Training Day 33: Back in the Saddle Again

Date: 30 July 2008 / Distance: 4.00 mi / Time: Didn't time it

Well, the Mexican vacation was a complete disaster, to say the least.  Ssssaffron and I did have an opportunity to run about 2 - 2.5 miles in Playa del Carmen though.  Unfortunately, the joy of the trip plummeted off a cliff after that run.  We spent most of our vacation on an antibiotic/intravenous drip in a Mexican medical clinic.  There was no more running after that!  Naturally, the doctor advised us to ease back into a fitness regimen.  I was planning on skipping the entire week, however, I was getting REALLY bored in the house and I didn't feel like driving to the mall (I know, I was shocked too).  I ran for the first time in a little more than a week this morning.  I did a very easy, slow four mile jog.  I ran so slowly, I barely broke a sweat and  a lot of other runners were passing me.  My head felt a little heavy, but I didn't feel like I was going to faint.  For the next week or two, I'm planning on slowing my pace way down until my head is fully healed.  Hope everyone else is doing well!

Watch out for that CAT.......

So I have been on top of the training schedule and was ready to do my 4 mile run on Saturday. Friday night we were biking home from dinner in Ocean Beach and a cat ran out in front of me. I swerved to miss it and it went the same way I did so I swerved again and still it was in my way. I started to hit the cat and couldn't bear to plow into him so I crashed my bike over to stop from going forward. I tore up whole right side, and fractured my foot. I can barely walk on it. Not only am I upset I hit the cat but my training is totally thrown off now. I have been icing my foot but I think my recovery is going to take a while. So frustrating! Hope you guys had a great time in Mexico, can't wait to hear about it and see pictures.

Training Day 19: 4 Miles with Joel

Date: 17 July 2008 / Distance: 4.00 mi / Time: 35:04

I ran with Joel in the evening yesterday. Wow, it's one hundred times more comfortable running in the evening. I still sweat a lot, but I don't feel quite so miserable. ha ha! The running route was full of car traffic because the "Taste of Birdrock" event was kicking off. No one gave us any trouble though. Joel told me he ran into a few tween-aged hooligans on the PB boardwalk the other night. They attempted to scare him. Luckily, he ran by un-fazed because he spotted and prepared for the trouble about a mile away. HAHAHAHAA!
Well, ssssaffron and I are in for a long airplane ride down to Mexico tonight. We're both taking red eye flights. I'm not sure what we were thinking.

Day 21

I missed my workout yesterday--I spent all morning taking a glucose tolerance test and felt like absolute crap afterwards. I was still planning to go to the gym after I ate some lunch but ended up taking a nap instead. So today I tried to make up for it:

Cross-train: 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer
Run: 4 miles @ ~40:00
Cooldown: 1/4-mile walk
Strength circuit

I'm pretty beat, and not looking forward to the looooooooooong flight ahead of me tonight. I'm going to do some serious stretching before I leave so I don't get all stiff on the plane!

Running Girl and I will do our best to keep on runnin' in the Mexican heat. Wish us luck!

Progresss.... finally!

I was able to run today with out any knee pain. I don't want to jump the gun and say I am heeled but I was able to run 2 miles and feel ok. I hope I can ramp up now without anymore discomfort. I have been using alot of ben gay, I smell like an old person but it helps my knee feel better! People will just have to deal with the scent!!
I hope you guys have a great time in Mexico!!!

Day 19

Quick & easy workout today:

Warm-up: 15 minutes on the elliptical
Run: 4 miles @ ~40:00
Cooldown: 1/4-mile walk

Standard Wednesday. I'm pretty much set on sticking with the 10-minute mile for the remainder of the training schedule. Slower than I'd hoped for, but with the way I've been feeling it seems like it's for the best. I'd rather run the marathon slowly than not run it at all!

Training Day 18: Sweat and Tourists

Date: 16 July 2008 / Distance: 4.00 mi / Time: 34:28

I ran around 11 am this morning. The sun was out in full force...so were the tourists. I ran outside along the boardwalk and weaved through walkers, bikers, and skateboarders. Normally, I enjoy people watching during my runs, but it was hard to concentrate because I was feeling so sweaty and steamy. Gross! Hope everyone else is having a good week!

Training Day 17: 3 Miles of Soaps

Date: 13 July 2008 / Distance: 2.00 mi / Time: 17:17

Date: 15 July 2008 / Distance: 3.00 mi / Time: 24:21

Today, I ran on the treadmill and watched 3 different soap operas (for 5 minutes each).  I couldn't find any funny shows on at 1 pm.  Ugh - I have no idea how I watched soap operas religiously when I was younger.  The story lines are ridiculous!  The characters don't even wear cool clothes.  hee hee!  Anyway, I finished my run and did a quick core strength workout.  This Friday, ssssaffron and I are heading to Playa del Carmen for a one week vacation.  We're going to stick to our running schedule while on vacation.  Humph.  Well, it'll be nice to check out a new running route.  Maybe we'll take a few pics!

Day 17

My bellyache was a little less obnoxious today, but I was still feeling apprehensive about running. Still, I hit the gym just to do what I could. I warmed up for 15 minutes on the elliptical and then hopped on the treadmill--and to my surprise and delight, felt great and was able to run the whole 3 miles very comfortably. Phew! Then I did my strength training and rode home. I still feel kinda off but it feels great to have completed my workout. Hurray!

TD 15-16

I haven't been feeling very well for the last few days and my training has suffered a bit. I went to the gym for a 2-mile run on Saturday and could not even complete that--I walked .75, ran .75, walked .25, ran another .75, and then walked .50. That was seriously ALL my body could handle. Sunday I did about 45 minutes of yoga and then laid on the couch like a slug for about 8 hours. Blah. I hope this week isn't more of the same!

Training Day 13: 921OB Sighting on TV!

Date: 11 July 2008 / Cross-train on the Elliptical / Time: 30 min

I haven't learned how to surf yet so I'm still having to do my cross-training on the elliptical trainer.  To make the time a little more bearable, I made sure to schedule my exercise when the Ellen Show was on.  So, I'm annoyed about sweating profusely and watching Ellen when.....I see 921OB ON TV!!  I saw 921OB sitting and dancing in the audience!  I was so surprised to actually see her on tv that my elliptical training time flew by.  She got a lot of face time!  I rushed back home to keep watching the show, but I had to change the channel during the Bindi Irwin animal segment.  She has got to be the most shrill, overzealous child I've ever observed.  Her mannerisms and the way she speaks are "deliberately affected".  I tried to find a word in the dictionary to describe her.  I found the word: "histrionic". 

Anyway, thanks 921OB for making my cross-training more bearable today!

Training Day 11: What's With the Zits?!

Date: 10 July 2008 / Distance: 2 mi / Time: 17:19

I decided to run on the treadmill today, partly because it's a little muggy and very sunny outside and partly because I'm convinced that either my hat or my sunscreen is giving me a bunch of zits. Right now I suspect that the sunscreen is the pimple causing culprit.  I'm so annoyed!  I don't like running outside without my hat so I'm forced indoors.  I'm going to put all of my baseball caps in the washer this week.  The run itself was not as painful as I thought it was going to be.  If anything, I feel less sore.  Hope everyone else is having a great, zit-free week!

Training Day 10: I Can Barely Move!

Date: 8 July 2008 / Distance: 2.10 mi / Time: 17:08

I did squats and lunges for the first time in a couple months. Holy cow, I'm feeling the pain. Walking has proven to be a challenge. It's pathetic because I only did about 20 squats and lunges. HA HA! I'm supposed to do 2 miles and possibly play tennis today. I'm going to take it very slow.
Unlike the hellish heat in Sacramento, San Diego has been pretty pleasant. The local news keeps broadcasting the "Be a Good Neighbor to Our Neighbors in the North" initiative. We're supposed to conserve energy by resetting our thermostats to 78 degrees. That's pretty warm. Right now, I'm sitting in darkness at my computer so I can save the precious energy for my running friend, ssssaffron.

Training Days 11-13

Sacramento is basically the most inhospitable place on Earth this week. 110-degree heat, thick nasty wildfire smoke blanketing the city. Definitely not a runner's paradise. So as usual, I hit the gym:

Day 11: 30-min yoga session
Day 12: 20-minute elliptical workout, 2-mile run, 1/4-mile walk
Day 13 (today): 60-minute cross-train on the elliptical, strength circuit; I haven't actually done this yet, but it's my plan as of now... :)

Tomorrow's an off day that I definitely plan to take advantage of. This weekend we're planning to drive up into the hills to go berry-picking and try to escape the heat a bit, although that may just bring us closer to the smoke--so we'll see! Hope everyone's doing well!

Knee Problems

I have been out for the week. I ran 4 miles and walked one and the next day my tband area of my knee was killing me. I ran again today for the first time in a week, I could only go 1.6 miles. I hope this goes away, it is completely killing my training. Any recomendations on what I can do to get better?

Epic Update

Wow--that was a long vacation. Lots to catch up on--glad to see everyone is keeping up with their training! I did my best to stick to the schedule while in OBX/OC, though the heat and humidity were real killers. Here's (roughly) what I did:

Week 1 (last week of old schedule; basically a repeat/freebie week):

• Saturday, 6/21: after flying into MD late Friday night and hardly getting any sleep, I forced myself to jump on the treadmill at 6am before we left to begin our drive to NC. I was feeling less than energetic; I think I ran about 1.5, walked about .5, and said good enough.
• Sunday: went for a long and surprisingly arduous bike ride down the beach, about 8 miles; walked around the beach a ton.
• Monday: went for a run while my mom rode her bike along with me; I thought I was running to the halfway point in the road, which would have been two miles each way, but instead only hit about 1.6 something (or was it 1.3-something? not sure)--so ended up with about a 3-miler. My face was extremely hot and flushed; the humidity totally killed me, and it was only about 9am. After that, I walked and swam a lot.
• Tuesday: regular beach stuff and a couple of 8-mile bike rides. Ate a big fat waffle cone full of ice cream.
  
• Wednesday: this time I actually made it to the 2-mile mark on the beach road, so I did run 4 full miles, but I had to stop at the halfway point and walk in a circle and chug some water. I was getting seriously overheated and fatigued.
• Thursday: went kayaking with my sis in a semi-strong current; no idea of the distance, maybe 2-3 miles? Stopped at an island populated by thousands of fiddler crabs. Walked around a bunch and swam a bunch, yadda yadda.
• Friday: went for a 12-mile bike ride to explore more of the island. Did some body surfing.

Week Two: First week of new training schedule!

• Day 1: I didn't document anything for this day, and I think that means I skipped my kick-off mile. We spent most of the day driving from NC to Ocean City. Later I went for a walk with the husb and my sister, and my sister and I played some frisbee. Then we rode bikes around for a while.
• Day 2: Went and bought some cheap tennis rackets and played tennis with my sis for a while. Swam in the pool for a bit. Gorged ourselves on all-you-can-eat crabs. Played some putt-putt and then went for Jimmie Cone-style soft serve. Went back to the beach house and watched a show about the girl who was born with 8 limbs.
• Day 3: I forgot to print out my running route for Ocean City, so I decided to just run based on time. I went for an early 20-minute run, then hit the beach with my sis and did some reading and sun-soaking. Later we all went down to the boardwalk and walked along there for a while; we got home just as a humongous thunderstorm came rolling in.
• Day 4: Went kayaking again, with Dave and his dad. Played some tennis and chilled out.
• Day 5: 30-minute run in the morning before we left OC. Drove up to Frederick to visit an old friend of Dave's, and walked around Old Town a bunch. Ate at a delicious practically-vegan stir-fry and noodle place.
  
• Day 6: Nothin'! I totally sat on my butt and watched As the World Turns!
• Day 7: 2.43 miles, ~24:00. It had rained the night before and it actually felt GREAT to be running outside!
• Day 8: Flew home. My arm muscles were feeling like they were starting to atrophy from disuse; I hadn't done any work with weights in over 2 weeks. I lost a few pounds on vacation, but with the amount I ate, I can only attribute this to the loss of muscle mass in my arms.
• Day 9: Nothing.

And today--Day 10! Went to the gym and had a lovely workout. Rode my bike over there in killer (though thankfully NOT humid) 102-degree heat, did a 15-minute warm-up on the elliptical, and ran two easy-peasy miles on the treadmill. I actually felt great and happy to be running--it felt so FUN for once! Walked half a mile to cool down, and then did my strength circuit.

So there you have it! I feel pretty good about how I did. And I actually feel stoked to be back from vacation and into my old routine!

Hope everyone's had a great past two weeks. Cheers!

Training Day 8: I'm Feeling Lonely, So Loooonely!

Date: 7 July 2008 / Distance: 3.04 mi / Time: 25:47

Where is everybody?  I'm lonely on the bloggy.  I finally ran outside and listened to the new music on my iPod.  The new Madonna album is not as "run motivating" as her old album, but it's ok. Joel created a nice 80's mix for me too.  During the final leg of my 3 miler, I was mouthing the words to an oldie but a goodie, 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' by Tears for Fears.  Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend!

Training Day 5: Torrey Pines and 2 Miles

Date: 3 July 2008 / Distance: 2.00 mi / Time: 16:10

Yesterday was an OFF day. I did a 4 mile leisurely walk along the Pacific Beach boardwalk with my dad. Today, I took him to the Torrey Pines State Reserve and hiked about 2.6 miles. I saw a couple lizards on my hike. Even though they are 1 million times smaller than I am, lizards still freak me out. I'm always scared I'm going to squash them with my feet. After returning from the hike, I did my 2 miler on the treadmill. Nothing interesting to report - I watched the NBC Nightly News and pumped my fist when Lester Holt reported that it's going to be an All-American Wimbledon with the Williams sisters playing against each other! Go USA! Ha ha!

Training Day 3: Lions, Tigers and Giraffes, Oh My!

Date: 1 July 2008 / Distance: Walk Around the Wild Animal Park + 2 mi run / Time: 2 hr + 16 min 33 sec

My dad and I braved the dry heat of the Escondido (East San Diego County?) this morning to check out the San Diego Wild Animal Park.  We walked around the park at a very leisurely pace for 2 to 3 hours.  We saw tons of animals, mainly those from the African continent including lions, giraffes, elephants, rhinos and a ba-zillion antelope species.  I saw a big horn sheep do a number 2 on a mountain side.  It was a cascade of little brown pebbles down the mountain side. It was hilarious!!  Anyhoo, my dad and I were planning on doing a 4 mile walk after our day at the park, but my dad was pretty tired and took a nap instead.  I went ahead and did a 2 mile run in addition to a quick strength workout.  I have yet to listen to the new music I've downloaded onto my iPod.  I can't wait to rock out to the new Madonna album!  hoo hoo!

Running by Million Dollar Homes....

I walked a mile up a bunch of hills to increase my endurance. I ran 4 miles after that through Point Loma, the rich side of town. I saw so many beautiful mansions and amazing architecture. I had run almost 2.5 miles before I even realized it because I was so taken away by all these awesome homes. I had never run this way before but I definitely will again because I NEVER not notice that I have run 2.5 miles. I am going to start the official Nike training today like running girl is doing !! Happy Running!!!