Happy Leap Day

This morning I decided it was time to do something that I haven't done in a very long time. It involved searching for my bathing suit bottoms, a swim cap, and goggles. Yes folks, I actually SWAM today.

I devised a simple short workout to reacquaint myself with the pool:

100 warm-up
200 drills
400 moderate/easy pace - timed
200 breast up, crawl back
100 warm-down.

Amazingly, my 400 in the middle came in at 8:53 which is not too far off where I was in the midst of my peak swim training last year. Not bad. And I hereby declare Fridays to be swim day on my training schedule.

I could have done nothing else and still would have been pleased with myself. But it actually gets better. You see, today has been an absolutely beautiful day - mid-sixties, sunny, no wind.

I decided to take advantage of the spring-like day and get my 6 mile run in this afternoon rather than wait until the weekend.

My plan was to go fairly easy (think half-mary pace), take walk/fuel breaks every mile, and cover my target distance of 6.0-6.5 miles.

Here's how it played out for 6.24 miles. Please note that the first mile was all run, I didn't start my first walk break until I hit the 1 mile mark. Every other mile includes a 1-2minute walk break. The last quarter mile is all run also, I didn't stop to walk when I hit mile six, I kept running until I reached my driveway.

10:47 (all run)
11:32
11:56
12:02
12:43
12:29
10:24 (0.24 miles all run)

I'm happy with my overall average pace of 11:53, but as you can tell, I'm still not very good at pacing myself. But since pacing myself wasn't part of the plan, I'd call this run a success. I feel like I'm back on track for the half-mary in April.

And since it's a leap year, both the swim and the run get counted into my Feb totals (which I will tally up and post at some future time). For me, it has been a very happy and productive leap day. :)

Edit: I'm sore this morning, but in a good way. I also pulled the trigger and signed up Husband & I for the half-marathon. WoooooHooooo!!!

Good Running & Tilley Hat

Eye infection is under control. Made it to the gym and did 3.0 miles. Yay! That brings me to 27.6 miles for the month. Not what I wanted, but okay given losing 10+days to illness. Plus, I still have two days before month's end and intend to take advantage of them.

This afternoon, I roughed out a schedule to get me to the half mary start line on April 19th. I need to run at least 6 miles this weekend. Seems a little daunting, but I am **so** ready to make it happen.

Switching subjects. I used to have a great lightweight Tilley hat that is perfect for walking outside, yardwork, going to the beach/pool etc. I gave it to my mother-in-law the last time she was visiting. The sun here is intense and she needed it more than I did. I miss my old hat and since we have since we have travel to Hawaii in 3 weeks, I ordered myself a new one.

It's basically the same model that I used to have, but with upgrades including some reflective stuff on the strap (you might notice it from the camera flash), a built in sweat band, and a new color that I love.

You know what? I totally *heart* my Tilley hat. This hat rocks. It floats. There is a hidden pocket at the top that can store money, credit card, ID, hotel key, etc. You can stash your sunglasses on it by using the holes on the sides. It has UV50 protection. It fits like a glove.

This hat totally suits my personal style. Yeah, I know. I'm a dork. But at my age I am convinced more than ever that 'saving face' (ie, protecting it from sun damage) is very important and I don't know another hat that does it better than the Tilley.

Oh yeah, and if you can't tell. I'm feeling a lot better today. YAY!!!!!

You've got to be kidding...

Monday, I got up early as planned and went to the gym before work. I barely squeaked out two miles on the treadmill before running out of steam. I did about half of my upper body strength workout as well, then called it quits. It was by no means a stellar workout, but it sure beats being sick and doing nothing.

I had intended to give it another go this morning, thinking that I would try to get at least 2.5 miles in, then do the other half of my strength work. Then maybe I'd be doing full workouts by mid week.

However, I awoke to discover my right eye was goopy and stuck shut. What?!?!? You've got to be kidding me!!! And just moments after I asked Husband if he knew what time urgent care opened, Daughter came by complaining that something was wrong with her eye too. Lovely. Two cases of pink eye. So much for going to the gym...

Instead, we spent the morning at urgent care, were administered a prescription for antibiotic eye drops, and came home to disinfect the house (aka wash the sheets, pillow cases, towels, etc).

Neither of us should be contagious tomorrow, so she'll be back at school and I'll try once again to get to the gym before work. Of course, I've had to reset expectations *again*.

I'm thinking there must be a lesson in patience or something in here for me. What do you think?

Almost Back

Well that sucked. I basically lost over a week of my life to the stupid flu. I've accomplished absolutely nothing, and I'm still not exactly back to normal. I hate being sick.

I'm hoping to wake up tomorrow feeling well enough to get to the gym for the first time in over a week. I really want to run a half marathon in April and am way behind on training now having lost two full weekends to the stupid flu (Have I mentioned that being sick sucks?). Anyway, I'm determined to get to the starting line on pure will power if necessary.

The 10miler in March? That probably won't happen now.

On a brighter note, we've booked travel to the Big Island for spring break. We'll be heading out a few days after our 19th wedding anniversary. I can't wait. :)

Feeling Blecky

I think I may have some inkling as to why I didn't feel like waking up on Friday.

I started feeling some sort of flu coming on Friday afternoon and haven't been well since. The timing really stinks because I had a long weekend and ended up wasting it doing a bunch of nothing, feeling miserable, and being sick. Uggggh.

Husband says that if I'm still running a fever tomorrow and/or am not feeling markedly better, I need to call a nurse and see if heading into urgent care might be a good idea. I'm not fond of the thought of driving over there just to be told that I have a viral something or other and need to give it more time, but we'll see what the nurse has to say.

Anyway, so much for any hopes of ramping my running volume back up any time soon. :(

p.s. Daughter has returned the scale and I have decided to abandon my weight loss challenge with myself in the short term.

Friday Follies

I meant to start the day off with a run at the gym, but when my loving husband awoke me bright and early, I asked (or maybe demanded) that he turn the lights back off because I wanted more sleep. He reminded me that he was waking me up at the time I requested the night before, and I reminded him (or demanded) that I wanted more sleep. Turn the lights off. Now. I have a bit of a scratchy throat, stuffy head, head-ache and just didn't feel like getting up early today.

When I finally did get up, I went to dutifully step on the scale to see where I was with my weight challenge to self. Today's weight is significant because this is the goal date. But alas, I couldn't find the scale. What is up with that?!?! Where could a scale disappear to??

I also intended to take the scoot out for some practice riding this morning after I got home from the DMV with my shiny new license plate. Got geared up, rolled the scoot outside, and realized that the wind was quite gusty. Too gusty, in my mind, for this beginner rider. So I rolled it back inside the garage and parked it again.

At this point, I'm 0 for 3 on my goals for the day.

So what exactly *did* I do with my day? I spent some time thinking about what my short term fitness plans are. I want to run 6 easy tomorrow or Sunday. Based on how that goes, I may target a 10-miler in 4 weeks; if not, I'll probably do the 5K instead. I also have my eyes on a local half-mary in April. Where does triathlon fit into my plans for this year? I'm still not sure if/how. That doesn't mean I've given it up, just that my priorities have shifted.

I also came up with what I thought was a very ingenious method to safely store my insurance card vehicle registration info under the seat of my scoot using a plastic sleeve and some sticky-tape velcro. Sure, it's not pattent worthy, but I was quite pleased with my solution.

Oh yeah...and guess what?! When my daughter came home from school, she told me that she's hidden the scale from me. Apparently, while she knows that I think I have weight to lose, she thinks I look fine just like I am. Don't know if I should hug her or ground her.

Edit: My dog refused to be a vegetarian. He may, however, be a venison-arian. He's now eating a sweet potato and venison diet. Tough life, huh? It doesn't seem to have any negative digestive issues, but I'm yet not sure yet if it is helping with his allergies/ear infections.

the Present

"Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, Today is a Gift, that's why they call it the Present." - anonymous

I ran 4.3 miles this morning in honor of my 43rd B'day.

I have many blessings - a wonderful husband, great kids, good health, etc.

Happy Birthday to me. :)

Running with my Sweetheart

Today happens to be Husband's 47th B'day. We kicked off the birthday celebration by running the Sweetheart Run 5K.

I didn't have much in the way of expectations, mostly wanted to do better than I did at this race 2 years ago (33mins). And to be honest, this is the first time I've run outside in about 2 months, so I wasn't entirely sure that I was going to be able to achieve that goal.

It went well. I'll update the sidebar when I results are posted. The unofficial time per my watch is 30:28 which works out to an average pace of something like 9:49 min/mi. Did I read that right?!? [Updated: Official Result is 30:14, 9:41 min/mi. Woot!!]

I'm definately sold on strength work now. The thing that held me back was my cardio fitness level, not my legs. I need to get my lungs back. The running hiatus has ended.

I told you that February was going to be a good month. :-)

My 9 on the 9th

If you came here looking for a 9 on the 9th race report, sorry to disappoint. I suppose it could happen tomorrow, but that is unlikely. I do however, have something else planned for tomorrow that is running related, so please come back to read about it:)

Scooter progress (a list in honor of 9 on the 9th):

• full face helmet
• bungee net
• grip lock
• motorcycle permit
• battery tender
• scooter jacket
• winter riding gloves
• summer riding goves
• 07 Orange Sunset Buddy, 125 cc

Yes, my friends, the scoot has landed. Here it is sleeping in my garage. Oh.My.Gosh. Isn't it the cutest thing? It needs a name, I'm taking suggestions. :)

I actually haven't ridden it solo yet, but I have been reading the owners manual and practicing important things such as turning it on and off, getting it on and off the center stand, getting the seat opened and latched closed, locking the steering column, attaching my gym bag to the back rack using the bungee net, getting the helmet on/off my head, using the turn signals (you have to hit a button to make them stop), using the horn, using the kill switch, etc. Vroom, vroom! I'm getting ready to go!

Oh, and in one simple day of scooter ownership, I have been demoted from "Hot Rod Scooter Mamma" to "Scooter Geek". *LOL*

To Do list (please note, I made a point of listed yet *another* 9 for the 9th):

• lots o' riding practice!
• something to haul the scoot to/from the dealer/MSF class etc
• call insurance agent (t-13 days and counting)
• get permanent plate (t-29 days and counting)
• driving skills test, preferably via MSF class in a month
• summer jacket/spring gloves
• better solution for hauling my gear (gym bag, laptop case) to/from the office
• extra riding stuff for a passenger (at some point...after I'm comfy riding it myself first)
• some way to haul it using my SUV

Fabulous Friday

I''m pleased to report another fne run by slow&steady standards - 3 miles in just under 32minutes (again, this is inclusive of walk breaks) for an overall average pace of 10:40. I am pleased!


Got a lot of comments wondering about the song that inspired me the other day. The group is Family Force 5, the album is Business Up Front/Party in the back, the song is Supersonic. I certainly wouldn't expect that many (if any) of you have ever heard of this group before. My kids saw them in concert at a retreat in 2006 and came home asking for the album. Normally, music like this would be classified as "noise" in my book, as in I may or may not have been heard to tell them to "turn that noise down". But I must admit that it has turned out to be one of my favorite albums to listen to when I run. Just don't tell my kids. ;)

Supersonic

My inspiration for the morning workout came courtesy of Family Force 5 from the lyrics of the song “Supersonic” which happened to be playing on my ipod when I got started.

“Let go of yourself
It'll be good for your health
Don't care who watches
You gonna take it up a few notches”

And I so did.

4 miles and 43:00 min later (including walk breaks), I had accomplished an average pace of 10:45min/mi. This is lightning fast compared to my recent 12min+ miles. And it felt good.

“Supersonic…..
Oh Oh Oh
Oh Oh My Goodness
Supersonic…”

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

So here it is, Monday evening, and it's snowing again and sticking. We're taking bets in the house as to whether or not school will be cancelled again tomorrow. At this point, it seems to be even money. I must say, it's quite pretty out there but I'm not thrilled with the possibility that I might miss my gym session if the roads are bad. Bah Humbug!

Speaking of the gym, today I managed 3.2 miles on the treadmill, which is good for me. I'll be thrilled if I can keep increasing slightly and get to 4.0 on Friday. That's probably my breaking point, though. I really find it to be so incredibly boring that it's amazing I can do much more than 1.5miles on that thing. I soooooo want it to warm up so I can run outside comfortably in the morning again. I miss my outside running.

In other news....Bandit went back on his old food and the itching started right back up. I'm going to try a vegetarian diet for him next. I guess this is all about trial and error.

Also, I have a very cute armoured scooter jacket on the way and checked on insurance, so now all I really need is my scooter, gloves, and a few accessories. I've decided that if they still has the 2007 Sunset Orange Buddy in stock, I'm going to pick it up on Friday. Otherwise, I guess I'll wait for the new 2008 colors which should be coming in the next week or so. Not that I'm in a huge hurry if there is snow on the ground...

BTW - A few of you have asked if scootering will interfere with cycling to work. The answer is a resounding No. I will still cycle to work 2 time per week when the weather warms up. It will, however, take the place of Lisa travelling as a solo passenger in her SUV going no faster than 30 MPH on her short daily commute whenever weather permits year-round. And getting 90+ MPG instead of 15 MPG. And having tons more fun. :)

It's February already?!?!

My January stats aren't very impressive. In the end, I ran a pitiful 16.5 miles and gained no ground toward my weight goal. However, I did complete 9 strength workouts and increaed my weights on all but one exercise. And given that those miles all happened within the last two weeks, I can at least feel good about re-establishing my running habit.

Feb is starting off well. Got the gym and ran 2.7 miles. I also passed my written exam and was issued my motorcycle permit. WoooooHooooo. And I called to see if I could get a hair appointment for this evening and she had a cancellation within the next 40minutes, so I'm on my way out as soon as I post this. Edited post Hair Appt - I just love how my hair turned out. This shorter style that I've been wearing since December is soooooo cute and makes me feel all happy. :)

I think February is going to be a good month. :)

Not your ordinary Tuesday

This morning I got up extra early so that I could get to the fitness center in time for both a 2.0 mile treadmill run and at least half of my regular strength workout. Why? Well, tomorrow I have an early morning meeting which means no time for the fitness center and I didn't want to miss a run now that I'm just in the process of re-establishing my running habit.

While I was pulling out of the garage. I noticed that it had snowed a little bit last night. Not a lot, just a nice dusting. It was pretty.

But pulling out onto the road, it didn't seem quite so pretty. Surprise! The roads were ICY. I decided to keep going, took it slow, put it in 4wheel drive, and hoped that nobody in front of me would stop when I was trying to get up the hill. I later found out that Husband was not quite as fortunate and had to stop to help push two cars that had gotten stuck up while going up the same hill when he came into work a little later in the morning.

Long story short, I made it up to work and got my workout done in a mostly deserted fitness center. I also got a nice parking spot in a mostly derserted parking lot. Good thing, because I kinda slid into it in a somewhat uncontrolled fashion. ;)

The kids ended up having a day off school, which made them happy. The roads were all cleared up by the time I was on my way home from the office, so that made me happy.

It wasn't an ordinary Tuesday, but that's not necessarily a bad thing!

Week in Review

I think I'd give it a B+

All weekday workouts completed per plan. I only ran a total of 8 miles over three days, but that's better than the 2.4 miles last week, and wayyy better than the 0 miles the week before (and before and before and before). I went with a 4:2 run/walk for the sake of trying to remain injury free. I would like to run 4-5 miles one day this weekend and take the other day off. I have errands to do today and I didn't run in the morning, so it is looking like tomorrow will be my run day.

Next week's game plan will be the same, with some added focus on increasing the distance of those short runs.

I ended up not going to the DMV to take my test for the permit. I was on my way there and decided that I really should study a little bit more, so I turned around and came home. I then proceeded to fill my day with things other than studying. Now I'm aiming for some time next week.

On a completely unrelated topic. As my kids (ages 16 and 14) get older, I'm finding myself feeling less and less needed. I don't like it one bit. I'm not looking forward to them get old enough to leave the house, which could potentially be a just a few years for the older one. Is it just me?

Checkin' in

On the exercise front:

• Ran 2.6 miles on Monday
• Completed my strength workout on Tuesday
• Ran 3.3 miles today (Wed)

Again, no speed or distance records, but I'm getting some running in and staying to my plan. I am confident that I will complete my strength workout tomorrow and Friday's planned run because I'm actually looking forward to both. Yay for what appears to be the return of the missing motivation!!

On the weight front:

• Not happy with the scale

At work we have an annual health-for-life program where we get blood work and such. As I mentioned before, my weight is up 5 lbs from last year. I'd like to think it is from an increase in muscle, but my percent body fat is higher as well, so that theory is pretty much out the window. Grumble grumble grumble...

On the scooter front:

• Helmet purchased
• Grip lock ordered, should arrive this weekend

I'm going to attempt to get my learners permit Friday morning. This requires passing a written test that I've only loosely studied for. I figure that if I fail, I'll at least know what kind of questions to study for next time.

Once I get my learners permit, I may buy the scooter within a week. They have one last one in a discontinued color that I like. If they sell that before I get my act together, it is okay. In any event, I still need jacket and gloves before I can ride it. And I'm still not quite sure how to get it home from the dealer...exploring options there.

On the Bandit front:

• duck and potato diet made him gassy
• back on lamb & rice

I said I'd let you know how that was going. As it turns out, I'll never know how the other diet might have worked for his ears / skin allergies because it had other negative effects with his digestive system. We're back to square one.

Steps in the Right Direction

They say that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

I'm going to start looking forward just a few steps at a time in the short term to make sure I'm headed in the right direction. Then I'll start looking a little farther forward.

Plan for the weekdays this week: Running Mon/Wed/Fri - on treadmill if not outside - no excuses! Strength at the gym Tue/Thu.

I'll worry about the weekend when it gets closer.

Todays' run is in the books.

Note to self: See, that wasn't so bad, now was it?!?!

STOP THE PRESSES!!

I dragged my lazy bum out the door, to the gym, and stepped on the treadmill. No speed or distance records, but 2.5 miles later I stepped off. At long last, I can finally say:

I RAN TODAY!!

You may now resume your regular blog reading.

This, That, and the Other

Weight Status -

Not great. I seem to be stuck. I'm at -3 of -8, which also means I'm +5 of goal weight which is +5 of my weight at this same time last year. And I have less than a month to go. I've decided to devise some way to pro-rate my challenge prize to myself. The idea of all or nothing makes me want to throw the weight goal out the window because I won't make it. The idea of pro-rating the prize makes me want to keep at it.

Progress at the Gym -

The weight gloves make a difference. And I upped the weight on a few more exercises so now I'm doing more weight on all but one so far. I'm quite pleased with that.

Missing in Action -

Anything remotely resembling triathlon training. Sigh. But I'm hoping for an improvement in the weather and/or an improvement in my motivation. SOON.

Random Fact about my Computer -

I think something is wrong with my computer. I seem to go through mice every few weeks. I seriously think my computer does something to them to cause them to fail. And what is with the touchpad thingy that is built into the laptop? I hate that thing. I like the little red pointer mouse thing on my work laptop much better.

Random Fact about the Scooter pursuit -

I'm planning to go to the Scooter store tomorrow. I have given myself permission to buy a helmet, jacket, and gloves if I find something that I like and fits. I need these things before getting the scooter and/or before taking the Motorcycle Safety Course. I'm still not sure if I'm going to try to get a permit (pass the written test), then get the scooter, then take the course on my scooter for the full endorsement OR if I'm going to try to take the course first (on a motorcycle) for the full endorsement before bringing the scooter home.

Random Fact about B'days

Son turns 16 on Sunday (in three days). Husband turns 47 three weeks later. I turn 43 three days after that. We have quite a cluster of b'days coming up. Daughter is out there on her own in early November

Two more in the books

Two more strength sessions in the books. After my latest increasing of weights, my palms are getting all chewed up and I'm either gonna' end up with nice calluses or ugly blisters if I don't go out and get some weight gloves. It's all good though! I feel like that's just another indication that I'm really making progress.

It's worth mentioning that I have been the only woman in the gym at the small fitness center that I go to in the morning (at least at the time that I go) for the entire time that I've been going there. It used to make me feel weak and silly when I thought about what I was doing compared to those muscular men. It took awhile, but I don't worry about that anymore. At this point, I have come to the conclusion that most people at the gym really take much more than a passing glance at the other people there unless they are using the machine that they want to use. We're all just there to do whatever we set out to do for the day; getting that done is the focus, the people at the gym are just distractions.