Weekend Wrap-up

Saturday was the last opportunity for me to run with my long time running partner and friend before she moves away.  I asked her if she'd Galloway with me and she obliged.  Actually she really enjoyed it.  Too bad we didn't think of this years ago!  Afterwards we had coffee and snacks and chatted.  I was devastated a few weeks ago when she told me she was moving, but there were no tears on Saturday.  Instead we shared laughter, smiles, and enjoyed this final time together. 

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

When the mail arrived, I was thrilled to find a small package containing my new Galloway timer.  Doing math while running is hard!  We had actually walked through one entire run section Saturday morning because I lost track of time.  That won't happen now.  Got it programmed for a 3:1 interval for Monday morning and set it aside.

Interval timer all set up for my Galloway intervals

But...that morning run isn't happening.  We also got our first snow of the season yesterday. Which means today the roads are icy.  The schools (even the university) are on a 2 hr delay. By tomorrow morning the snow and ice should be gone.  Who knows, it might even be gone by the time I get home from work today. But this morning, the roads are in no condition for running without modified shoes. I think if I lived somewhere that had more snowy/icy conditions I'd invest in yaktracks or make some screw shoes.  But since this only happens a few days each year where I live, so it's not worth it for me.  I'll just take a rest day instead.

The beginnings of the first snow of the season

The storm that passed through our way over the weekend is heading east.  Stay safe if it comes your way.

Friday Four

Stormy Sky at Daybreak

Stormy Skies: We are currently under a winter storm advisory. The weather forecast for today and through the weekend seems ominous. However, I know from experience that stormy skies are a recipe for beautiful sunrises. I made sure to arm myself with my camera at daybreak to capture the moment!

I actually took two photos, the one I took a few moments after this one is much more pink/purple. But I think I like the contrast in this one better, so this is what I'm sharing with you.

Miscalculations: I was supposed to run with a friend this morning.  I was fairly sure she would bail on the run due to weather, so I made it a point to run late yesterday afternoon instead.  Looking at my data from the run (another Galloway style run-walk-run), I realize that I made a significant miscalculation

Allow me to explain.  I had been thinking that with a 3:1 run:walk ratio, that I would end up running 75% of a half marathon, 9.8 miles, and walking the remaining 25%. From a distance perspective, this is something I'm fairly sure my knee can handle. But while this is true from a time perspective, it is not true from a distance perspective!  D'oh! It looks like I'm running about 83% of the distance in my training runs, walking only 17%.  That means I would end up running almost 11 miles of a half marathon.  That sounds like a lot for my knee.  So depending on how it goes, I may need to modify the run:walk ratio, assuming I actually pursue a half marathon.  But then again, maybe with walk breaks, my knee can handle a longer distance.  Time will tell..

Keep on Steppin': My step count this week continues to go well.  I was wearing my pedometer when I went to the chiropractor yesterday and needed to take it off during the adjustment. I set it on the counter. She glanced over at it and seemed genuinely impressed with my step count given the early hour of my appointment.  Huzzah!

Random quirky pet story for the day: One of my cats likes to jump up on the desk and walk across my laptop before sitting down and watching me work.  Usually, when she does this, it results in turning off my wifi and taking a screen shot.  Every.Time.  It's frustrating, but cute.  Anyway, this morning she must have be resting on my laptop when I walked out to use the restroom.  I came back and she had managed over 1000 screen captures!  What the heck?!?!?

Reflections

I decided in my head that I would try out this Galloway Run-Walk-Run thing, and by golly, I actually put it into practice this morning. 

Here are my thought after my initial attempt:

• The 3:1 ratio seems like a good place for me to start.
• I ran faster in the run portions than I usually do for a training run, this wasn't intentional, it just sort of happened.
• I like walk breaks, who knew?!?
• Timing this manually sucked.  A Galloway Gym Boss interval timer thing is on it's way, it just hasn't arrived yet.
• There are two Galloway training plans for half marathons, one for those just wanting to finish and one for those wanting to finish within a certain time.  Since I haven't done a half marathon for 4 years and have been told that my half marathon days are over, I think I'll go with the "just finish" plan.  
• I'm not fully committed to training for a half marathon, but I am committed to trying the Galloway method at least until the end of the year.
• Jeff Galloway is nearly 70 and still running marathons, he must be doing something right.
• I'm not sure any of my other running friends will do this with me, but I guess that's okay.
• This whole endeavor has sparked some new excitement/interest that I haven't felt since I first started running.  That's got to be a good thing! 

Monday Miscellany

• I'm probably one of the slowest people on the planet to get into the Christmas spirit. Everyone around me is anxious to start decorating for Christmas, start shopping for Christmas, etc. I, however, probably won't get the tree up until the week before Christmas. But my lack of spirit didn't stop me from joining a blogger Christmas card swap. Come join in the fun! Head over to Zaneta's blog and join the Christmas Card Swap.  
• Back in February, I bought a pair of Merrell Mix Master Move Glide shoes from LLBean.  Then I bought a second pair from REI.  About 6 weeks later, I realized that these shoes were bothering my knee.  So I stopped running in them. Yesterday I was cleaning up the area where I keep some of my fitness things and remembered that LLBean has one of the most awesome return policies: 100% guarantee policy, regardless of how long you've had the item.  I had to check with a customer service rep just to make sure, but yes, they mean it. Talk about customer satisfaction guaranteed! So I boxed them up and dropped them off at UPS. I fully intend to purchase something else from LLBean when I get the refund, but I haven't figured out what that is going to be. In any event, they have earned a customer for life.
• Maybe I'm crazy, but I think I'm beginning to love cold weather running. I find it exhilarating. I'm sure it helps that we hardly get any precipitation so I rarely have to worry about snowy or icy conditions.
• Had a HATastrophe this weekend:  One of my beloved wool hats accidentally ended up in the laundry.  It's now child-sized. Wahhhh!! 
• I'm super sad because my running partner is moving away at the end of the month. I don't even know how to verbalize my feelings about this, so I'll just leave it at that.
• Have any of you ever used the Galloway method?  I'm getting the itch to run another half marathon even though my orthopedic doctor told me that my half marathon running days are over.  I was thinking of trying a Galloway 3:1 on my training runs and seeing what happens.  Since I'll be running solo for the foreseeable future, I figure it will at least give me something new to occupy my time while running. 

Mid-Month Tally

Since we've reached the middle of the month, I thought I'd check numbers to see how my month was shaping up.  Here's what it looks like so far:

• Running: 8 times over the past 15 days, or roughly every other day for a total of 25.5 miles.  Nothing too far or too fast, just getting out the door and getting in some easy morning runs.   
• Fitness Walking: I define this as intentional brisk walking of at least .5  which I've logged at total of 14 times over the past 15 days or roughly every day for a total of 15.1 miles.  I only logged 14 miles fitness walking last month, so this is really shaping up nicely.
• Step Count: Averaging closer to 10K steps per day than my 12K step goal, but I feel this is still pretty good.  I'm wearing a pedometer and this counts all steps, not just intentional fitness activities and equates to an average of about 5 miles per day.
• Cycling:  Nada.  I've actually had a few opportunities, I just have chosen not to ride.  Spending my time on my feet instead.
• Other:  I've actually done some 'pseudo-yoga' over the past few days.  Maybe 10-15mins at a time. It's a start!

• Favorite New Running Item:  Nike Mix All Time Jacket.  I realized that part of the reason I never run in the rain (besides the fact that New Mexican's melt in the rain) is that I don't have anything waterproof. Hey, when you get 9" or so of rain per year, it just isn't a priority. Well now I do, at least for chilly days. Got to test it by walking my dogs in a chilly 40s-and-raining afternoon. I think it will be good for running in wind as well, seems to do a good job blocking the wind and that is something we experience fairly often.  

How is your month shaping up?

Running on Empty

You may have picked up from my monthly summaries that I have traveled back to Ohio to see my Mom a few times during the past few months.  Her health is very poor.  Over the last few days she seems to have gotten much worse. It's not looking good.

This morning I needed my run just to stay sane. No Garmin, just me and my running shoes and some winter running gear.  I was out before the sun came completely up over the mountains and probably could have left my sunglasses at home.

However, oncoming traffic may have needed sunglasses; this particular jacket is a BRIGHT neon yellow.  I don't think this photo does it justice. It served it's purpose, I'm confident that I was visible.

I"m guessing I only ran about two miles. Afterwards, I took the dogs for a short walk. It helped.  I feel like I'm ready to face whatever today might bring...

Step Count Data

I've mentioned that I'm participating in a walk-for-wellness 10,000 steps per day challenge at work.  I thought that I'd share my data from the beginning of the challenge.

One thing that I've noticed is that my 'step count' was averaging closer to my personal goal of 12,000 steps per day until this past week.  Suddenly it has dropped closer to the 10,000 steps per day.  Not surprising, this drop in step count seems to correspond to the recent time change.

I'm not too upset with my drop in activity level, though.  I feel that I've been doing a good job of getting runs done in the morning so far, and really it's not very realistic that I would maintain the same activity level now that I had when days were longer. I do think I need to "step it up" and start walking my dogs in the morning since my normal routine of walking them after work isn't going to be happening.  It may be a good idea to add in yoga; that's not step intensive, but anything that gets me moving is a good thing.

I really like this challenge because it's giving me a measurable way to stay accountable to my fitness goals besides just measuring distance running, etc.  Have you ever monitored your activity level on an ongoing basis using a pedometer or similar device?  And what do you do to keep your activity level up when days get shorter?

The Upside of Cold Weather Running

I admit it, there is one part of winter running that I love: that moment when I get to choose which fun winter hat to wear.  A few photos from over the years that show part of my collection.  Oh yes, believe me, there are more, many more...

Am I alone in loving the winter hat as a running fashion accessory?

Just a handful of additional hat choices (still not all of them!)

In Which I Need to Adapt

Not where each of you are on the continuum from "love it" to "hate it" but if you live in state or country or province that recognizes daylight savings vs. standard time, at some point you need to adapt when the time changes from one to the other.

This past weekend we saw daylight savings time come to an end. With that end, my after-work running also comes to an end.  But with change comes new opportunity! The time change affords me the opportunity to run in the morning before work, at least for a little while. And really, what better way to start the week than with a morning run?  So I donned my cold weather gear and met a friend for a run this morning. We plan to do the same again on Wednesday.

How do you feel about the time change?  Do you find that you also need to adapt?

[edited to add:  I live in a rural residential area with no street lights and no sidewalks.  I do not feel that it is safe to run after dark in my particular neighborhood.]

Oct Tally

Numbers

• 178.2 miles by bike
• 30.7 miles running
• 16.0 miles fitness walking
• ~12K steps per day on average
• 1 bike event
• 2 weeks alone with husband out of country
• 1 trip to OH
• 1 gym membership cancelled
• 1 weekend with injured dog

Thoughts

• My fitness goals were to run 3 x per week, get in 1-2 mid week rides per week + 1 long weekend ride per week, and achieve 12K steps per day on average.  I give myself a B-, C+, & A on these goals.  We also registered for the 100K ride and completed 73K of it.  I give myself a B on that as well.

Plans

• I need goals for Nov/Dec and haven't determined them yet.  With the time change, it's going to get interesting.  One thing that I ought to register for right away is the Jingle Bell run; we do that almost every year.
• Continue wearing the pedometer and aim for 12k steps on average through the end of the month

Has it really been a year?

Back Story: I have a chronic issue with my left knee that requires ongoing treatment.  I could go into more detail, but essentially it's arthritis which is something I simply need to manage, there isn't a 'cure'.  The current treatment of choice is a series of three Euflexxa injections.  I've been getting them about every 10 months or so. Looking back just over the past few years, these are the time frames when I've had treatment:

• November 2012
• Jan 2012
• March 2011

Typically, my knee starts bothering me a few months before I actually go one. I notice it first when running, but soon it is problematic even walking.  For example, I was having knee problems while running last August, while walking in September, and finally got treatment in early November.  

The 3 weeks treatment isn't all that fun, although it works, and afterwards I'm on restricted movement for about 6 weeks.  It ends up being at least 2 months rest/recovery each time I go through this.

Fast forward to earlier this year: After much research in addition to consulting with a new doctor, I decided to try make some other changes (already was taking glucosomine/condroiton) in an attempt to extend the time frame between treatment. Those things include:

• supplement with type ii collagen
• supplement with calcium fructoborate
• supplement with systemic enzymes
• avoid long runs (make 4 miles the "average" run, and never go over 8 miles)
• avoid running on hard surfaces
• avoid hills (walking and running)
• embrace cycling
• embrace walking

Taking supplements was an easy thing to embrace, but some of the behavioral things were much more difficult for me. However, something is working. I'm essentially a full year from my last treatment and I'm not having any knee issues. This is a huge improvement over what I've experienced in the past several years.  So I'm much more amenable to continuing this course of action.  Being pain-free is a good thing.

At this point, I feel like I'm experiencing bonus days for the year.  I'm considering scheduling treatment over the holidays just as a proactive measure, but haven't fully decided on whether to do that or not.  There is a part of me that wants to see just how long I can go without it.

Anyone else reading this who's dealing with a chronic issue or injury?  Have you had success managing it?  Any other suggestions for what I might try?

Ride Report - More Pictures than Words

Pretty much all of the artwork involved with this event was pretty cool.  I liked the t-shirt, jersey, and even the event bib:

The Event t-shirt

The Optional Jersey

Participants Bib

I tried to get a photo of Husband & I at the start which didn't turn out well due to the position of the sun. My photo of other participants getting ready to start turned out okay though.

Photo bombed by the rising sun

Just about go time for the half-century and metric century.

He has the worst luck with flats.  We didn't even make it 10 miles before he needed to fix a rear flat.  I included a photo of my car tires just so you can see how bad the goat head thorns are this time of year.

Already stopped to fix a rear flat.  Stupid goat heads

For reference, my car tire loaded with goat heads.  These things are nasty on bike tires.

We ended up turning early, and completed 45.3 of the planned 64 miles.  I just wasn't ready for the full course this morning and didn't want to turn this into the "day of the dread."  It's all good.  I finished happy, still enjoying my bike.

At our final rest stop, happy about decision to turn early.  Also sporting snazzy new event jersey.

Racked at the finish

Will probably try for the same distance next year. Just need to start training for it in earnest a few weeks earlier.

[edited to add: We didn't participate in this event last year due to the recurring problem I have with my left knee.  I feel compelled to mention that so far this year, my knee is doing okay.  I expected to need to get treatment again at about this time, so I'm very grateful to be able to be doing stuff like this.  It kind of feels like I'm getting bonus pain-free days this year.  I certainly appreciate it!] 

Weekend Riding, part 2

(If you haven't done so, I would love it if you would read part 1 first. Please & thank you.)

So the plan for the next day, Saturday, was a ~44 mile ride with Husband.  I figured if I could survive 64 miles spread over two days back-to-back, I might just be able to do it all in one shot next weekend.

What I hadn't mentioned is that Husband had been out of the country for the past few weeks.  He just got home Friday afternoon. As it turns out, he wasn't feeling up for the ride Saturday morning.  We needed to postpone until Sunday.

While postponing certainly wasn't the end of the world, it brought with it a few challenges.  First, without splitting the ride across two days back-to-back, my confidence on doing the full metric century the next weekend was dwindling. Second, the route we intended to ride intersects with the DCM, which was occurring Sunday. I did some math, and figured if we left our house at 11am, by the time we got to the DCM area, most of the marathon runners would have cleared the course.

I didn't get very many photos from the first half of the ride.  I was right about the marathoners clearing the course.  But I had forgotten about the half marathon which started later!  For about 4 miles, we were sharing the trail with way more runners than I had hoped.  But we made it through that without incident.

Here are some photos from the ride:

Took a break under this tree

Mid-point stop: south of the city by a junkyard.  Yes, someone had tagged the bench. Niiiice. 

Coming back north.  If I'm riding alone, I don't go south of this point.  See photo above to understand.

I thought it was interesting that some of these trees had dropped their leaves already

Less than 5 miles from home and Husband gets a flat.  Perhaps I should have waited at the winery?

And for the record, I pulled two thorns out of my front tire while Husband was fixing his flat.  No big surprise, but this morning, my front tire is flat.

So while I did make it through the 44 mile ride, it was not easy.  My shoulder was bothering me before we started, and unfortunately it got progressively worse as we were riding. Not good.

I'm not sure what we are going to do next weekend, but there is a good chance we will plan to cut the ride short.  Disappointing, given that my original goals for the ride were simply "don't quit and don't hate the bike when it's over."  Guess if we have to choose one over the other, "don't had the bike when it's over" is going to win.

Weekend Riding, part 1

Got my 20 mile ride in on Friday (20.8 to be exact).  Yay!  I was off work, so I had lots of options about exactly when I would ride.  The weather forecast showed strong winds kicking in slighly before noon.  I knew I didn't want to be out riding in that.  So I opted to head out at 8:30am when it was a chilly 38 deg.

I felt comfortable, except the areas of my face that were exposed.

I have to admit to feeling pretty bad@ss for getting out there on a chilly morning. The thing that scared me most was getting a flat.  Not because flats scare me, but because fixing one would require taking my gloves off.  But I figured it would only be bad at the beginning of the ride, the temp was likely to go up by 10deg while I was out there. And it really wasn't THAT cold.  I just haven't acclimated to the fall temps quite yet.

The leaves are turning!  Beautiful :-)

I didn't see very many other cyclists out there.  Probably because it was a weekday.  I must say, it was nice having the trail mostly to myself.  And it really was a spectacular fall morning.

Rio Grande full of water.  It was scary low this summer, so this was nice to see.

When I was about a mile from home, I heard that noise that no cyclist likes to hear:  "Thuk, thuk, thuk, thuk, sssssssssss"  Darn it!  I'm fairly sure it was a goat head thorn stuck in my tire.  The "thuk" sound was it hitting the brake on each rotation and the "sssssssss" was the air coming out of my tire when the thorn finally dislodged from my tire.

Since I was so close to home, I made the executive decision to ride on it as far as I could, walk the bike the rest of the way if needed, so I could fix it in the comfort of my own home rather than on the side of the road. Surprisingly, the tire held up well enough for me to stay on the bike.  Seems like a bit of the thorn was still stuck in the tire, blocking the hole well enough to stay fairly well inflated until I was done.

All in all, planned ride #1 was a success. Would planned ride #2 go this well?  Stay tuned...

Plan B

Oh, it would be so easy for me to write out a 6 week training plan that I should have followed to get ready for the metric century, but it's a little late for that now.  And honestly, I need to remember that getting ready for that ride isn't my only goal for the month. I also want to achieve running 3x week and hitting 12K steps/day on average.

What I've done so far this week:  Sunday was a lazy day, but I got in short runs each day Mon, Tue, & Wed.  The distances were 1.8mi, 3.1mi, and 3.3mi.   I realize that I'm not running far enough to train for any serious races, but it's far enough to stay healthy, and that is the main goal.

Looking forward:  I hope to get one more 3 mile run done today. Tomorrow the plan is a 20 mile bike ride.  Then on Saturday, a 44 mile ride.  Between the two days I will have gone the full 64 that's coming the following weekend at Day of the Tread. Then I hope to run on Mon and Tues again.  I'll be travelling Wed-Sat and don't expect much more than walking as exercise, although I'll bring running stuff "just in case" I get a chance Thu or Fri.  That Sunday is the metric century.

So clearly this wouldn't have been my Plan A, but it's reasonable as a Plan B, right? RIGHT?!?!

Against my better judgement, we're in!

"Do one thing every day that scares you." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Finally bit the bullet and got Husband and I signed up for the Day of the Tread metric century despite the fact that I'll be going into this under-trained. The event is in less than 12 days. I have one weekend left for a long-ish bike ride.  Guess that just adds to the adventure. And yeah, I think this counts as one thing that scares me.  And if you saw my training log from the past 6 weeks, I think you'd be scared for me too!!

For an extra fee, event jerseys are available for purchase, and we decided to go ahead and get them this year. I'm excited about that.

We'll be getting the event jerseys this year, woohoo!!

A few words on the Day of the Tread event.  It's a fundraising event for Casa Esperenza, a home-style facility for families of cancer and critical medical patients.  The event offers a marathon, marathon relay, half-marathon, 10K walk or run, 5K walk or run, 1 mi run, Kids K, 100 mi century, 80 mi ride, 64 mi (metric century), 54 mi, 26 mil ride, 12 mi ride.  Whew!  That's a lot of different choices!  There is something for just about anyone who wants to participate.

A lot of folks will be showing up in costume. Overall, it really should be an enjoyable experience. Except for the riding a metric century under-trained part, of course. Hehehehe.

What are you doing lately that scares you??

Sunday morning thoughts

• During the first week of October, I did pretty well with my cycling goals, but missed on running.
• The second week was the reverse, did well on my running goals, but missed on cycling.
• Third week's a charm? 
• I'm doing well with the 10K steps challenge, my overall average last week was 12.7K.  Yay!
• My weight is right where I want it to be. Wonder if this is the year that I am able to maintain it through the upcoming holiday season?
• I'm getting the urge to do yoga again.  Haven't actually done it, just thinking about it.
• They say a picture's worth a thousand words.  In that case, here's five thousand words worth:

One groggy doggy - poor guy has a spinal/back injury and the meds are making him sleepy

My other dog hates hot air balloons.  His anxiety is very high during  Balloon Fiesta. See why?

Self portrait post my one and only ride this week (20miles)

Another beautiful New Mexico sunrise.  I just love it when my day starts out like this.

Close encounters with Yellow Jacket balloon. 

Solo Ride and Sept Tally

Scenes from a Solo Ride

• Although I haven't signed us up for the metric century yet, I am training for it as described a few posts ago.  It's really hard for me to get motivated to ride solo, but I got out there yesterday.  It was chilly.  I actually had a false start...had to go back home and get a head sweats thing for under my helmet...then I was good to go.  Took a few photos to share:

  

  Sunflowers!

  

  Rest stop.  Notice a little clump of leaves starting to turn (far upper left above trash can)

  

  All done and happy! Don't let the blue skies fool you, it was chilly

• I need to mention that the modifications made to my bike recently (bike fit including raising bars and new saddle) have made a world of difference to my comfort.  So glad I bit the bullet and had that done.
• Next weekend I need to ride solo again, and extend the distance by 10-15 miles.

Sept Numbers

• 60.4 miles cycling
• 25.5 miles running
• 43.1 miles walking
• 1 trip to OH to see mom
• 1 cycling event 
• too many excuses to count

Thoughts

• Bleh.  Lost my motivation in Sept.  But I think it's back now.

Plans

• Wear pedometer for 10,000 steps challenge at work; try to get to 12,000 steps on avg by end of challenge.
• Train for and participate in metric century.
• Run 3 times per week, min 2 mile distance per run.  
• Short return trip to OH to accompany mom to important doctor appt

Making Progress

Short update on progress since my last post:

• I did run on Wednesday as planned.  It was a solo run and only 2 miles, but that's good enough for me to count it as a run
• I also got in a bike ride Thursday after work, 14.0 miles with a friend.  
• Today should have been another run, but it's blustery (20mph winds), so I've decided to postpone until tomorrow.  I don't feel like being sandblasted.
• Not sure when I will get my 25 mile bike ride done this weekend, but I have a route planned out to make it happen. 
• And I continue to wear the pedometer...

Overall, I feel like I'm on the right track.

New Month, New Plans, New Approach

Normally I do a tally at the end of each month.  I haven't done a Sept tally yet and I might skip it all together. Not that I have anything against a tally, but I'm really trying to look forward right now rather than look back.

Husband & I are leaning toward doing a metric century that will be 4 weeks from Saturday.  I haven't been riding much, so I need to figure out how to get from zero to 64 in 4 weekends.  Catch:  Husband will be out of town for the first two weekends, so I'll need to ride alone on my long rides.

Here's what I'm thinking.

• Get in 2 mid-week rides.  Somewhere between 8 and 16 miles.  Don't sweat so much about how far, just be sure to get on the bike
• Get in one weekend ride.  Aim for a progression:  25, 35, 45...yes the next one would be a big jump to 64, but that's okay!

Granted, this may not be the most sound approach, but it beats what I would otherwise be doing for sure:  sit on the couch until event day and attempt 64 miles with no training at all.  LOL.

In addition, I'm going to try to run 3 times a week.  It's okay if the runs are short and slow, I just need some consistency with my cardio base building.  It will help me get through the bike rides.  

One of the biggest hurdles is mental.  There is a part of me that doesn't believe I can do it.  That part is a liar!  I can do it.  I WILL do it!

How I'm doing so far:  Ran Monday: 4.0 slow miles.  Rode yesterday, 8.2 miles.  I'm calling that a successful start.  

Oh, and I'm still wearing the pedometer and trying to get to an average of 12K steps per day.  Running obviously increases step count and I get to add in cycling minutes to convert to step-equivalents so tracking the steps helps hold me accountable.  GAME ON!!

Monday Musings

PEDOMETER FUN:

So, wearing the pedometer has been interesting.  I've learned a few things.

1. I walk more than I realized
2. The number of steps I take varies greatly from day to day
3. I become very lazy when Husband is out of town

In the 7 days that I've worn the pedometer, the number of steps logged varied from 5099 to 16,619 with most days just over 7000.  The high day was a day that I ran, so no surprise there.  The low day was the day Husband left to go out of town; I should have gone for a run, instead I just sat on the couch feeling sorry for myself.  The real surprise for me is that most days seem to be just over 7000 (7100-7400).  I would have guessed it to be lower, maybe closer to the low day.    My overall average ended up being 9170, that one day with a high number of steps really boosted the average.  The challenge is to get to 10,000 steps by the end of the 9 weeks.  I'm almost there already, which is good.  But for me, I'm trying to get to 12,000 steps which means that I need to add in some running on a more consistent basis.

SMOOTHIE MADNESS:

Similar color & consistency of my smoothies

A few weeks ago, I was organizing our pantry in the garage and realized that Husband had built up a stockpile of a couple dozen containers of protein powder.  So I started making myself fruit/protein smoothies.  My favorite so far is a blend of frozen fruit from Walmart (peaches, mango, pineapple, & strawberry) plus some frozen banana slices plus a scoop and a half of vanilla protein powder, and some water.  It's yummy!  I've decided to buy Daughter a blender and give her some protein powder so she can make some of these as well.

UPCOMING RACES/EVENTS:

My race/event calendar is currently empty.  Eek. That's not a good place for me to be.  I'm trying to talk a friend into running a 5K with me in a few weeks.  Husband & I are also looking at a metric century in a month.  I guess I better get busy and start riding my bike a little more, huh?

Re-Discovering My WHY

I haven't posted for over two weeks. Usually that means that I haven't done much activity worth posting. And once again, that is the excuse. However, in the past few days, I have done some soul searching. If anyone asks me why I exercise, I usually say "because I can."  And that was certainly true several years ago. There is a story that goes with it, but feeling generally well enough to exercise was what got me out the door. I didn't want to waste any chance I had, in case I might not feel well enough again.

But that doesn't seem to be what motivates me now.  Over the past few years, I'm finding that I'm more likely to exercise if (and only if) I have someone to join me and if I have a race or other event on my calendar. If I don't have a race and I don't have company on any given day, I'm highly likely to skip it all together.  That certainly doesn't sound like someone who does it because they *can*. It sounds like someone who does it only when they *want to*.

Well, I found myself revisiting my motivation this weekend while I was in OH visiting my mother. Her health is poor and as a result, she is weak and has trouble doing what most of us would consider regular daily activities. I realized something. I really don't want that to be me in 30 years if I can help it! One of the real reasons that I want to exercise regularly is to keep myself fit and healthy. I guess I had forgotten that.

Today I acquired a pedometer and committed to another 8 week 10,000 steps/day challenge at work which just happens to be starting this week. Even though I may walk by myself, I'll be checking in with other co-workers. So I'm really not alone in this. And the program that we use to track our measured steps at work allows entering cycling time (it converts it to steps) or swimming time or other vigorous activities besides just steps.  Last time I averaged 12,000 steps per day most weeks.  That was during the summer when the days were longer and it was easier to get activities in during daylight.

We'll see what happens this time.  It would probably be good if I could just hit 10K on average with the shorter days.But I'd really like to augment walking with enough running/cycling/swimming or whatever to maintain that higher level of activity that I had achieved during the summer.

It seems that I'm off to a good start.  I put the pedometer on about 6 hours ago and currently have 5787 steps for the day. I probably had at least 2000 steps before I put it on.  And the day isn't over yet, so I'm well on my way to hitting 10,000 for the day. Knowing that my steps are being counted motivated me to take the stairs instead of the elevator, and do a little extra walking during my lunch hour.  I also made sure to walk the dogs when I got home.

So what's you WHY and has it ever changed?

RailRunner Bike Tour - in photos

Cyclists beginning to line up for this 50K bike ride (~36 miles).  There were ~150 total

Husband stops to fix Flat #1

Husband stops to fix Flat #2

Are you freaking kidding me?  Here he is with Flat #3

Proof we *finally* made it to the finish

Friday Five

1. I managed to run twice this week.  Not far and not fast, but I got out there.  Given my recent lack of motivation regarding running, this is worth celebrating.  
2. September is traditionally my favorite month of the year.  Mostly because the weather is fantastic (cooler, but not cold) and the days are still long enough to enjoy time outside. Having said that, what is with the 95+ degree days that we've been having!?!?!?  Where is my awesome September weather??
3. Attended a work dinner/event/celebration with Husband last night (his work, not mine).  It was a Casa Rodena Winery in the North Valley.   What a hidden gem!  I didn't even know this place existed.  
4. Hoping to get out on my bike a little later this morning as final prep for the bike "tour" this weekend.
5. I've been waiting for photos from live.love.tri, but haven't seen any communication about that yet.  The event was 2 weeks ago. Seems like they should be available for preview by now.

Ha!  After posting about not getting info on photos, just got an email.  Found a few of myself.  Take a look and let me know if any are worth purchasing:  run start, running looking happy, cycling, swimming.  And this one is just a random photo to give you an idea how crazy crowded the swim was. 

August Tally

Numbers

• 22.5 miles running
• 39.7 miles walking
• 61.9 miles cycling
• 1400 yards swimming
• 1 5K race with surprise 1st place AG finish
• 1 sprint triathlon
• 7 Isotopes games attended
• 3 bridal salons visited
• 1 dress ordered (yay!  the bridal dress search is over)
• 4 days in Colorado visiting family
• 3 pumpkin & 3 cantaloupe vines killed/pulled up due to squash bugs.  Ugh.
• 4 varieties tomatoes ripening
• Yet another new saddle to try
• 1 bike fit
• 1 shoulder feeling better (not fully healed)

Thoughts

• Seems like I didn't do much training, just sort of showed up at a few races and competed.  While not ideal, it worked well enough for me given the current situation with my shoulder. I don't really have a good excuse for not running other than I really wasn't feeling it; I guess that's good enough reason. Maybe I'll just focus on cycling this month.
• My bike feels completely different after the bike fit.  Hopefully that's a good thing.
• I've become a huge fan of minor league baseball and am sad that the season has ended. I do not like football, basketball, or hockey, so the next 5 months are going to be rough!
• Frustrated that squash bugs killed my pumpkin and cantaloupe plants.  I probably won't plant those again next year.

Plans

• 50K bike "tour" next weekend
• Try to find my motivation for running
• Cancel my gym membership since I don't seem to be using it to swim.