a little five-miler around the bayou trails, but with the sun setting and casting a golden glow over everything, it felt very pretty and magical. The recent rains had washed mud across the lower parts of the trail, but it was dry and the uncertain surface forced me to slow down and look around a bit at the trees, the muddy bayou, the people walking their dogs, at the sunset painting its rapidly fading colors across the sky.

I don't know how fast I ran because I haven't worn a watch since I became injured. Trying to beat a preconceived notion of time is bad news when you're hurt. But I think I was slightly sub-9:00 most of the time.

The bayou trails are really a bad place to try for speed, anyway. The surfaces are too varied and uncertain. There's a spot near the fountain where the asphalt is so badly broken that you don't so much run as dance across that section as you make rapid calculations of where to place your feet where you'll be least likely to twist or break something.

There were quite a few tourists at the bat bridge at Waugh Drive. Funny, I've been running under there for years hearing the bats, smelling the stench of the guano, never seeing anyone other than homeless people. And now that they've put up a few signs about the bats, it's a regular tourist attraction.

There were quite a few runners out this afternoon. Some were dressed for snowstorms, but it really wasn't so cold as all that. Even I, cold-weather wimp that I am, found it warm enough for shorts.

Someone was walking a dog off-leash. I didn't see the owner, but I saw the dog-- a black mutt with a pink plastic day-glo ribbon tied to his tail for easy locating if he darted off into the bushes, I guess.

A nicely-dressed woman was walking home from the Kroger on the other side of the bayou from where I live. She was walking across the Shepherd bridge, a bag in each hand, blocking me from passing on the narrow sidewalk. Luckily a guy in a pickup saw my impatience and slowed down long enough for me to step into the street and sprint around her. It felt good to sprint.

On the last stretch up the hill to the Jackson Hill bridge, I passed a guy who was a fair bit younger than me. No sooner had I passed him when I heard a rustling in the dry leaves behind me. I couldn't let him pass me back, could I? He might be younger, but he was wearing cotton! So I kicked it in a little and by the time I got to the bridge and looked back, he was trudging, looking tired. Ha!

As soon as I got home, my lungs tightened up and I couldn't breathe. One of my least-favorite things about running in the winter. As long as the adrenaline is going, my lungs stay clear, but as soon as I slow down or stop, my lungs freak out and it can take as long as thirty minutes before I'm breathing normally again. Oh well. I'm used to it so it doesn't usually freak me out, which would only make it worse.

A shower, a nice dinner, some blog-checking and a short nap and now I'm ready to settle in with a bit of writing. I was at one of those "How do I want to get from A to B?" places when I stopped last night. Since not much was happening at the office today, I managed to have some good ideas-- ideas that made me laugh because they were evil. I don't know why I enjoy my characters so much more when they're bad than when they're good, but I do.

Lessee… what else? I got nearly all the audit docs collected and copied. If interruptions can be kept to a minimum tomorrow, I should be able to finish up before the holiday break.

Please think kind thoughts for my friend Dalila-- the coolest gal that ever lived. She works for the New York City Department of Transportation and all of a sudden her job is much more exciting than she would probably like.

And finally, a box arrived today for Tidbit from The Busy Bunny. What could it be?

Happy Solstice and Almost-Christmas, everyone!

Today's Workout
5.25 mile run

Weird Christmas

My mom's father passed away Monday night. Note I didn't say "my grandfather." Technically, he is my step-grandfather or something like that. Although he was kind to me when I was a kid, I didn't grow up with any strong attachments to either of Mom's parents because they were holy-rollers and racists-- a hypocritical combination that I find so obnoxious that I really can't stand to associate myself with such people.

And so I don't regret his passing, but I regret the impact it has on other family members. And it's a weird feeling to have no one left in the grandparent generation, either by blood or by marriage.

I'm also emotionally conflicted by something. You see, he was quite well off. He had only one child, my stepmother, who is a drunk and a spendthrift. She had over $15K in credit card debt last I heard, spent mostly on booze and bankrolling her lazy daughter (my half-sister). And now with the death of one racist, that debt is wiped clean, just like magic! How the hell is it that I can bust my behind and get nowhere while rewards fall out of the sky onto a lazy person like my sister and a woman like Mom who spends 21 nickels out of every dollar?

Yeah, yeah, I know. Life ain't fair. Deal with it.

So the parents are off to California and won't be back until around New Year's. No biggie. When everyone is a grownup, Christmas is when you say it is. Maybe we'll celebrate Three Kings Day instead.

Oddly, my sibs are staying in town. Now, not to diss them any more than I usually do, but if it were my grandparent being buried, you wouldn't be able to keep me off the plane, holiday travel hell or no. I doubt they're staying away on principle, like I am. The fact that the old man probably left them something in his will and their mother could maybe use their emotional support ought to be enough motivation to get their candy asses onto the next plane to the Los Angeles area. Hell, I would've walked to Massachusetts for my grandmother's funeral, had it been necessary. And I knew I wasn't getting a dime and no one needed my strong shoulder to cry on. Up there among my New England relatives, I'm just a novelty.

Sometimes I wonder how I ended up in this family. I swear we share almost no common values. We're all carbon-based forms of life, and that's about it.

No workout tonight. I wanted to do some spinning, but we did a few new things in therapy today and I was a little worried that if I hopped on the bike tonight I would have no way of gauging if what we tried is hurting or helping. So my plan is to go for a run tomorrow if I'm feeling good, otherwise I'll make a date with Coach Troy and do some spinning.

Boss-Man's Party

Well, today was the CIO's party and it went much better than I had expected. I liked my veggie plate okay (it was uninspired, but not dreadful), everyone was in a cheerful mood and the party didn't run on past the scheduled end time. In fact, we ended early and I and a co-conspirator managed to get our afternoon business managers meeting cancelled. Yay!

I left the white elephant exchange with a clock. I'm still trying to decide if it's cool or just weird. Either way, it's very re-giftable if I decide I don't like it after all, which is the main reason I stole it rather than take my chances with the unknown gifts on the table.

I think we're into the homestretch now-- most of the bosses are going to be out the rest of the week and with them gone and no more parties, I'll be able to finish gathering documents for the auditors and settle in to a quiet rest of the week. We're supposed to work through Thursday. Hopefully we'll get sent home early that day. I won't be working very hard, regardless.

I went and saw Mary after work today and she really beat me up good. She told me to stretch my calves more often. For such a dumb, simple little thing that one can do almost anywhere, I sure am lazy about that!

I came home to a husband who was complaining about not feeling well. Grrrr... He says he's not sure if he's coming down with something or if he just ate too much calamari at his boss's luncheon. Well, he better not get me sick is all I have to say. Isn't there some sort of law that contagious spouses must stay at the Motel 6 until they're well? Didn't I read that somewhere?

No workout tonight. I got home pretty late from Mary's house and I was starving and now it's nearly 9 o'clock and I'm going to try to do some work on my novel early so I can maybe get more than my usual five hours of sleep.

I need my rest - calamari poisoning might be contagious!

Today's Workouts
* Carried 40 lb bag of bunny litter up to the third floor.
* Tried to escape while Mary dug her elbows into my calves - ouch!

Sentimenal Day

Even though lots of things were hurting today, I decided to do Coach Troy's evil two hour interval video, Have Mercy.

Why?

Well, maybe it's the weather, maybe it's hormones, maybe it's the stress or the holidays, but I found myself feeling sentimental this morning. And that's always a bad road for me to start down. I get to thinking about places that will never be quite the same for me, about things I would like to do or that I wish I had done, about people who totally rocked my world and how strange and cruel it is that life, just ordinary life, drives a wedge between what we want and what we end up with.

None of which is to say I regret my choices. I'm not into regrets. I try to make the best decisions I can at the time I make them and no one can do more than that. If some of the decisions are bad, so be it. Plenty of my decisions are good ones.

It's also not to say that I'm unhappy with where I am now. Anything I would change about my life would be a minor upgrade, not a major overhaul. I have all the basics. Anything else is window dressing.

In other words, I have no cause for complaint. I'm not unhappy. It's just that every now and then a bit of random sentimentality creeps in and I find myself wishing I could have everything I wanted instead of merely anything.

So I figured it was a good day to beat myself up on the bike a bit. Get good and tired, damage a few brain cells if possible, have a turkey sandwich, follow it up with something sweet and gooey, then take a nap.

Which is where I'm at right now-- tryptophan-enhanced, nodding off at the keyboard and ready to curl up with my kitty and a good book.

Not a bad way to spend a sentimental Sunday afternoon.

Today's Workout
Sunday: 2 hour bike, Spinervals 9.0 Have Mercy

Gray, Rainy Morning

The alarm went off. I took out an earplug and listened. Outside, it was pouring. I reset for 30 minutes and went back to sleep. Half an hour later, I repeated the exercise. Still pouring. Another 30 minutes and it was still raining and I couldn't put off my workout any longer.

So it was an indoor cardio kind of day.

Probably just as well, since my hip and IT band are really sore. I don't know if it's a good or bad sign. Does it mean the new treatments are moving things into place and this is just a normal growing pain, so to speak? Or did something go wrong? More on that after my next appointment, I guess.

Anyhow, this was a scheduled low-mileage day anyway, so it was all destined to turn out okay.

To minimize boredom, I followed a program of 30 minutes elliptical, 30 minutes treadmill, 15 minutes stair stepper, then repeat all three pieces and call it a day.

I managed to find two good long magazine articles to read on the elliptical machine, so that made the time go by pretty fast. I stayed in the 188-194 steps/min range, which I consider good for longer cardio work.

I did intervals on the treadmill, which is another boredom-delaying trick. I did 2 minutes at 9:00 min/mile pace, 2 at 8:30, 1 at 8:00, then repeat over and over while watching CNN. For my pace and stated goal of a 2.5 hour total cardio workout, this type of interval schedule, with no speedwork, was perfect.

I did nothing special on the stair-stepper. Fifteen minutes isn't so bad. I flipped through an old Smithsonian magazine, but I don't read well on the stair machine.

In all, it worked out pretty well. Various body parts started cramping and hurting on the run, but only toward the end of each session, so it was okay and I was able to finish. I noticed that my right foot was turning inward a bit and when I tried to analyze what was happening, I noticed that my whole right hip is tipping inward toward my center as I run. There's definitely a slight shift in that direction and it must be what's causing the IT band and knee issues because I noticed the same problem last weekend when my knee started giving me problems. I'll have to report this to the doc and PTs on Tuesday.

I really need to get a 21 miler under my belt next weekend if I'm still going to do this marathon. The fact that my hip and IT band are so tender this weekend worries me, as does the way my long run ended last week. I'm going to set up a massage appointment with Mary for this week and give the long run my best shot next weekend and see what happens, I guess.

As an alternate, I'm considering the Surfside Beach Marathon in February. It's a small beach run about 60 miles south of here and it's gotten good reviews. It sounds like one of those small, laid-back little venues where you quickly make friends with everyone. They also have a half marathon which I'm trying to convince Dan to do with me, whether or not I do the Houston marathon in January. Dan says he'll be too busy helping prep for the West U Warmup bike ride, which is the day after the Surfside Marathon. But I think I've got some room to debate that with him. I need to find out if he's really locked into an all-morning commitment, or if he's just making an excuse.

In other news, I think things are winding down at work, finally. The auditor wants various things, but it's at the stage where I get a call or an email and I go hunt down what he wants and take it to him. No more three hour interviews, thank goodness. Two of my three mandatory parties are over and I have my white elephant gift for Monday's party. After that, I think a lot of people will be out and I'll have some time to get things done without the phone ringing all the time. I'm being pestered a lot in these last few days before the holiday break, but it's all small stuff-- vendors wanting payment status, bosses wanting report updates, employees with questions about vacation time, etc.

My dad got into town last night and my brother had a birthday, so all is well in family-land. I sent my father one of Tidbit's picture books in November and he brought it home to show Mom. Now she wants one.

The Indian food was good today, the cat seems back to normal, the bunny has discovered the pleasure of lounging on the sofa and my writing is going steadily although it's been over a week since I had one of those days when I was really on a roll. Sometimes writing is a slog-fest, just like running.

And that concludes today's report.

Recent Workouts
Thursday: 45 minute elliptical (no running permitted - decompression day)
Friday: scheduled rest day
Saturday: 2.5 hour cardio (1 hour elliptical, 1 hour running, 30 min stair-stepper)

Can we rest yet? 

Decompression

I'm decompressing here a little, in more ways than one.

The biggest part of the audit is over. There are a few things that I still need to collect, but I have confidence that I can track them down-- they're silly things that aren't even typical audit documents, so I'm a little perplexed. But compared to what the auditor could've asked for, I think I'm in good shape. So if my boss can refrain from pestering me and if the phones will do me a favor and work properly (they were flaky today), I think I can get everything finalized on Friday or early part of next week.

A few other workplace frustrations have come up and I'm feeling pecked to death in some cases, just plain confused in others. I'm starting to suspect one of my bosses of being in the early stages of Alzheimer's. Seriously. Too many weird things have happened recently. But then, I think we're all tired, frustrated, forgetful and just trying to get out for the holidays, so maybe I shouldn't read too much into it.

We're doing some new things in physical therapy. The big one is spinal decompression in the lumbar area. We're trying to loosen my left hip, which has remained tight in spite of some of the other things we've tried. The decompression treatments have already made some noticeable improvements to my flexibility. We're helping things along with some trigger point massage treatments through the tight area of the lower back, both hips and both IT bands. We did some good work around the knees today and found a lot more tightness in the right IT band than I had realized was there. But I haven't been allowed to run this week because we're waiting to see how my body responds to the decompression. I'll run Saturday-- about 12 miles or so, and see how that goes.

We had our department Christmas party today and I sat with my assistant and a few of her friends and I got caught up on all the gossip. Working in a university IT department isn't nearly the circus that a restaurant is, but we have our moments.

So all I want now is for my one boss to remember what he says and does from one day to the next, for the other boss to quit nagging in me in her Mommy Voice for not sending documents to her that aren't on her must-send list (or at least not get snarky with me when I call and ask what docs she wants) and to find the missing property forms that are merely duplicates of the forms I already gave the auditor, but that he wants to see anyway. Oh, and it would help if my phone works tomorrow.

I can't believe I only get one week off for Christmas/New Year's this year. I'm gonna need a lot more than that!

Recent Workouts
Tuesday: 30 minute elliptical
Wednesday: 45 minute bike, Spinervals 4.0 Muscle Breakdown
Thursday: 45 minute elliptical

Recovery Day

Quads and hamstrings were hurting today, more than they did after my 18 miler two weeks ago. Weird. I guess my body just wasn't up for it yesterday. Funny how that happens. How do Pam Reed and Dean Karnazes do it?

I was up ridiculously late Saturday night writing but dragged myself out of bed around 10 am this morning anyway and soon after Dan left for the gym, I started slowly getting things set up for a spin session. Except -- oops -- the pump was in Dan's car and my rear tire was beyond questionable. It needed some air or I wasn't riding.

So I changed into "real" clothes and ran some errands that I had planned for after the workout. And since Dan was at the park by the time I finished up I went by and got the bike pump. Success! I put air in the tires and I was in business!

My knee did okay until the last half hour, when there were a few times when it acted like it wanted to lock up on me. It clicked a few times, but it wasn't painful. I'll be glad to get it looked at and in the meantime I'm trying to find the problem spot with the tennis ball but haven't been successful yet.

I'm not looking forward to this week. The internal auditor is coming on Tuesday and Thursday-- a three hour meeting each time to evaluate my department's compliance with business policies during the past fiscal year. Yuck. There are so many things I think he's going to find. Last year was a terrible one for me because I lost an assistant and was not allowed to re-hire, the assistant who remained was sick all the time and they changed departmental business practices on us, keeping me in meetings all the time and delaying a lot of our paperwork to where we were often out of university business compliance by the end of all the shenanigans. Oh, I'm going to have a lot of fun trying to explain all that to the auditors! I wonder if I should just submit my resignation now and get it over with.

But at least the worst of it will be over by mid-day Thursday. And then it's three days of mandated holiday cheer as I attend Christmas parties Thursday afternoon, Friday afternoon and mid-day the following Monday. Nothing like feeling you must attend to make you feel like celebrating!

Today's Workout
90 minute bike - Spinervals 5.0 Mental Toughness

Run, Interrupted

Today was supposed to be the first of two 20+ mile runs in preparation for the marathon. My first plan was to wear my GPS and try some different routes, but it was so cloudy out that I decided not to risk an uncertain signal. So I stayed close to home, which turned out to be for the best.

I started with a run to Memorial Park. Usually it's very crowded and tries my patience, so I figured I'd do it first, while I was still fresh. As it turned out, it wasn't crowded after all. In fact, there was reduced runner activity on all my usual routes, due to the 30K being held Sunday in Sugar Land. I've often thought about doing that race, but have never heard anything good about it, so I've always skipped it.

I enjoyed my two loops at Memorial, then decided to run up Memorial Drive to Chimney Rock and thus spare myself having to do two loops later at the bayou. Halfway into the park-to-Chimney Rock part of the run, a coyote came running out of an empty lot ahead of me, crossed the busy road (narrowly escaping getting run over) and disappeared into the yard of a fancy home. A few seconds later, it came back. Then it crossed the street yet again and this time I didn't see it any more.

It was puzzling and a little disconcerting. I've seen coyotes in the evening in the park, but never at 9 am crossing a busy street in a pricey neighborhood. I sure hope no one is leaving small pets outside!

The Chimney Rock portion of the run went well and once I was back inside the 610 loop, I stopped at the Memorial Park picnic loop (where the cyclists ride) to use the restroom. I noticed that a trail has been newly asphalted nearby and the roof of the restroom building has been extended. (It used to be a semi-open design.) Unfortunately none of the improvements have included supplying soap to the restrooms, which is probably just as well since no one has fixed the sink faucets either, so you can't wash your hands anyway.

That meant I had to stop at the Shell station later to wash up.

From there I did an out-and-back to the River Oaks country club. That was nice, but I was starting to hurt. Calves were crampy, hamstrings were tight-- we all know the drill, right? But just before I got back to the bayou trails where I would do my last four miles, my right knee tightened up without warning. It was the same problem I've had off and on since August, but this time there was no warning, no cramp in my hip and down the outside of my leg, just a sudden tightening and pain in the knee. So I walked when I had to and ran when I could until I got to the trails and the bench by the first water fountain. I stretched and massaged the area for a few minutes, then had some water and decided to see what would happen if I tried to continue. I did okay at first, but now the other knee, feeling ignored I suppose, started tightening up. So I stopped and rubbed it, too. Dammit. I ran okay again for maybe an eight of a mile before the right knee tightened again.

I stopped. I could keep stopping to stretch and massage and probably find a way to finish the planned route, but was that really wise? What was I trying to prove? Who was I proving it to? Was it worth the possible cost?

I swallowed my pride and walked home.

Tonight the knee feels fine for walking and standing with the weight distributed evenly between both feet, but when I move my weight all to one foot, the knee hurts in a crampy sort of way. I don't think this is a true injury that has to keep me from the marathon, but after a good 18 miler just two weeks ago, it's a big disappointment. I thought I'd made so much progress! You can bet I'm telling my physical therapists about this! Good thing I'm already being treated-- I'm sure they can fix me up if I can just give them all the right info, and we still have over a month to work with.

There's plenty of time, but I'm starting to get nervous about all this.

Recent Workouts
Thursday: 45 minute elliptical
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: 18 mile run, cut short from 22

Bunny In A Box 

Bike Therapy

Wednesday was a much better day. Very busy, a few annoyances, but nothing too bad. It helped that my boss was out. It's easier to get things done without the boss.

Just think how productive our country would be if there were no bosses!

Oh, wait. I'm a boss, too.

Never mind.

Even though I got home late and hungry again tonight (physical therapy ran late), I forced myself to just have a small snack. Then I waited an hour, set up the bike and did a hard 45 minute spin session. I don't know if it was the music I used, the workout or both, but I felt great afterwards!

It's late and I haven't written a thing tonight, so I suppose I'll be up later than I would like, but that's okay. And I've got a lot to do tomorrow, but tonight I'm feeling like that will work out okay, too.

Thanks, everyone, for wishing this grumpy bunny well!

Today's Workouts
30 min core and legs (physical therapy)
45 min bike, Spinervals 7.0 Uphill grind

Piling On

Okay, so we're into Day 2 of nuisance-level bad luck. While it is not to be confused with real, genuine bad luck, it's still a pain in the butt.

The boss was getting on my nerves again today, asking for lots of silly stuff ahead of an even sillier meeting. Ahem, exactly why do I have to keep reporting on project budgets that are no longer part of our department? And no, "We're doing it for OtherGuy," doesn't cut it. I've been in meetings with OtherGuy and he hates your reporting template, boss. Hate, hate, hate, you hear? He throws these reports in the trash. I've seen him do it! Just admit we're doing it because it gives you the illusion for a few more weeks that they didn't take the project away from you and give it to someone more competent.

Then around lunchtime I got a call from my other boss. We're usually friends, but today she pounced on me using her Angry Mommy Voice and asked a lot of rapid-fire questions about a contract I sent her last week. Not having a copy of it nearby, I couldn't answer her questions, so I simply asked what she was unhappy about, wrote everything down and said I'd fix it right away.

Feeling like a total idiot, I started on her laundry list. But I was puzzled. She was asking for documents I hadn't had to submit in years. She was asking about weird things. Time warp things. Who was crazy-- me or her?

I figured it was me until I went to the Contracts Office website looking for a particular document. I couldn't find the darn thing anywhere! I called the Contracts Office secretary, who laughed a tinkly little laugh and said, "Oh, that's not on the Frequently Used Documents list yet. Try looking third from the bottom on the 1999 docs list."

Uh, excuse me.... 1999?

As it turned out, the contracts forms and procedures had changed. Now, part of the blame for not noticing the change is mine. When you've clicked the same link for years, though, you sort of expect to keep getting the same document unless someone tells you otherwise. You don't expect that they will change the fine print because that's not the part you look at every time you fill out the form. You're thinking about the vendor name, product, dollar amount, etc. Not re-reading the fine print each time. But no, the fine print had changed and things had been taken out. Things I had to add back in by printing additional forms. From the 1999 docs list.

Nice.

Well, at least I'm not crazy. And when I talked to the Contracts Guy for our area (who had made the same mistake I had and also gotten Angry Mommy mad at him), I suggested that maybe, just perhaps, he could maintain a list of current required addenda and email us whenever there's a change to documents and procedures. Just a thought!

Then when I got home I found that the cat had had diarrhea in the closet. Good job, Pix. So I cleaned that up and since he's been having intermittent problems of this nature for awhile now, it was off to the vet with him. $165 later they had no diagnosis and no recommendations. Don't you hate it when you spend money to find out nothing is wrong? It's such a dilemma-- I'm glad everything seems okay, but for $165 I at least want a few Latin-based medical terms to get thrown around, you know? Maybe some frowns and pondering? Or is that extra?

I got home late, hungry (hadn't eaten since 11:30) and in need of my athsma meds. And now that I've eaten and can breathe again, it's late enough that I'm not sure I'll digest my dinner in time to get a workout in.

That'll teach me to be too grumpy to work out yesterday. I should've gone for a run.

But my attitude was better today, so that's something. We're making progress!

Today's Workout
Cat Wrestling-- Small Pet Carrier Division

Just Another Tricky Day

Okay, I'll start by 'fessing up. I probably jinxed myself by expecting today to suck. And you know what? It did.

It was cold and windy out.

I was grumpy.

I'm totally stressing over the next two weeks, which include at least two three-hour meetings with the auditors and three mandatory office holiday parties, in addition to my usual round of meetings and appointments. I must bring food to one party, a gift to another and the third runs late and is hosted by one of the highest mucky-mucks at the university so I can't skip out early. You know, I like holiday parties and sharing as much as the next person, but once celebration becomes required, the magic is gone. It's just G O N E.

My day was broken into hard-to-manage time chunks by three meetings.

All the meetings required driving.

One only lasted fifteen minutes, after I went to the trouble to drive there, park and walk in the cold wind to the building where the meeting was being held. Fifteen minutes! And then another walk in the cold back to the car, etc.

The last meeting went past 5 pm. I work 7 am to 4 pm and was already unhappy that someone had scheduled me as a required attendee, even though that time block was marked "Out of Office" in Outlook. Now, I ask you, why bother putting my schedule in Outlook for all to see if people are going to schedule me anyway during times marked "unavailable?"

None of the three meetings I attended were in any way remotely useful, helpful or even interesting. They just used up time that I would've rather spent preparing for the audit.

My boss did and said some things that really pissed me off.

Driving home, I found I had a taillight out and my brake lights weren't working, although luckily we had a spare bulb and a spare fuse and Dan and I got everything working again after we got home. But that meant we spent an hour out in the carport, in the cold with flashlights frickin' around with stuff. Okay, at least we got it fixed, but I was soooooo hungry and cold!

I couldn't log onto anyone's blogspot blogs this evening.

The salad I had for dinner was wilty.

My cat is looking at me funny.

Yes, I'm grumpy.

And my attitude today was probably no help.

I'm going to do better tomorrow. I promise.

Today's Workout
Nothing. Too grumpy.

'Tis the Season

I have done my first bit of holiday decorating!

On Thursday I got home late and found a UPS note on my door. I couldn't think what it might be, since I hadn't ordered anything recently. Hm. So I picked it up on Friday and it turned out to be a big square white box from a place called Winterworks. It was addressed to both me and Dan. My parents haven't discovered online shopping, have they? I got it inside and opened it up, with the assistance of a curious white rabbit who wanted to know more about that nice pine smell emanating from the box.

It was a wreath!

A nice big one, too!

I looked at the card inside and it was from my aunt and uncle in Connecticut. Hooray!

Isn't it great to get an unexpected gift?

I wanted to put it on my door, but didn't feel like looking for nails, so I took a picture off the wall in the hallway and put it there instead. I fluffed out the branches and voila! Instant Christmas!

I guess this means it's time to break out Tidbit's decorations for her cage. She likes to get into the holiday spirit, too. It's also getting about time to order her Christmas basket from Busy Bunny.

It's hard to feel like it's December when you can wear shorts outside, but we have a cool front moving through and that should help make it feel more like the holiday season. Also, the round of Christmas parties is beginning at work. The IT Managers' party includes a White Elephant gift exchange. Call me Scrooge, but I find those really annoying when they're not optional.

So it looks like between meetings, auditors and mandatory Christmas parties (gotta show my face and be a team player) I won't be getting much done this month. I know that's the sort of thing I'm supposed to be happy about, but I'm not.

Maybe one of those Christmas ghosts needs to come pay me a visit, hm?

Today's Workout
Sunday: 90 min bike, Spinervals 14.0 Totally Time Trial

Weekend

This weekend snuck up on me for some reason. Usually I'm looking for Friday by about Wednesday and this time it was here before I knew it.

I hope this happens more often!

It wasn't a particularly busy week, although I had my usual run of silly meetings, irritating phone calls and budget matters to ponder. I also got to prepare a contract. Ho-hum.

In physical therapy we're starting to work on my core. Yuck. They gave me a new exercise which, when done correctly, is pretty tiring if you do all the reps they ask for. And then they put you on a machine where you have to add balance to the drill and do it all over again. Yes, I'm hurting!

But they also did adjustments and a little massage work on me, which I promptly ruined by going for a run around the bayou. Smart, aren't I?

I did about fifteen miles this morning, a step back off my 18 miler last weekend. I thought this would be an easier run, but it wasn't. It wasn't my massage week and I've been slacking on my nightly stretching routine, so I guess I got what I deserved. I'll have to try to fit an appointment with Mary into my schedule this week because I'd like to do something between 18 and 20 next weekend.

I got an email from the Houston Marathon saying they're 75% full. I guess it's time to sign up!

Recent Workouts
Tuesday: 45 minute bike, Spinervals 3.0 Suffer-O-Rama
Wednesday: 5.5 mile run
Thursday: 45 minute elliptical, lots of core
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: 15 mile run

Holiday weekends are exhausting! 

Sunday Run

Today's plan called for an eighteen mile run. It wasn't what I really felt like doing, but you don't get train for a marathon with a bunch of twelve-milers, right? So I started out with a bayou loop, feeling pretty good. Then I did an out and back to the River Oaks Country Club and got attacked by a butterfly as I passed the house with all the organic flowers and grasses out front. I must look pretty dangerous if I'm scaring the butterflies! Then I headed up Memorial Drive to Memorial Park, starting to feel a little crampy through my hamstrings. But I managed okay, did my loop, returned to the bayou park and did a reverse loop back home. The last few miles were not pleasant, but I held out okay. The weather was warm, partly sunny and breezy, and other than a few mud puddles from Saturday's downpours, the trails were clear. Best of all though, my hip didn't hurt!

That's right-- the hip that has caused me problems since August did not hurt!

I think we've made some biomechanical progress here!

Plenty of other things hurt, but only the things one would expect on an eighteen mile run. Honestly, I had been scared to take on this distance and half-expected that I would have to cut things short around fifteen. But this was a very solid run and I think I can go ahead and pay my marathon registration with confidence. I had been putting it off just in case I didn't make much progress with the physical therapy. But things are obviously moving along well. Thank goodness I've always responded well to medical treatment!

Let's see, how was the rest of my holiday weekend?

I managed to do two Thanksgiving dinners without overeating or disowning any family members.

Friday evening Dan and I went to see the Johnny Cash movie Walk the Line with some cycling buddies of ours. We went for a late dinner after and I played it safe with a salad.

Saturday it rained like heck and I did an hour on the bike followed by some core and upper body work.

Today was my eighteen-miler, followed by Indian buffet.

It's been a very nice holiday weekend: food, friends, family, exercise, naps, and I got a lot of writing done, too. I had meant to update my blog roll since I have so many new cyber tri-buddies, but I have a feeling I'm not going to get to it tonight, since I still have to iron, do a few things in the kitchen and write a page on my novel.

Well, considering how slow I'm moving tonight, Monday might have to be a rest day, so there's always tomorrow!

Recent Workouts
Saturday: 1 hour bike - Carmichael Training Systems video "Climbing"
Sunday: 18 mile run, 3 mile walk

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Thanksgiving Run

I was woken up by the cat about fifteen minutes before my alarm was due to go off. Because it's a holiday and I'm supposed to be happy today, I decided to let him live.

I got in about 45 minutes of elliptical work in the gym before someone came in and decided to blast a TV at full volume. I guess it's because I haven't watched more than the occasional cable show for years that I can't stand network programming. It moves too fast, it's too loud and it makes me anxious. My world usually moves at a more thoughtful pace.

So I finished up my elliptical workout, trying to tune out the hyper-kinetic television, and then changed into running clothes. I headed out on the bayou loop, enjoying the sunny skies and warm weather. Songs from the previous night's show were running through my head, so I had a gospel accompaniment to my run. Not bad. Very peppy and motivating.

When I got to Sabine street, on a whim I decided to go downtown and check out the Thanksgiving Day parade. What fun! I marched in the parade four years in a row in high school band and had seen bits and pieces of the parade on TV sometimes but had never actually gone to see it in person. Is that lame, or what?

As it turned out, it was pretty hard to see much of anything beyond the bigger floats and balloons because of all the crowds. But I was able to move around and find spots where I could peer between people and see clowns, people on velocipedes, dancers, cheerleaders, etc. I especially enjoyed the bands, which brought back a lot of memories.

What wouldn't I and my high school friends have paid for a warm Thanksgiving parade? It seemed it was always cold, the wind whipping between the tall downtown buildings as if we were in a wind tunnel. Although I wasn't in the same boat with the woodwind players, trying to move stiff fingers across tiny keys, it still wasn't easy for me to perform with cold hands. I have a picture of me carrying the triple toms in the 1984 parade - my senior year. The picture sits on a bookshelf not three feet from my computer, and it's one of the few pictures of me I bother to display. (If I want to look at myself, that's what mirrors are for.) Anyone looking closely at the picture would see that I was holding my sticks in a strange way-- hands choked up higher than they should've been. That was because I was so cold I couldn't feel my fingers and I was scared of dropping a stick on the parade route. Drumsticks bounce on the drum heads and the key to fast sticking is learning to control the bounce. Numb hands are no help and those toms are so big and bulky that if you lose control of the bounce and drop a stick, it's gone. There's no way you can pick it up.

Anyway. So I watched the bands and made lots of mental notes. Baton twirlers seem to be back in style. Flag twirlers seem a little less popular than they used to be. I saw no rifle twirlers at all. The one drill team I saw wasn't very good. People in the crowd cheered when they stopped and did a brief high kick routine, but I wasn't impressed. My high school had one of the best drill teams in the state, one that a Rockette wouldn't have been embarrassed to have on her resume. We percussionists mocked them, but it was all cooler-than-thou bravado. We really did respect what they did and most of the time we even played the right cadences for them. With seven years of dance lessons under my belt, I probably respected the drill team most of all, although I was probably also a harsher critic because I knew enough to be able to notice the little things. They nearly always got those little things right though, much to their credit. If our band had been as disciplined as our drill team, we would've been state champions.

Wow. See what kind of memories can get dredged up when you take a little half mile detour from your running route?

I had gotten downtown late, near the end of the parade, so Santa's sleigh appeared just about the time I was starting to think it was best to get back out on the trails. So I headed back to the bayou park and finished my run, thinking of marching bands, turkey dinners to come, and still hearing gospel songs in my head.

Oh, happy day! Oh happy, happy day!

Happy day, indeed.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Today's Workouts
1 hour elliptical
6.5 mile run

Gospel Christmas Thanksgiving

Tonight we went to the Ensemble Theater with one of Dan's friends from work. Joyce is a well-connected local actress and runs the box office at one of the university theaters, so when she said she could get us tickets to the preview of the Ensemble's annual Christmas show, we were pretty excited. Years ago when Dan was a theater major, the Ensemble was one of the places he worked lights, and for awhile it was one of his steadiest gigs. I really miss all the comp tickets we used to get!

So we went to check out the Ensemble's Christmas offering, "A Pure Gospel Christmas: Coming Home."

It sounded very promising to me because I like gospel music. And in this respect I sometimes wonder if the African American churches don't have a better grasp on Christianity than most other churches. After all, if you really believe all that good stuff about having your sins forgiven and getting to have everlasting life in a dandy place like Heaven, why wouldn't you want to clap, dance and sing about it?

Makes sense to me.

But I digress.

Even though it was a full house, it was obvious that this was just a preview and they were still ironing out the wrinkles in the program. Microphones weren't always set right, making some singers hard to hear. A few light cues were missed. The only child performer was nervous and it affected his first solo, although he relaxed as the evening wore on and I think with a couple more shows under his belt he'll do fine.

I thought the script was pretty heavy-handed at times in its church and family messages. Of course those are the messages I had expected to hear, but there were a few times when they brought in the backhoe for a job that could've been better done with a trowel, if you know what I mean.

On the positive side, there was a lot of talent up on stage and the sets and costuming were very nicely done. The music was great and had the audience swaying in their seats and clapping most of the evening. Some audience members were really getting into it toward the end, standing up, shouting "Praise God!" and "Let your light shine, brother!" in the way they do at the Black churches. And finally we were all standing, clapping, stomping our feet. It was so much fun.

After the show, Dan and I took Joyce to a late dinner at one of the downtown Vietnamese restaurants. It had been a long time since I'd had Vietnamese food and I had missed it. Joyce told us about a recent audition she did for the part of a nurse in the upcoming Andy Warhol movie, Factory Girl. If she gets the part, I'll mention it and if you see the movie you can keep an eye out for our kind theater ticket benefactress.

Recent Workouts
Monday: rest day - deep tissue work
Tuesday: 1 hour elliptical
Wednesday: does clapping and dancing count?

Product Review: Spinervals 13.0 Tough Love

This is the big one-- Coach Troy's three hour monster of a workout. I've wanted to try it ever since I heard it was in production and I finally got my chance today.

This workout was not without its false starts. I had a dickens of a time getting my DVD adaptor to work, and then I had some problems with my mp3 playlist on the computer. But finally all systems were go!

This video is quite a departure from the early Spinervals, which mainly consisted of short hard interval sets. Tough Love is all tempo work with no sets shorter than six minutes and two long sets of 30 and 20 minutes of non-stop pedaling, although the constant gear-changing helps a little with the OMG factor. On these longer sets, I chose to count songs rather than count minutes, and it turned out to be a pretty good strategy for me. Looking at the clock just makes things worse, sometimes.

Because I'm supposed to be in my cycling off-season and my legs weren't feeling too good today, I made no attempt to hit the cadences Troy asked for. Not that I usually can, but I typically push harder than I did. Even so, it was a tough workout. Like all Spinervals, of course, it's as tough as you want it to be, but even when you're not trying to push the pace, it's a killer by the time you get into the last 45 minutes. So near and yet so far! Troy says this video was designed to be part of an Ironman training plan and I can definitely see how if you try to hit the high cadences he demands and then go for a run afterwards, you'll be ready for an Ironman course. Okay, maybe not Lanzarote or Lake Placid (killer hills), but Florida or Wisconsin, no problem.

So if your Farmer's Almanac is predicting a lot of rainy days this spring or summer, go order you a copy of Tough Love! And for the love of God, don't plan on doing this video with the music. Play your own.

Today's Workouts
3 hour bike - Spinervals 13.0 Tough Love
3 mile walk

Weekend Run

Another rather unpleasant run.

This one stared well-- thirty minutes on the elliptical machine, zipping along at a comfortably aerobic 195 cadence. I felt so good I thought this boded well for my scheduled run.

But once I was on the trails, the normal pounding of running got to me in a way it doesn't usually. I ran on the grass as much as I could, which helped a little. The first bayou loop ended up okay, then I did a little out and back to the River Oaks Country Club. I think it was this all-concrete stretch of my run that put my legs in a grumpy mood because my second bayou loop was no fun at all, even on the grass.

Well, that's just how it goes sometimes. It's also a good reminder not to skimp on my massages. This week was my regular massage week but I've been unable to keep a standing appointment with Mary because of all the weirdness at work this fall. This was the first week it was a problem and I couldn't get in. I thought it wasn't that big a deal because my legs felt pretty good, but obviously my legs had a different idea about the matter after about mile 7.

I'll make sure to see Mary this week, no matter what.

In other news, due to some bureaucratic reshuffling at the office it looks like my workload might lighten up a bit, which would make it feasible to do lunchtime workouts and have a standing appointment with Mary every other week, like I used to. This week won't be much of a test because after Monday most of the big guns will be out for the Thanksgiving holiday and I'll end up with a light schedule by default. When the documents approval process has been shut down for every level above middle management (me) things get pretty quiet at the office. You can almost hear the crickets chirping.

A good time for a massage.

I better schedule that appointment with Mary! And maybe one with my hairdresser. I haven't been able to get in to see him either and I sure do need someone to do something with this mess.

Recent Workouts
Monday: 6 mile run
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 1:15 bike (Spinervals 14.0)
Thursday: 1 hour elliptical
Friday: rest
Saturday: 30 minute elliptical, 13 mile run

Look! It's a book about me! 

I'm a published writer now! 

Author! Author! 

What a great story!