Friday, April 16, 2010

jogging the memory stick

I run the same routes as I did when I last trained for a marathon. I live in south Florida, east of the interstate, so my choices, while scenic, are somewhat limited. And, as I run I am reminded of old memories, old thoughts and old posts from my old blog which wrote the story of another person in another life, seemingly.

I'm not sure how all this sits with me...makes me feel like I experienced some sort of deliverance into a new world that still doesn't fit quite right. And, I don't like that scratchy feeling when something doesn't fit exactly how I want it to fit.

Anyway, I thought I 'd post pictures instead of writing anything else...

04/16/10 - running - 4 miles - 40:32
(9:58, 10:07, 10:22, 10:04)



Me and stinger -- I've convinced myself I need a new helmet that matches the red bike frame...we'll see how good of a deal I can find after scouring the internet.


the dog and I took some self-portraits yesterday while I was waiting for a file to download. He looks very distinguished. I've started this regime of brushing him every day because apparently that is what a good dog parent is supposed to do.

person #2 and bruiser - Bruiser was named before he truly earned the reputation. I learned to ride on Bruiser - anyone who has every been on a bike can tell you that was a bad idea...he's a little heavy and has a lot of power. One day I was making a left turn and my head told me I was going to hit a shrub so my hand squeezed the brake. I used my leg to protect Bruiser (bad idea) and had the worst muscle pull/tear I can remember in recent times. I make that same left turn every time I ride - I don't know why I thought I was going to hit that shrub. Oh well.


Happy trails - enjoy your Friday.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

they call it a breeze

but sometimes the "sea breeze" can be downright cruel.

The last two days it has definitely impacted my workouts. And, plus, I like it to be HOT when I ride my bicycle (I think this might be my vanity. I would like to be thin and tan and since the former isn't happening, I'm hoping I can accomplish the later) and when it is windy it is not hot enough for me.

Alas, workouts have been done and they've both gone reasonably well. That said, a truck carrying a few landscapers honked at me this morning and at the time I felt like a super-saturated beached whale and I was a little disturbed that they were honking at me.

My iPod shuffle (gen 2, so it has the option to not shuffle) works fine so I think the charger is the issue. I ordered a replacement USB type charger thingy from the great world wide web and hopefully it will arrive soon.

does happiness abound on this hump day? yea, I guess so.

04/13/10 - biking - 16.26 miles
04/14/10 - running - 5 miles - 52:22 (10:07, 10:41, 10:48, 10:10, 10:34)

Saturday, April 10, 2010

resuscitation necessary

I am afraid that my iPod shuffle might be dead. I am going to try to find a different charger for it and see if that is the problem. I damaged the charger a while ago and perhaps it might just be entirely dead now, I am not sure.

Anyway, I can't run comfortably with an iPod touch and I don't want an arm band or anything else that might cause chafing so I'm going to see if there is another solution.

Did an early morning run this morning and my back is a bit sore, but I'm off to do some weekend errands now.

04/10/10 - 4 miles 42:46

have to run, no splits today.

Friday, April 9, 2010

continuing saga of the measuring pants

They fit better everywhere but the waist, but I did just return from a run so I am not sure how that effects fit.


Nonetheless, I have lost some weight and I know this because my bat wings are almost entirely gone. I'm not sure if that is the real (technical) name for this fat deposit, but I will explain the location. When I gain weight the area of my thighs below the hip joint becomes very well padded. (My dog gets extra hair in this area too and it makes him look chunkier than he is, but he's cute with or without them; me, not so much.) In other words it isn't pretty and it annoys me. Luckily they are almost gone.


I did another 5 mile run this morning. 3 minutes 45 seconds faster than last week's 5 miler. 5:1 intervals seem to be working quite well, except when I can't add or remember and I do a 4 minute interval instead. I'll survive. Hopefully my memory and addition skills will return to me quickly because I have work to do today and those are important factors in my productivity.


Have a good Friday.


04/09/10: 5 miles - 53:27 (running)
(10:31, 10:50, 10:56, 10:50, 10:14)

Thursday, April 8, 2010

change, or rather upheavel, of plans

Rather than having my normal schedule this week, I spent time supervising person #2's children. (thank you census bureau for that good moniker) He had to go to work and they were on spring break and I work at home, imagine that arrangement. Anyway, it was a change from normal and a little stressful, but I think am back to my regularly scheduled life now.

There was a definite lack of sleep in the past few days so I didn't have the energy to run this morning. I went out riding on my bicycle instead which was adventurous - my chain popped off twice, I'm not sure why, but I will take a look at it some time later today.

back to the grind in these parts. Have a happy Thursday.

04/08/10 - 20.93 miles - biking

Sunday, April 4, 2010

getting through the next workout

the mental blocks after a "bad workout" are usually more punishing than any physical pain.

don't have much time to post today, but I did do an early morning workout. I included my five minute walking warmup in my first mile, so overall these numbers are pretty decent. I did 5:1 run-to-walk intervals which might be the right ratio for the moment.

4 miles - 44:50
(12:37, 11:15, 10:41, 10:15)

have a happy easter.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

once upon a time

once upon a time I was in good shape.  now is not once upon a time.  clearly.

I'm not like grossly out of shape. chances are I could beat most people in a foot race, a short sprint in a pool and if endurance is the goal I could probably suffer through a longer bike ride than most people.  But, I'm not happy with the current state of affairs.  I wish training condition was a cummulative thing - so if I was once in a good shape, I will be permanently in good shape.  I know this isn't the case.  It isn't that I don't want to do the work or don't enjoy the challenge of training, it is the mental torture that happens on the way to the goal.

I vacillate between "I don't care" and "I wonder if I can have a lobotomy on an outpatient basis."  If I could change my thinking and my self-judgment it would probably make this process easier.

So, I ran 5 miles yesterday.  My average pace wasn't horrific...about 11:20.  However, my third mile was terrible.  It seems that after about 21 minutes of running all of my joints let out a collective sigh and asked "Why are we doing THIS again?" 

Because we are and that is that.

So, numbers.

04/01/10: 5 miles, 57:11 (running)
04/02/10: 26.2 miles, 1:42.36 (biking)

it wasn't an intentional marathon distance ride - just the distance from my front door to the inlet.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

oh cactus, my cactus

on superbowl sunday 2008 I ran into a cactus. (when I originally wrote about said cactus I think I referred to it as an "attack")

even for me, that feels like a bizarre sentence to write. I am especially good at remembering my position in the time-space continuum. (My mother will arbitrarily ask things like "where were you during the summer of 1991" and I will have an answer. odd, huh)

yesterday, I said "hi" to my little cacti friend as I rode happily by on my motorcycle. I realize though if stinger (the motorcycle) were to collide with the cacti I'd probably still lose.

I'm not sure if the cacti really has any other significance. I still have a scar from the altercation, the cacti appears unharmed. I had been running on a bum hip for about 6 months before that morning and I think the additional weakness from the incident was my undoing.

In other news, my Garmin arrived - buying the not latest model lowered the price enough to spring for quick shipping. Next time I run there will be data. Oh, how I love looking at data, massaging it and making it tell me what I want to hear.

Oh data, my data.

Monday, March 29, 2010

ga ga for gadgets

ahh....the joy of gift certificates and gadgets.

Once upon a time I had another blog with lots of posts about my runs and how far and fast I traveled through swampy, humid Floridian mornings. And then I decided to take some time off. Or, more accurately, I think my hip decided I needed to take some time off. I did other things like yoga but mostly I lounged around. And at some point that I can't recall, without searching through my old blog, my Garmin Forerunner 201 died. I enjoyed my Forerunner 201 and except when I wore it on my wrist while biking, I was never really bothered by its size. Some people say it is like wearing a deck of cards on your wrist - I'm not sure if it is quite that bad, but it is about the size of a Kit Kat bar - though less tasty and much harder plastic. So now that I am training again I'd like a GPS-enabled training device to run along with me. I spent way too much time this weekend reading reviews online and on amazon about the newer Forerunners. Specifically the 305 and 405/405CX though I did briefly glance at the 310XT. The last one is not within my proposed budget and I don't do enough swimming to justify the purchase. (and even though it is waterproof, apparently it doesn't provide accurate readouts underwater, so what is the point anyway?)

After careful study, I think I am going to buy the 305. Except for a brief period in my life when I wanted the newest stuff - I don't even remember when this was, truthfully, but I think it did actually happen, having the newest, coolest gadget has never been that important for me. I initially wanted to buy the 405 because it is smaller and therefore must be better, but after reading the reviews I'm not convinced. The watch functions using a touch bezel rather than buttons and apparently any water on the display causes it to freeze. I sweat when I run so this might present a problem. Many reviews expressed this concern, but the one that convinced me the 305 is a better option is the one that stated the 405 freezes in humid conditions. South Florida is nothing if not humid during the summer and if the watch froze in humid conditions this would probably cause me to sit down on a run and bang my head on the concrete with frustration. And I do enough banging my head against the wall in my work life to satisfy any human being, I don't want to duplicate this behavior while running.

So, unless something drastic happens between now and the arrival of my gift certificates (I'm not sure why gift certificates being used online are arriving via postal mail courtesy of my credit card rewards program) I'll buy a Garmin Forerunner 305 and hopefully run happily off into the distance knowing my pace, heart rate, distance and total time plus probably 30 other useless data sets. What fun for a data dork like me.

Have a good Monday.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

the measuring pants part #2

well, this is very unexciting. because I have other things to do this morning and I haven't worked out and I will not have a chance to workout until later today, if I'm lucky, I haven't made the attempt to squeeze my body into the pants that are probably still not all that comfy. Perhaps later. Perhaps tomorrow. Off into the world...

Friday, March 19, 2010

the break-in

the new sneakers arrived and I did an easy treadmill workout at 15 min mile pace to break them in - I mixed in some side-stepping and backwards walking intervals at 2.2 mph (not nearly as easy) but I know my hips still need to be stronger than their current state of mind. I think I probably won't start real running until next week. Though one never knows what craziness will take over this weekend.

So, as you can see, nothing interesting to report. Back to work for the next few hours and then the freedom of a weekend.

George is busy with this new regimen, too. (a very grainy video)

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

the measuring pants

I don't own a scale. Sure, there is a scale at the gym but I normally keep my distance. The last time I set foot on a scale was at a doctor's appointment in October. I am not sure when I will next use a scale. But, I do need to lose weight (or at a minimum, lose fat) so I need some method to determine progress. Thus, the measuring pants. I attended a family event last weekend and wore a pair of pants bordering on the side of "not-very-comfortable" and so those business-casual attire pants will be my measuring pants. When I can put them on and off without unbuttoning/unzippering the waist, I'll be satisfied.

New sneakers should arrive on Thursday - for now I'll hit the road on two wheels and go for a relaxing bike ride.

Happy trails Tuesday.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

been down this road before

my ankles, my knees, my hips, my back and my arms have all done this marathon thing before. the person who I am today, though, the heart, the mind, the spirit and the soul have never done the training, run the miles or crossed a finish line 26.2 miles from the start.

I question what I have inside of me. I don't have that same fire I once had- the one that fought battle after battle to keep me going.

I know I can do this, I've done it before. But the voice inside of me, that sneaky one always waiting for an opening, tells me that I can't and that I might fail and if I fail then everything is a failure.

I'm in a pre-training phase. I have a few months before I get to the full training schedule. I just ordered new sneakers for training.

I've done a 20 mile run in New York City - what is another 6 miles with 30,000 other runners on a special day in November?