Two for Tuesday

...both unrelated to running, we'll see how well this works...

365 Photo Project - I've mentioned a few times about joining a 365 photo group that started on March 1.  The idea is to post one and only one photo taken each day.  At first I tried to find interesting photos to share with others. That didn't work out too well. I've since learned that it's best to stick with what I know:  just take photos of subjects that are interesting to me, and try to learn how to better use my camera in the process.  I'm much happier with the results now that I'm staying true to myself.  Here are a few of my photos from the past few weeks: a pretty sunset, one of my cats napping, and a flower starting to bloom in our back courtyard.

Santa Fe Century - I also mentioned that Husband & I drove up to Santa Fe to check out the 50 miles routes for the Santa Fe Century.  To be clear, we drove the loop and I captured it on my Garmin; we did not ride our bikes.  As far as I can tell, the half-century loop is pretty close to 50 miles.  The marker in the center is the turn point for the out&back, which is also described as a 50 mile route.  On the graph, that one would be from the end, to the marker, then back.  From my measurements, that route looks more like 42 miles.  My conclusion was that the loop is definitely more scenic, the stretch in the center has some rolling hills that are a bit intimidating, and the climb at the end will be a struggle no matter which route we sign up for.  Its also worth noting that the *starting* elevation is ~6000 ft above sea level.  Aye carumba!

Then on Sunday we went for a 38.4 mile bike ride, almost the distance of the out & back, but no climb.  We don't need to sign up quite yet, but right now I'm learning toward the out & back simply because it's shorter and the event is only 4 weeks away.

Finding my way back

Earlier this week I was contemplating quitting two things:  running and blogging.  Running because I suck at it and I can't confidently train for anything because I never know when my knee is going to act up. Blogging because without running, I seem to have nothing to blog about.

I still might quit blogging, but I probably won't be so fast to give up running.  I just need to find my way back to my happy place.  I'm frustrated because it seems that I take two steps forward, then one step back.  I'm not seeing the progress that I want.  But I think if I can measure success in some way other than speed or distance, I may be on to something.  Generally, my goal at a race is to finish with a smile on my face and feeling strong.  I think I need to take the same approach to all my running right now. Keep the pace and distance reigned in so that I can finish strong.  Choose my routes to maximize smile time.  Things like that.

Well, I had my first bit of success with this approach on Saturday morning.  Rather than run the crazy hill route with my friend, we choose someplace where we haven't run for awhile.  It's mostly flat, rather than crazy hills, and partly shady, rather than relentless sun.  We also shortened the route and went 4 miles instead of 6. The result was astounding.  I *almost* enjoyed it.  Plus we managed negative splits (granted we started at a fairly easy pace), which allows us to finish strong.  That, my friends, is how you turn a frown upside down.

Later in the day, we went up to Santa Fe to check out two of the 50 mile route options for the Santa Fe Century (more about that later).  While we were there, we stopped at the Nike outlet.  If I hadn't had such a nice run earlier in the day, I probably wouldn't have even wanted to walk into the store.  But since I did, I decided to do just a little bit of shopping.  I came away with a black featherlight cap which I already love, and blue dri-fit shirt with reflective bits. Score!  Now I have something to wear on my next "fun" run, right?

Hopefully I'll be able to find my way back to my happy place with running.  I wouldn't exactly say that I'm totally there yet, but I think I'm headed in the right direction.

How about you?  Have any of you had to reset expectations and/or totally redo your training plan to find your way back to the love of the sport?  Or maybe a little retail therapy to help find the mojo?  

Excuses and walking buddies

Not sure what was going on exactly, it might have been the weather (seriously, I think I have a barometer knee), but my knee was not happy on Tuesday so I ended up skipping my run.  If nothing else, I have learned to listen to my body.  I also didn't run on Wednesday (same reason) or Thursday.  Thursday's excuse was that my running partner bailed, and I was too lazy to head out on my own.

But I *did* walk a good 3.5 miles on Friday and ran a measly 3.2 on Saturday.   It was supposed to be longer, but my running partner has that insane uphill race today, and I convinced her to save her legs for that.  Again, I could have gone longer, but was too lazy to run on my own after that.  Yes, there seems to be a theme.

Side note/rant:  Wanted to go out on a bike ride yesterday, but the winds were CrAzY. Seems like it's going to be the same problem today. Uggh.  Why is it that the weather can be beautiful during the week and then the weekend comes around and the weather straight up SUCKS!?! 

Anyway, decided to go for another walk today.  This time on the two mile hill route that I like to do with the dogs.  Thought I'd share a couple photos from the walk.  As it turns out, with one hand busy holding the leashes, trying to get a decent photo from a cell phone camera with the other hand is no easy feat.  But I did manage to get a couple of photos worth sharing.

This next one needs some explanation.  Right before we get to the base of the hill, we pass a house with three things that always do the same thing as we walk by. The white dog (far right) barks at us as we walk by.  The brown dog (also right), barks at the white dog.  The puppy (center), uninterested in all this barking,  runs around with some sort of stuffed animal in his mouth.  Here they are doing their thing.  It totally cracks me up!

In the final photo, we're back home, right outside the front door.

So, it wasn't a great training week for me.  But it wasn't a total bust either.  Granted, I may have some motivation issues running solo, but I have some great walking buddies that don't complain about the weather and have *never* once turned down the chance to head out with me.

I wish I could take them out running with me. I've tried on several occasions, but Stymie runs too fast and Bandit doesn't have the stamina to go more than a couple of miles.  So they are my walking buddies instead.

Double Trouble

If you read my previous post, you know that I ran 6 hilly miles Saturday morning as part of the jelly bean virtual race (and it you didn't read it, you missed out on one of my more colorful posts).

Well, decided to follow that up with a bike ride with Husband later in the afternoon. We had a 28 mile route on the agenda.  It was my first double workout in 2012.  Go me!

Felt pretty good on the bike.  Afterwards, however, I was tired and sore. 

On Sunday, decided to go for another short ride.  The goal was a 16 mile route with 2 hills.  I guess that was too much for my body, because I pretty much ran out of steam heading up hill #1.  Ended up calling it at day at 9.5 miles, skipping hill #2.  

I was bummed out about cutting the ride short, but in the end I realized that I still managed to get in over 37 miles by bike for the weekend. Plus a 6 mile hilly run.  Not bad, if I do say so myself.

Today, however, I am REALLY sore.  Good thing it's a rest day!

jelly beans!

This week I completed three events as part of the Jelly Bean Virtual Race, sponsored by Jess.  For each one, I choose a jelly bean color from the virtual race logo.  This resulted in an orange jelly bean 21K bike ride, purple jelly bean 5K run, and green jelly bean 10k trail run.  A mini race report for each one is summarized below.

ORANGE JELLY BEAN 21K BIKE RIDE

Actually, this is just a portion of a longer ride that Husband & I did last Sunday.  I actually went 19.5 miles (was supposed to be 20 miles, but apparently I turned a little early).

We were riding into the wind on the way out.  Uggh.  But we had a tail wind on the way back.  Ahhhh.

My bike computer says that the average speed was 15.1 mph. That works out to 52:03 for the 13.1 mile jelly bean portion of the ride.

PURPLE JELLY BEAN 5K 

Ran this on Wednesday with my running partner on a mostly flat dirt trail.  We were originally going to run on Tuesday, but her son had a baseball game.  That was fine with me because it actually snowed on Tuesday and was cold.  What's funny is that weather was absolutely beautiful the next day.  Mother Nature doesn't seem to be able to make up her mind!

I wish I could say that I ran this fast, but fast doesn't seem to be in my vocabulary at the moment.  Our average speed was 10:36 for the four miles that we ran. This works out to 32:51 for the 3.1 mile jelly bean portion of the run.

GREEN JELLY BEAN TRAIL 10K

I added the word trail in the title because this one wasn't flat.  We ran a hilly, sandy loop twice to get the full 10K distance in today (see my recent post "Running" Hills if you want to know what kind of hills I'm talking about).

I did pretty good on the first loop and didn't need to stop at all.  But on the second loop, the hills got to me and I had to take a few walk breaks.

I'm actually quite happy with the end result, 1:07:54 for 6.2 miles.  Not bad at all given the terrain!

A big THANK YOU to Jess for hosting the virtual event!!

My latest dilemma

I *still* don't have any events on my calendar other than the Live.Love.Tri in August.  I'm hesitant to sign up for the Run for the Zoo until I know for certain that we will be in town that weekend (good chance we will not).  I was hoping to sign up for the half or metric century at the Albuquerque Century but it seems we might be out of town that weekend as well (go figure).  But I did find something that has my attention: the Santa Fe Century in late May.

Mind you, I have no intention of doing the full century.  However there are two routes that I am interested in, a 50 mile out and back and a half century loop.  Both have roughly the same amount of climb (1500ft).  I am unfamiliar with the routes so not sure which would be more interesting for us to ride.  Husband & I are thinking of driving up there to check it out to help make a decision.  This one is definitely on my radar.

Side note, there is something about this event that I find interesting. They charge for an entry fee.  You can pay extra for a t-shirt if you want it (I don't).  You can pay extra for a jersey if you want it (maybe).  I like the fact that the t-shirt cost isn't automatically included; I wish more events were like that.

In other news, I've been counting some of my recent training as part of the Jelly Bean virtual race events sponsored by Jess.  I'll be writing up a virtual race report for the bike ride (21K), 5K run, and 10K run this weekend.  All I can say right now is that it's a good thing prizes aren't based on time or I'd have no hope of winning anything.  ;-p

Week, Month, & Book in Review

Week in Review:

• This week I completed one bike ride, three runs, and two walks.  Not too shabby.
• For the run on Saturday, we did the same crazy hill route that we've run several times before.  This time, however, I took 2.5 minutes off my time from the previous week. Woot! This was not accomplished the easy way (picking up the pace a little bit over the whole run).  Instead, I got mad at the freaking hill and took it out on the last mile, picking up the pace from conversational pace to run-til-you-almost-pass-out pace.  All in all, it was a good workout.

Month in Review:

• 16.5 miles by bike - Way under what I hoped for.  The weather was horrible on the weekends this month which seemed very unfair given that the weather was pretty nice most of the time during the week, so I only got out on my bike once!  April started off with a nice ride, hopefully will see better weekend weather and therefore better cycling numbers this next month.
• 19.2 miles walking - Not bad, but a little short of  what I hoped for. 
• 49.8 miles running - Lots of progress here.  Started off gingerly running 2.5 miles at a time to test my knee and ended the month with some crazy hill runs (still not too long in distance) without knee pain.  
• 0 swimming - I decided that I didn't want to swim and so I didn't.  That's all I have to say about that.
• 31 photos - I started a 365 photo project on March 1 and got through the entire month with one photo uploaded to Flickr per day as planned.  334 days to go!

Book in Review*:

• Had the opportunity to read a free kindle version of "The Ultimate Beginner's Running Guide: The Key to Running Inspired" by Robert Ryan, which is available for purchase through Amazon.com. Overall, I feel that it is a good "how-to" book for beginning runners.  It has information that anyone new to running ought to be considering such as how to avoid injury, how to pace yourself, how to properly stay hydrated, etc.  There are even some training schedules to get you started.  
• There are a few things that I wish the book included, such as some photos or diagrams and a bit more peppered throughout about staying inspired, however, I still think this would be a helpful resource to anyone new to running.   

*I was given a free version of the book to review, but the opinions expressed are my own.

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

6 min video from Daughter's Haiti Trip.  Please turn on the sounds and listen to the music while you watch it and leave a comment afterwards.   P.S. That's her at the very end.

What are you training for?

I get asked this question a lot.  In years past, I've almost always had an answer.  But right now I don't.  It's kind of weird not knowing what I'm training for.

I have a few ideas of what I'm NOT training for.

• I'm not training for a half-marathon.  Even though that is my favorite running distance, my knee seems to do okay up to about 7 miles, then it gets cranky.  I'll stick with 10Ks or shorter. 
• I'm not training for Worlds Toughest 10K.  My last few hill training runs have confirmed that for me.
• I'm apparently not training for a triathlon as I haven't been swimming in months (oddly, the only race I've actually signed up for so far this year happens to be a sprint).
• I'm not training for a relay race.  Several folks from my running group are doing one up in Colorado. I've opted to pass on that.

There are also a few events over the next several months that I'm thinking about, but I haven't committed by registering for any of them.

• Coyote Caldera Sprint Tri (late April)
• Run for the Zoo 5K or 10K (early May)
• Albuquerque Century Tour de Cure half or metric century (early June) 

What about you?  Is your training aimed at specific events or are you in limbo like me?

Winter Excess

Over the winter, I was busy packing on some pounds.  You know, just in case we got snowed in or something and I needed to live off my own body weight for some extended period of time.

Now that I'm running again, it's time to shed the excess. Because let's be honest, nobody wants to carry around an extra 10lbs while running.  Especially when running hills.  It's simply too much work.

Boy howdy, it's so much easier to put it on than take it of!.  But I think I'm finally making some progress.  Over the winter I was routinely seeing numbers in the 130-135 range when I stepped on the scale. Lately, I've been consistently seeing numbers in the 125-130 range.  I'll be at my desired race weight when I find myself settling in the 125-130 range.

How about you?   Are you also trying to shed the winter excess?  

"Running" Hills

Since my friend is still trying to talk me into doing World's Toughest 10K with her, we decided to "run" some hills on Saturday.  I use the term "run" loosely as there was quite a bit of walking involved on my part on some of the long uphills.  This is the elevation profile for the route we choose:

The whole thing was somewhat challenging, but the section from mile 4 to mile 5 was super intense.  Since we essentially did an out and back, I should have seen it coming based on the downhill from mile 1 to mile 2, but I didn't realize just how much the elevation changed until it was time to head back up.

Given that Worlds Toughest is pretty much like mile 4-5 throughout the entire route,  this was probably a  good route for some training.  However, it certainly left me with a lot of doubts about my ability to do that other course.

We'll probably go back to this same spot next weekend.  I hope it gets easier.  If not, I might become her cheerleader on race day rather than a participant myself.

Happy Monday!

You want me to do WHAT?!?

Last year I talked my running partner into doing the Live.Love.Tri with me.  At first she didn't want to do it because she wasn't really a swimmer, didn't have a road bike, etc.  But eventually she warmed up to the idea and did it.  We had a blast.

This year she's trying to talk *me* into something.  It's a race entitled "World's Toughest 10K."  Can't say for sure if it really is the world's toughest, but it promises to be tough; it starts at an elevation of 5100ft and ends at an elevation of 6500ft for a total elevation gain of 1400 ft elevation over 6.2 miles.  *gulp* The whole thing is uphill (with a shuttle taking you back down....or to the hospital...after you finish).

Oh, and did I mention that is is ONE MONTH FROM TODAY?!?!?  Aye Carumba!

We're meeting in about an hour to go run some hills.  There's a method to my madness.  I'm hoping that after we do that, one of two things will happen:

A) She'll remember that she doesn't like hills and get this crazy idea out of her head

-or -

B) I'll remember that I *do* like hills & it won't seem like such a crazy idea after all

Stay tuned!  This may become *very* interesting...

[Update post hill run:  The run we did this evening was 250ft elevation gain.  It about killed me.  Also, I learned that there is no convincing her not to do it; She already signed up!  It's just a matter of whether or not I join her which is still up in the air.]

Daylight Savings Time

I'll admit that it felt a little bit like a train hit me Monday morning when the alarm went off to wake me for work.  At that particular moment, I wasn't a fan of Daylight Savings time.  I was, however, a bit fan of the snooze button.

Fast forward to this afternoon.  It was beautiful outside.  High of about 72 degrees, sunny, no wind.  Suddenly Daylight Savings time was my friend.  Thanks to the extra hour of daylight, I was able to run after work for the first time since October, and it was glorious!

So I guess I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Daylight Savings time.  How about you?

While I was travelling this week

...I realized that my drivers license was about to expire.  It was a good catch, actually.  I probably wouldn't have noticed until being denied something due to it being long past renewal date.

...I ran three times on that trail that I posted about.  I don't normally run three times during the workweek (and then again on the weekend), but last week I did.  MAybe it was the extra oxygen.

...My daughter left for Haiti.  I was super bummed to be gone the entire week leading up to her departure, but seems everything went okay.  I pray she has a wonderful experience and that the whole group can really make a positive impact for some of the people of that impoverished country.  

...I struggled to get good shots for the 365 project that I'm working on.  Have I mentioned about this?  I'm part of a group that is taking and posting a photo a day for a year, something that I've learned is not so easy while away with a tight schedule while on work travel.  Kind of like running, some days are better than others. Oh, and now I'm lusting for a new camera.

  

...My husband spent a lot of time on his bike(s).  Came home to find his road bike on the trainer in our bedroom, which is a good thing.  What is interesting is that while he was having some problem with his front tire, he decided that it would be easier to temporarily replace the entire wheel with the one on my Giant rather than figure out why the tire was flatting.  Clever solution.

...I had a hard time trying to catch up on blogs.  The internet connection at the hotel was slow and poor and the work days were long.  I'll try to catch up this week.  I mean it.

...My wonderful husband decided to greet me at the airport with a bouquet of beautiful & colorful flowers.  It's great to be back home.  :-) 

  

Running while on Work Travel

I'm happy to report that my running clothes are doing more than just taking up space in my luggage.  So far, I have managed to get out both on Monday and Tuesday in the early morning  before work for some running.  

This trail ends up going down by a lake.



On Monday, I went exploring in a few different directions.  Found a paved multi-use trail, a dirt trail, and a hill that would be suitable for repeats.  It was sort of a an ADD run, because I did a little bit of each. 



Tuesday morning, I met a colleague and we decided to take the trail.  It ended up going down by a lake, which was very pretty with the lights reflecting off of it in the early morning hours.  The dirt path eventually ends and merges back with the multi-use trail.

This morning we were actually going to meet again, but she's getting a sore throat and wanted to postpone for a day.  I thought briefly about going out on my own this morning, but decided to take a rest day instead; don't want to overdo it with my knee.

It's worth mentioning that I notice a huge difference in level of effort required while running at a lower altitude (remember, I live about a mile above sea level).  I didn't bring my garmin, so I'm not sure if the extra oxygen is materializing to faster running, but definitely makes it easier; I feel like superwoman, running up those hills without gasping for breath!  One of these days I really need to run a race down at lower altitude and see what I'm truly capable of pulling off.

One last note:  The internet in the hotel is slow and the work days have been long, so I'm having trouble catching up with your blogs this week.  Sorry about that!

Getting my Run on

Yesterday morning, the group was meeting across town.  Most of them are running much farther than I am at this point.  My running partner & I decided to just meet at the regular location and do our run separately from the rest of the group.  This also allowed us to run mostly on dirt.

Decided to go five miles.  Other than the fact that it was cold and a bit more breezy that either of us like, it was a good run in comparison to the run on Wednesday.  On Wednesday my knee decided to be a bit cranky for the last half mile or so.  But yesterday my knee was fine the whole way though.  I think the difference may very well be related to running surface.  Dirt is definitely my friend.

I'm traveling on business for the week.  Hoping to get a few days of running in during the week.  It looks like we're going to be putting in some long days and the only time to run will be in the early morning.  It was a pain trying to cram everything into my carry-on bag; if I don't end up using my running stuff, I will be frustrated!  Who knows, maybe that's just the motivation I need to make it happen...

Feb Totals

Numbers

• 28.4 miles by seat (2 bike rides)
• 43.7 miles by feet (31.7 run, 12.0 walk)
• 800 yards swimming
• 3 hill workouts
• 5 nights in Grand Cayman

Thoughts

• It is *so* wonderful to be running again.  And to be doing a little bit of cycling.  And to have gone on vacation with husband.  Definitely a good month.

Plans

• Keep running! 
• Get some races/events onto the schedule. 

Catching up

Husband & I spent last week in Grand Cayman.  I posted just a few photos here; if you are interested in more, find me on FB.  I would like to say that this is only the third trip we've been on alone since having kids.  This probably goes without saying, but vacationing alone together is fabulous!  It was also the first time that both of them are truly able to fend for themselves since they are now both young adults.  We left Daughter in charge of things at home, and she did a great job.  I definitely foresee more of these types of alone trips in the future.

While we vacationing, we got a decent amount of walking done, I gave myself credit for 7 miles over 6 days, and I'm fairly sure that's an underestimate.  I also gave myself credit for about 800 yds swimming, although that was all with fins on while snorkeling.  As for running, well, what can I say?  Once again, my running clothes proved to do nothing more than take up space in my suitcase.  Oh well.

However, I did meet up with the running group bright and early Saturday morning after we got back and ran 4 miles with one of my running partners.  Brrrrrrr, it was a brisk 28 degrees when we met to run!  My knee felt great, actually the best it has since getting the recent shots.  Next weekend we plan to go 5.  I'm hoping to find time for a few mid-week runs as well, but we'll see if that materializes or not.

Sunday afternoon was absolutely beautiful.  Sunny skies, high near 60 deg with just a touch too much wind, otherwise perfect for a bike ride.  Husband & I went out for 16.4 miles with a few climbs.  Again, the knee felt terrific.  I'm ready to start building out on distance.  Have my eyes on a potential metric century later in the spring.

Sadly, now that it is Monday morning, it's back to reality.  I'm sure I have a big pile of work waiting for me at the office.  Have a great week everyone!

Wordless Weekend

Saturday Seven (things not miles)

1) Running - Complete two short runs earlier this week, 2.6 miles and 2.1 miles.  Odd mileage, huh?  I keep over-running my intended turn point a bit.  Knee was feeling okay so I decided to run with* the group Saturday morning.

* Maybe "with" is stretching it a bit.  They are all running further and faster than I am right now, so it was more like meeting with them in the parking lot, running the warm-up with them, and running the rest of my 3.5 miles solo.  But it's all good.  After so much down time due to my knee, I was super happy to be out there again.  And the two people that usually run with me both happened to have conflicts this weekend, so I'm sure I'll have running partner(s) again soon.

2) Haiti - Remember me mentioning about my daughter going to Haiti during spring break?  Well, as it turns out, I have to travel for work the week before she leaves.  And I'm not going to return until 16 hours after she departs!  Husband assures me that he can handle anything that she needs during that week, but I'm bummed that I won't be around for the final trip preparations or to see her off at the airport.

3) Weight - Once again, I seem to have packed on some excess poundage over the winter.  It's all hands on deck as attempt to get back to "race weight."  No more binge eating of Death by Oreo Cupcakes or peanut butter cookies.  When I get the hankering for something sweet, I've been grabbing a fruited 0% Fage yogurt which has 120-130 calories (depending on the flavor) with 13 grams protein.  A much healthier option, don't you think?

4) Weather - After snowing last Sunday, it cleared up for a few days, then snowed again on Thursday.  I really shouldn't complain, but this off-and-on spring/winter weather is frustrating.  Never quite sure what kind of day we're going to get, making it hard to plan things like bike rides.

5) Races/Events - I'm barely back to running and certainly not doing it well enough to have confidence to sign up for any races at this point.  However, I *am* toying with the idea of a St Patty's Day hilly 5K.  Also considering a metric-Century in June if the weather ever cooperates so that I get back on my bike outdoors.  For what it's worth, I don't run on treadmills and I don't cycle on the trainer.  I just don't.  So it's outdoor training or nothing.

6)  Zipp Fizz - A while back I was provided samples of Zipp Fizz to test out and review.  I received the samples pretty much at the same time that my knee started acting up.  I've *finally* had a chance to test the product so that I can share my thoughts.  I'll just cut to the chase.  I really wanted to like this product which promised to be an all natural, low calorie, energy drink.  However, I was turned off by two things.  First, to me it tastes too much like a children's vitamin in liquid form (which is not a good thing).  Second, despite their claims to be an all-natural product, it does contain artificial sweetener (sucralose) which is a deal-breaker for me.

7) Crew Games - Last weekend I volunteered to help with crew games for a local hot air balloon rally.  I was in charge of timing an "envelope roll" race.  What a hoot that was!  The balloon event was also at the other end of a park where a 5K/10K was occurring.  So my other job was identifying lost runners and redirecting them to the correct end of the field for their race.  :-)

mid-week ramblings

I'll start with a few photos of what I've worn to work fairly recently (It's a weeks worth of outfits, but these aren't all from one week).

I'm learning more about what looks good and not so good on me, but I think this is the last installment for a while.  I am getting really tired of snapping self portraits in the bathroom mirror in the morning.  Hahahahah.

There are two outfits that I wish to comment on.  The first is the jeans and camel sweater (right side, second one down).  I happen to like this a lot, so that is what I wore on my birthday. And yes, I had a lovely day, thanks for asking. :-)

Second is the long black skirt outfit (left side, third one down).  Remember when I mentioned getting compliments on the black short skirt with boots outfit a few weeks ago?  Similarly, this is the only outfit of the five from this post that I received any comments (all positive) about what I was wearing.  I'm thinking I need to wear skirts/dresses a bit more often.

On to a more running-related topic.  I managed to get three runs in last week topping out at a 2.9 mile run as the longest of the three.  I ran again today, just barely beating a storm, and got 2.5 miles in.  I'm hoping to run at least two more times this week and work my way up to a 3.5-4.0 mile run.  After that, I should be able to rejoin my group and it will be back to business as usual.  This whole return-to-running thing is a bit discouraging as I am so far behind where I was when I had to take a break for my knee and I'm still a bit reluctant to push too hard.  

Husband & I were hoping to get in a nice bike ride on Sunday only to wake up to find that it was snowing!!  So no bike ride.  I guess it *is* still the middle of winter, so I shouldn't be too surprised that the weather didn't cooperate, but it had been so nice all week that we really surprised about the snow.

TTT - Short Runs, Decision Made, and B-day Weekend

Slow Short Runs - So far this week, got in another couple of short runs (2.5 and 2.1 miles).  I'm currently running really s-l-o-w, but it's getting easier compared to the runs last week.  It seems so unfair how easily it is to get out of shape, and how hard it is to get back into shape!  But make no mistake, I am thrilled to be running again pain-free, no matter how slow or short the distance right now.


Decision Made - Talked it over with Husband, and we've decided not to do the Sweetheart Run this year.  It comes down to not wanting to spend the $$ for a race when I know I'll have a frustrating result due to just barely being running again after a multi-month hiatus.  I never wear the race t-shirts from this event, so getting another race shirt isn't motivating me.  And it will cold Saturday morning (in the 20s) when the race happens, whereas we can run or cycle together later in the day after it warms up (40s-50s).

B-day Weekend - Husband & I have birthdays surrounding this weekend.  His is Friday, mine is Monday.For some reason, even though this isn't a milestone birthday for either of us, I'm really starting to feel old.  But I guess getting older beats the alternative!  One of the things we are doing to celebrate is going out to dinner Friday then to a performance of My Fair Lady by Big League productions.  This particular musical is special to me because I played the part of Eliza during my senior year of high school nearly 30 years ago.

Actual running and stuff

You'll all be shocked an amazed to find out that I finally went out and bought a notebook to log my 2012 activities in because I needed it.  Yes, that's right.  I actually ran!  and cycled!

The point is that I got out there and busted out 2.5 and 2.0 mile runs and my knee did not hurt one little bit. I also got out on my bike for a 12.0 mile ride.  

It was slow and sluggish and a whole lot harder than it should have been.  But that's not really the point.  I mean, everybody's got to start somewhere, right?  Besides, it was farther and faster than sitting on the couch eating cupcakes.

Now a dilemma.  The local Sweetheart Run is this coming weekend.  I'm even entertaining the idea of signing up to run the 5K with husband.  Kind of on the fence though.  I don't really need to pay money to slowly run a race just to celebrate that I'm able to run again.  I could just as easily run a 5K (or possibly try to go farther) on my own.  We shall see.

TTT - test run, wiw2wtw, & cupcakes

TEST RUN:  After work yesterday I met with a friend who is a relatively new runner.  She was doing a run/walk and I figured that was a great way to test my knee.  I had decided that if all went well, I'd meet with my running group this weekend. If not, I'd wait another week and test it again.

In the end, it didn't hurt, but it didn't feel quite right either.  I've decided to take the middle ground and go for a short 2 mile solo run this weekend rather than run 4 miles with the group.  

WIW2WTW:  I've included photos of how I've shown up at work thus far.  Prepared this post before getting dressed for work, so today's outfit is missing.

The dress on Monday was comfortable, but I think I need a different belt.  The peace sign belt made me look like a hippy. LOL.

The scarf that I wore on Tuesday is in high demand at my house.  My daughter keeps "borrowing" it and "forgetting" to give it back.  I'm not sure what to think of that other than she & I like similar colors.

And while I don't think it photographed all that well, I will tell you that I got a lot of compliments on Wednesday (black skirt outfit with tights and boots) whereas nobody said anything to me about what I was wearing any of the other days this week or last.  So I'm thinking that outfit is definitely a winner.

CUPCAKES:  Enough of you asked for more info on the death by Oreo cupcakes that I mentioned, so I am passing on the recipe.  Be warned, they are addicting!!  Recipe maked 24 cupcakes. 

What you'll need:
1 pkg regular oreos
cupcake liners
1 pkg chocolate cake mix (I prefer Pillsbury chocolate, which has you add 3 eggs and for high altitude I add an additional 1/4 cup flour to the mix.)

For Frosting:   Do not use this full recipe.  Either make it all, use half and save the rest for later, or make half a recipe.  Trust me on this.
8 oz cream cheese - room temp
8 T butter (1 stick) - room temp
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 t vanilla
2-3 T milk

Add cupcake liners to cupcake pan.  Place an Oreo at the bottom of each liner.

Coarsely crush half remaining oreos (I break them up by hand).  Prepare cake mix per instructions.  Add Oreo pieces to mix.  Fill cupcake liners with mix & cook.

Note:  I cook for 15 min at 350 deg even though the boxed mix instructions say to cook longer.  Not sure if that is a high altitude thing or because of that added cookies to the mix.  In any event, I suggest checking after 15 mins.  

Finely crush remaining Oreos (or, if you make half a recipe of frosting, eat 3 cookies and finely crush the rest. just kidding. sort of.).  I do this in a food processor.

For frosting, mix cream cheese and butter with vanilla until smooth.  Add powdered sugar.  Add milk as needed to get desired consistency.  Blend in crushed oreos.

Frost cupcakes when cool.  Enjoy!!

Jan Totals

Numbers

• Injections #2 & #3 to complete the series
• 9 days with squats
• 24 miles walking
• 1 group run missed :-(
• 1 batch "death by Oreo" cupcakes to drown my sorrows
• 1 ten mile bike ride 
• 1 midweek, full afternoon, spa retreat with husband
• 1 son back off to college
• 1 daughter in her final semester of high school

Thoughts

• It wasn't a great month from a fitness perspective, but it was still a pretty good month
• Finally got out on that bike on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  Didn't go far or fast, but it was a start and it was glorious! 

Plans

• Vacation get-away with husband in Grand Cayman
• More cycling
• Start running again if knee cooperates

Weekend Whimsy

Well, my wiw2wtw post was better received than I expected. Whew!  I think I may do this again next week.  Remember, it helps me know which outfits look better than others and it gives me something to blog about while I remain benched.  Thanks for bearing with me as I attempt to be more of a fashionista at work.

Speaking of which, my running group met Saturday morning for the first time this season.  I stopped by to drop off my paperwork and say "hi" to the group.  I've been fairly patient with this running hiatus up 'til now, but seeing them all decked out in running clothes ready to start the season without me was difficult.  I'm hoping to join them this weekend or next.  Fingers crossed that my knee will cooperate.

Feeling defeated, I went straight from the running group meeting spot to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for "death by oreo" cupcakes (which are quite possibly the most fantastic cupcakes ever).  Perhaps my habit of compensating for lack of running by drowning my misery in cookies and cupcakes has something to do with the extra weight I've managed to "find" over the past few months.  Ya' think?

This afternoon it is supposed to be 52, sunny, and most importantly, no wind.  *Fingers crossed* that today I finally get out on my bike.  This cupcake-induced belly flab has got to go!!

wiw2wtw

Otherwise known as: "What I wore to work this week," a post that is sure to bore the guys and probably some of my other readers.  Sorry.  It's hard to figure out what to to blog about while I'm not running.

The dress protocol at my work is very casual.  As in, it's okay to wear jeans.  I had fallen into the trap of wearing jeans almost every day and was starting to look more and more like a slob as time went on.

In mid-December, I decided to try to dress a little more fashionably which has required expanding my wardrobe.  I'm also a bargain shopper, and as I'm experimenting with new outfits, I've decided to photo chronicle some of my them to help me figure out which look better than others.

I like the outfit with the blue print top better without the sweater, but it was chilly that day, so I wore the sweater.  The grey pants that you can't see very well are from the Limited.  The top is Calvin Klein.  Picked up the sweater at Marshalls, not sure what brand it is.

The skirt outfit was paired with boots.  I find skirts to be quite comfortable.  The only thing I don't like about them is that most of my skirts don't have pockets.  And looking at the photo, now I'm thinking that skirts might make me look pudgy.  I remember buying the top at Kohls and the skirt at Marshalls.

I'm big on wearing scarves.  I just love them.  I'm surprised that I only have one outfit with a scarf so far in my photos from the week.  No surprise, that outfit with the scarf is by far my favorite of the four.  The whole outfit is from Marshalls, and if memory serves me, I scored that sweater for a mere $7 from the clearance rack.

I succumbed to wearing blue jeans in the fourth photo.  I really like that top paired with the black bolo sweater.  But I think it would have looked much better with black pants.  Oh well, at least I wore dark jeans.

So there you have it, the first installment  (and who knows, maybe the last) of wiw2wtw.

Questions, Questions, and more Questions

A while back, I had read something about squats being good for OA of the knee.  Today at lunch time I was browsing some other sites and read that squats were something to be avoided.  So which is it, recommended or to be avoided?!?!?  For what it's worth, I'm doing what are called chair squats - no weights and basically squatting far enough just to touch my butt to a chair, then back up.

Also read to avoid long distance running.  But no definition of what constitutes a long distance.  In my mind, long distance means greater than a 10K.  What does it mean to you and more importantly, what do you think it means in this context?

I was told to wait 3 weeks before resuming previous activities, and that it might possibly take up to 6 weeks.  Not entirely sure what resuming previous activities entails.  I'm fairly sure it means that I can try run training  (3x week) starting next weekend if my knee isn't hurting.  But can I try running before then if it's really short or just 2x week?  Or do I avoid it all together for 3 weeks?

Why does the weather not cooperate with my plans?  I mentioned in an earlier post about trying to get out on my bike for cycling last weekend.  Decided to aim for Sunday.  Saturday the weather was lovely.  Sunday, not so much.  So now I'm hoping for this coming weekend.  Is cycling under that umbrella of previous activities or does it depend?  I was just going to try something short-ish like 10 miles.

UPDATED to add:  A few people have asked me about supplements.  It has been recommended for me to take Move Free Advanced which is a glucosamine/condroitin product.  I believe that it helps.  I've even started my mother on it and she noticed improvement.  Recently, I decided to start taking Move Free Ultra as well.  This is a collagen type II product.  Which some research says works better/differently than glucosamine/condroitin.  I decided to take both rather than one or another.  The question here, how will I know if this is helping since I started taking it a few weeks before I got the injections?  Probably the real test will be about 6 months from now.  Also, are there any other supplements that I should be considering?

Eleven

I was recently tagged by Marcia at The Studly Runner, and I am playing along especially since it gives me something to blog about.


The Rules (as stated):
1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!


My Randoms:
1. The channel I usually watch before bed stopped showing reruns of The Office in favor of The Big Bang Theory beginning in September.  After about two months, I finally started to enjoy The Big Bang Theory.  But I really wish they'd go back to showing The Office. 
2.  I don't drink alcohol anymore, so now a Roy Rogers is my go-to "cocktail" when we go out.  Husband cuts me off at two, otherwise I get jacked up on sugar/caffeine and can't sleep.  LOL. 
3.  My guilty pleasure - powdered donuts from the vending machine at work.  Recently they vendor interlaced chocolate donuts and powered donuts.  I walked up 4 flights of stairs last Tuesday, checking the machines on each level for a machine with powered donuts.  On three floors, they were blocked by chocolate donuts.  On the fourth floor I finally had success! 
4.  We bought and sold our first house in just over a year.  It wasn't planned.  We were living in Ohio at the time and had just gotten married.  We expected to stay there for a while, when a great job opportunity unexpectedly came along, bringing us to New Mexico. It was a good move in the grand scheme of things even though we lost money on that first house.
5.  Three of my first four cars were totaled within two years of owning them.  Two by my mother, one by me.  Yes, you read that right, my mother totaled two of my cars.  Isn't it usually the other way around?
6.  When I was in high school, it was required to take either Home Economics or Industrial Arts.  I signed up for Industrial Arts.  The school called and told me that I needed to take Home Economics because I was a girl.   I'm sure this wouldn't happen today, but it did back then.  I told them I didn't want to take Home Economics, and I didn't see why I couldn't take Industrial Arts since the requirement was to take one or the other.  I ended up talking them into it and was the only girl in my Industrial Arts class.  By the way, I got an A.
7.  I collected feathers one spring/summer when I was a little girl so that I could make myself some wings.  I jumped off the picnic table and tried to fly.  Needless to say, it didn't work.  
8.  I know I've mentioned this before on the blog, but I've melted not one but two tea kettles by leaving them on the stove and forgetting about them.  I now have one that whistles when the water is boiling.  
9.  When I was a teenager, I didn't like pizza or soda. Weird, huh?  BTW, Now I like both.
10.  Not a fan of football.  Or basketball.  But I like baseball, preferably live, especially minor league.  Go Isotopes!  
11.  I try to park in roughly the same spot on the top floor of the parking structure at work otherwise I have trouble finding my car.  Most of the time that I try (and succeed) to get a closer parking spot, I end up forgetting about it after work until I've already gone all the way to the top floor anyway...


Questions from Marcia:
1. Do you have any pets? Yes! We currently have two dogs, Bandit and Stymie, and two cats, Mitts and Cookie.  I can't imagine life without pets.
2. Most embarrassing moment?  Probably wiping out coming out of the swim during my first sprint triathlon, resulting in scrapes & bruises to my face, shoulder, etc.
3. Favorite brand of running gear?  Ummmmm, is that a trick question? No way I can pick just one single favorite.
4. Dream vacation?  My favorite vacation was Moorea with Husband for our 20th anniversary.  I really want to go back.  
5. Dream race?  Wow, that's a tough one.  I guess I don't really think about dream races as much as dream race performances. I wish my knee would hold up for another half-marathon, but that seems unlikely.  
6. Favorite GU flavor?  Strawberry Banana Powergel.
7. Snow ski or water ski?  I prefer snow skiing to water skiing, but I'm really not fond of either.
8. Do you get a flu shot?  Absolutely!
9. Gold, sterling silver or platinum?  Gold, and I really like jewelry with mixed yellow/gold. 
10. What grade in school did you enjoy most? Least? - I have fond memories of 3rd grade, so that must have been my favorite.  I think I liked 7th or 8th the least, awkward teenaged years.  
11. How often do you get a haircut?  Last time I went about 11 weeks between haircuts, but I usually go in every 6-7 weeks.   


My Questions (Please embellish your answers):
1.  Superman or Batman?
2.  Coffee or Tea?
3.  Sunrise or Sunset?
4.  Facebook or Twitter?
5.  Spring or Fall?
6.  Breakfast or Dinner?
7.  Books or Movies?
8.  Beach or Mountains?
9.   Early Morning or Late Night?
10.  Glass half-full or half-empty?
11.  Hill repeats or speed work?


My Tag-ees (is that even a word?):
ajh
lily on the road
raquelita
christine
laura
amber
lbtepa
irene
wes
amanda
carolina john
big daddy diesel

This and That

Still not running, but I did get around to reading and commenting on some blogs.  You all have been a busy bunch!  Makes we want to take some time to mention a few things that are going on.

• I read something about squats being good for OA of the knee. So I decided to try it.  I've done three sets of squats 5 times and each time my knee makes all kinds of weird noises that I don't think it's supposed to be making when I do these.  Kind of freaks me out.  So I'm not sure that I'm going to continue.
• I've been trying to do a decent amount of walking.  Hoping to hit about 30 miles for the month (avg 1 mile per day).  I'm at 20 miles for the month and it's the 20th, so it seems I'm on track for that.  Yay, me!
• It is also my son's 20th birthday.  Man o' man, time flies!
• There is a local 5K in 3 weeks, essentially right when I'm ready to start running again.  I may or may not sign up for it.
• I'm going to be doing a 365-day photo project starting on March 1.  At the end, I hope to be better skilled with my camera.
• Husband & I have a trip to Grand Cayman booked for 5 nights in February, just the two of us.  Woot!
• I've been thinking about doing a local spring triathlon that is scheduled for mid-April.  I'm holding off just to make sure I know which weekend it is. I would need to start cycle training SOON if I decide to do this.
• I'm anxious to get on my bike again.  Maybe this weekend if the weather holds up.  *fingers crossed*
• I started painting our Great Room this morning. We have to paint with a brush to get the adobe bricks covered, which seems to take about 4 times as long as painting a flat wall with a roller.  Plus, it's a fairly large room. Trying to break this down into smaller segments so I don't get discouraged.

Almost...

Thought I'd check in.  I've completed the series of three injections for my knee.  I'm already feeling pain relief, but it will still be about 3 weeks until I can run again.  I promise that I will be back to regular posting and reading by that time.  I'm almost ready for my re-entry to the blog world, but not quite.  Until then, I hope everyone is doing well!

Dec Totals

Numbers

• 30.0 miles walking
• 4000 yds swimming
• 1st of 3 injections for knee
• 1 son home from college for break
• 1 daughter on break from high school
• 2 weeks off work
• 3 movies seen in the theatre
• 1 piano concert
• 1 bedroom painted
• 2 work-related Christmas dinners

Thoughts

• I'm a wee bit envious of those of you who are starting the year off with a New Years Run.
• Lost my motivation for swimming in the middle of the month and fell way short of my 8000 yd goal
• Did okay with walking and hit my 30 mile goal.
• Happy that the days are getting longer again.
• Back to work on Monday.  Ugggh.

Plans

• Injections #2 and #3
• Trying a new supplement - Move Free Advanced Ultra
• Patience, grasshopper, patience...

Happy New Year everyone!  May it bring health and happiness to you and yours!

One down, two to go & a time of reflection

Yesterday I received the first of the series of three injections for my knee.  I expect to be running again  mid-February.  Until then, I apologize in advance for not doing much blog posting or reading. As many of you who have been benched understand, it's tough to read about everyone else's running adventures when you can't join in on the fun.

[FYI - I'll probably need to keep going back about every 8-10 months or so to repeat the series for as long as this continues to work. After that point, I'm not sure what will happen.  I'm not happy that my knee can't be 'fixed', but I'm happy to have a treatment plan that works well enough for now to allow me to do most of the things I want to do.]

In the past few weeks, I lost my motivation to focus on swimming and walking.  I just really miss running. And I guess that's okay.  Nothing wrong with taking a break, right?

Overall, it was a good year.  I started off with an unexpected 5K PR in February.  I had to give up plans to run a spring HM due to issues with my knee, but switched focus to shorter running events and triathlons.  Had another 5K PR July.  I had a blast at the inaugural Live.Love.Tri in August, the first all-women tri in NM.   I took a good ten minutes off my Patriot (sprint) Tri time in September, mostly an improvement in cycling.  I had a 10K PR in October.  Cycling training with Husband was successful and we capped it off with a strong 50mile charity ride with more climb than I thought I was capable of.  My knee held up until race season was over, and I'll be ready soon enough for next year.

Hope the New Year is a good one for everyone!!

not running -> not blogging

Still not running.  In fact, I'm still waiting on the insurance authorization for my treatment.  I think I'll call later today and find out where that's at.

Without running, and with the weather too cold for my liking for cycling, I'm at a loss for interesting blog topics.  Hence, this is my first post in over a week.  I can't think of a topic that you'd find interesting, so I'll leave you with a few random thoughts.

• One of my cats is over-weight.  In an effort to get her health back on track, I've switched both cats to canned cat food exclusively.  Rotating Natural Balance and Wellness brands at the moment.  I was also hoping to switch to an evening feeding to get my fat cat to stop jumping on my head in the morning when she wants to be fed.   Well, she still jumps on my head in the morning.  And now she begs for food at dinner time too.  *sigh*
• Son came home Saturday for winter break.  He will be here for 4 weeks.  He's not coming home for spring break and he's trying to get an internship in CA for the summer.  I will enjoy the time with him while I can.
• Daughter is on her third Christmas working in retail.  Her days off for winter break from school are filled with extra hours at work.  It's good for her bank account, but it doesn't seem like she's getting any real time off to de-stress from school.
• Husband & I are on day one of our two week break from work.  Ahhhhhhh.
• Yesterday I started taping in our bedroom to prep for painting.  Isn't that how everyone spends their time off from work?!  No? 
• I made a conscious decision to really scale back Christmas consumerism this year. I've complained about it for years, but was still stuck in the trap.  Not this year.  The result?  Much less stress.   More time reflecting on the true meaning of the holiday.  Wish I had figured this out years ago.
• It's snowing.  This is the third snowfall so far since November.  After an insanely dry spring/summer we certainly need the moisture.  I just wish it wasn't during the cold part of the year when the streets turn icy.  It also probably means that the inlaws are NOT coming down from Colorado this week.  Bummer.
• I bought a new phone about 10 days ago.  Upgraded from the original Motorola Droid to an HTC Rhyme.  Love it.
• I've started referring to our neighbors as Old McDonald.  Back in October, they build a shed and put up a little corral in the corner of their yard near our fence.  Then they bought chickens.  Including a rooster.  Uggg.  Then this week they brought home a burrows or donkeys or some such creatures.  I wonder what's next?
•  I held off on making Christmas cookies until my son asked specifically requested them.  I'd be happy not making them at all because I end up eating my weight in cookies.  But how could I say no?

Just keep swimming...

Got myself out of bed early and to the pool again this morning for another 800yds.  I'm thinking that next month I will increase the distance per swim, but for now 800yds is a distance that seems to be working for me.

We are now one third of the way into the month and my swim total so far is 3200 against my goal of 8000 or 40%.  Just like in Finding Nemo, I just need to stay calm and keep swimming, and I will achieve my goal.

Not doing quite as well with the walking goal.  I've only walked 8.5 miles so far this month, which is 28% of my goal.  However, just this realization alone is likely to motivate me to get out there and walk the dogs today and tomorrow to get caught up.

In other news, one more full week of work and then I am taking two weeks off.  Work has been crazy busy, so I cannot wait!

Also, only 12 more days until the days begin to get longer again.  WoooHooooo!!!

Knee update

Orthopedic appointment on Monday went as well as can be expected.  Bottom line is that I have Chondomalacia patella  or essentially "worn cartilage behind the kneecap".  Also the beginnings of a slight bone spur, but nothing too serious.  The shots I get for treatment are basically replacement joint fluid which works to lubricate the joint and protect the cartilage. Unfortunately, this only seems to last for somewhere in the 6mo to a year range.  Right now I'm waiting on insurance to authorize the treatment, then will need to go in for another series of three injections.

BTW, he assures me that my knee issue isn't/wasn't caused by running.  In fact, he thinks running is great, as long as it doesn't hurt.  But when it does hurt, I need to find ways to be active that don't worsen the pain.  Which is why I'm focusing on swimming and running for December and January.

On that note, I did manage to drag my lazy butt out of bed on a cold 9 deg morning (which is a quite a feat in itself, let me assure you) and got myself to the pool this morning.  My goal was to get in at least an 800yd swim; however, I stopped and got out of the pool at 600 yds because at that point I was both bored out of my mind and having problems with my goggles.  Sat in the hot tub for a bit and quickly realized that I wasn't going to be happy ending it at 600yds at my total for the day, so I decided to suck it up and jump back in for another 200.  Yay me!

New Month & Progress to Goals

For those who read my November Tally post, you know that I said I was ready to stop pouting about my cranky knee and start getting active again.  We're one weekend into the new month, let's see how it's going so far.

I set a swimming goal of 8000yds this month.  That breaks down to ~2000 yds per week.  Or 10 swims of 800yds each (which seems doable) or 8 swims of 1000 yds each (which seems less doable based on my current swim habits).

So far I'm at 1600 against my goal, or 20%.  Not bad!  As long as I stay committed, I know I can achieve my swim goal.  The hard part is finding those times that work with my schedule when the pool isn't being used for an aquatics class.


NOTE:  I should mention that I find swimming laps to be incredibly boring, which is why I have a hard time staying in the water past 800 yds.  I'm pondering some sort of waterproof mp3 system  that allows me to listen to music while I swim.  If any of you have experiences, good or bad with this, I'd really appreciate hearing about it.  

I also set a walking goal of 30miles.  That breaks down to 15 walks up and down the hill (2mi route) with my dogs.  Or maybe 9 walks with the dogs and 3 longer walks of 4 miles.  It's aggressive, but also doable.

So far I'm at 6 miles against my goal, also 20%.   Nice!  This one requires more time investment, but it's easy to do from home.  And as an aside, I only count intentional fitness walking, not the walking that I do from the parking lot to my office, up and down the stairs at work, etc.

One last item worth commenting on.  I originally added yoga to my list of goals for December, but later crossed it off my list.  The truth is, I'm really not committed to doing yoga right now.   Plus I find that many of the postures bother my knee right now.  I'll revisit this in Jan or Feb.


How's the new month coming along for the rest of you?

November Tally

Numbers

• 32.3 miles by feet (11.3 miles running, 21.0 miles walking)
• 4 hill workouts
• one cranky knee
• one mysterious heel pain incident

Thoughts

• Worst exercise month in a long long time, and I'm ready to stop pouting and get active again.

Plans

• Orthopedic appointment next week
• Get to the pool and start swimming! 
• Do yoga
• Walk more regularly

Updated with December Goals:

• walk 30 miles!
• swim 8000 yds!

GAME ON!