Twenty Four Hours

Two workouts in 24 hours? What's come over me?

This week Jason and I are trying out city living by spending the week in my parents' downtown condo.

Since this place is a ten minute train ride from my office I am enjoying working out after work and still being home by 6:45 PM. Which means on Tuesday night I went to a cardio kickboxing class in the studio a block from my office before heading "home".

I was feeling strangely uncoordinated during some of the moves but I still worked up a great sweat and left with my arms and glutes feeling like they got a great workout.

Then, this morning, Jason convinced me to join him in the fitness room in the building we're staying in. Do you know how awesome it is to have a fitness center a few floors down from your apartment? It's not very big but it wasn't too busy and I was able to snag a treadmill for 45 minutes. I used this workout I just put on Pinterest:

Source: sweettoothsweetlife.com via Erin on Pinterest

Whew! I was dripping sweat and I could really feel my glutes working.

At this rate, I'm never going to want to give my parents' back their condo.

A Different Routine

When I got home from work on Wednesday my original plan was to hop on my bike for my usual 50 minute routine and then do some strength training. I wasn't really feeling it, though. I mean, part of me wanted to do some cardio but the other part of me didn't.

And then I remembered: Hey, wait! I have that yoga Groupon that I activated! I had just enough time to eat dinner, change, and drive to the yoga studio for the 7:30 PM class.

It was a different instructor than last time and this one was more "Western" and less new-age-y. Fine by me. The workout wasn't quite as intense as last time but I still learned a few things.

Specifically, the instructor told us that sometimes when we find it difficult to do balance poses that means we have too much on our minds. She was right; when I focused on clearing my mind the balance poses were easier to hold. Except for Warrior III. I still needed to use the yoga block for that one.

Guess my mind wasn't clear enough!

Sadly, although my left leg felt okay during many of the moves it hurt like the dickens later. So today I decided to get in some cardio to try and loosen it up.

Over lunch I went down to the little gym in the basement of one of our buildings and hopped on the treadmill. Not to run, but to powerwalk.

I walked for 30 minutes at 4.3 MPH and then worked on stretching out my hip flexor. It's still sore but I'm happy I was able to get some movement in today. I also did some bird dogs, push ups (50 total in 5 sets of 10), leg lifts and stability ball bridges. I'm going to try and do this more often, I think. It's nice to get my workout done in the middle of the day.

Stretched Out

You may remember when we last spoke I was complaining of horrible hip/glute pain.  Well, I saw my PT last Thursday and she massaged the hell out of my sore area and I felt better almost immediately.  We’re not sure what happened but somehow those muscles got too tight. 

To be honest, I think my favorite part of PT is the massages they do.  I always feel better.

She also used the a strap to help “distract” my hip joint.

You can kind of see it being demonstrated in the above photo.  See how he has that black belt around her upper leg and then around his lower body?  Anyway, as he leans back it pulls the hip joint apart giving some relief.  Weird, but it works.

The other thing my PT did was give me a heel lift for my shoe.  Apparently my left leg is occasionally shorter than my right.

Which I then promptly wore home and went powerwalking on the treadmill for 20 minutes.  Then the bike for 10 minutes.

Stupid idea, by the way.  My left shin started aching again afterward.  My doctor chastised me on Monday.  Oh well, live and learn.  It went away as soon as I took it easier with the heel lift.

Speaking of Monday, other than 15 minutes of intervals on the stationary bike on Friday morning I didn’t work out again until Monday evening. 

What did I do on Monday evening?

I went to the gym!

I hadn’t been to the gym in ages.  I rode the stationary bike and did some planks and bird dogs before I went to the grocery store.  I wanted to do some push-ups, too, but eating a dinner comprised mostly of fiber and then trying to work my lower abs was not the best plan before a workout, FYI. 

On Monday I also led one of my coworkers in Workout 1 where I swapped out the one armed dumbbell row for upright rows. 

I was expecting to get a cortisone shot in my hip on Monday but it ended up not happening.  So the gym trip was a pleasant surprise since I originally thought I’d be laying on the couch instead. 

I think I’m doing a pretty good job of getting in workouts even thought I can’t run.  I realized yesterday that it’s been over a month since I went for a run.  And while I miss it, I’m still enjoying trying to figure out new and different ways to enjoy my workouts.  Speaking of which, I really need to cash in these yoga Groupons….

Balls

 

My hip still hurts.  The first thing I did when I got home from work yesterday was get the tennis ball off my night stand and lay on it.  It’s the only thing I can use that will dig deep enough to create that orgasmically painful feeling you get when you press on somewhere that hurts.  Or is that just me?

My hip felt slightly better after that.  Better enough, anyway, for me to do 20 minutes of power walking on my treadmill per the doctor’s orders.

I think I was walking at between 4.0 and 4.5 MPH.  But since my treadmill is special I’m not entirely positive about that.  Regardless, I did 20 minutes.  My hip felt okay but I could feel my hip flexors stretching out.  Maybe that’s good?

Then it was time to do Thursday’s strength training workout.  I always like to do it at least once before I lead my coworkers because I don’t always get the hardcore lifting in the way I want when I’m teaching. 

1A "Bench" Press w/sit up (10)
1B Superman (10)
1C Willow (10)
x2
2A Lateral Raise w/external rotation (10)
2B Squat w/tricep press (10)
x2
3A Dumbbell Swing (10)
3B Clams w/resistance band (10 each side)
x2
Push-Ups

Then, because I didn’t feel like I’d actually done anything, I did Tabata intervals on the bike.  I upped the resistance a bit by changing the gears and my legs felt like Jello when I was done.  Now THAT’S what I call a workout.

My hip felt okay right afterward but later it was sore again.  And it’s still sore today.  Strangely, it felt okay as I led my coworkers through the weight routine (which I did sans weights) but hurt afterward.  Exercise-induced adrenaline is a wonderful thing. 

The Deal with My Hip

I mentioned two weeks ago that I may have finally got a diagnosis for my weird hip pain that comes and goes.

If you recall, I've basically been battling left leg issues all year. They're not painful enough that I've needed to stop running but nothing I do seems to make them better, either.

I've seen two kinds of physical therapists, done numerous physical therapy exercises, I've seen a chiropractor, massage therapists, and I've had three MRIs.

This last MRI was done with contrast which basically means they injected a dye into my hip socket so that they could see the area better on the scan.

Why did they do this? Well, apparently many of my symptoms can be caused by a hip labral tear and the only way to truly diagnosis this is to have an MRI with contrast.

So, that's what I had done.

And they think they found a tear. Apparently you can only see it on a few of the images and it's tiny, but the sports medicine doctor I've been seeing is pretty sure this is the cause of my issues.

No, I don't know how it happened. All I know is that I can still run as long as it doesn't hurt (which is why I did 5 miles on the treadmill at the gym on Thursday night) and that I'm scheduled to see an orthopedic surgeon at the end of December.

As much as I want this weird pain to go away I also don't really want surgery. I've been doing some research and it appears that that the recovery from surgery can go really quickly or very, very slowly depending on how much work the surgeon has to do in the joint. I won't really know my full options until I see the surgeon.

So, for now, I'm still running and doing some Pilates. And I'll still be running the Las Vegas Marathon. But I feel like I've had to put any plans for 2012 on hold until I figure out what's next.

But I did recently read an article in Competitor Magazine about taking six weeks off from running. Unfortunately I can't find the article online but basically it said that certain coaches recommend you take six weeks off at the end of your season and don't run at all. Instead they suggest you try lots of different exercises to keep your fitness and break up the routine of just running.

I've been running hard all year so I'm thinking that no matter what the surgeon says I'll take some time off in December and January. Maybe I'll try swim lessons again. Maybe I'll do a lot of Pilates and yoga. And if I'm really lucky I'll be able to lift weights again. We'll see. I hope you stick around for the ride!

Back to the Belt

Well, it appears that we've reached the crappy weather portion of our year.

Monday night I totally wimped out and skipped running in the rain and the dark. Tuesday morning I had the opportunity to run during the day but it was STILL raining. So, I took what some would consider the easy way out and went to the gym to use the treadmill.

Although, perhaps some of you wouldn't consider 6 miles on the treadmill to be the easy way out.

I figure it's good mental training, right? Treadmills are BORING and it takes all I've got to not hit the stop button and go do something else.

I set the incline to 1.0 and the speed to 6.0 MPH (10 minute miles), turned up my music and tried to zone out.

The first mile is always the worst. "How am I going to do this?" I think. "How many more miles?"

When I get to mile three I always think about how I want to be done. "Maybe three miles is my limit on this thing..."

But I know that's not true. So I finished all six.

Run for Pi made a couple posts this week about what to do now that the weather is finally turning for the worse. Do you suck it up and run outside? Do you outfit yourself in an outfit made entirely out of reflective tape and run in the dark? Do you resign yourself to being cold?

Whenever the time changes and the seasons change it always takes me a few weeks to adjust. Run in the dark? Blech. Run in the cold? Blech.

By January, though, I'm usually okay. Although, this time last year I wasn't still training for a marathon so I was able to take a little longer to adjust.

I don't WANT to resort to the treadmill but until I'm comfortable with the weather and the darkness I have a feeling that's where I'll be.

In Threes

I guess I have three runs to update about, huh?

This is what happens when I don't blog on the weekend. Oh well.

Monday night I wanted to get in more than the usual 5.5 miles but since it was our Run of the Month we had post-run plans for dinner at my favorite restaurant. I invited Jason to join us for dinner since I figure he's an official club member (he holds our gear at races and takes pictures). So I ended up running 2 miles to the club run starting point and then doing 5.5 miles with the club for a total of 7.5 miles. Worked out pretty well! My first two miles were quite speedy compared to the rest of them. Not really how it's supposed to go. At least the rest of the miles were fairly even? Anyway, it was a pretty good run for this time of year. It was warm out, but not stifling. I took my handheld water bottle and Jacob shared margarita flavored Shot Bloks.

Monday Night OPRC Plus by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Tuesday I did a three mile run at lunch. The sun was blazing but at least there was a cool breeze off Lake Michigan. Still, I took it easy and we stopped for water twice. The boys did the full 4 mile route but us gals just did 3. That's really all I wanted to do, anyway. My legs were pretty tired from running 7.5 miles less than 24 hours before. 10.5 miles in 18 hours? You'd think I was running a relay or something!

Lunch Run North by snmnstrz21 at Garmin Connect - Details

Then on Wednesday I tried something a little different. Wednesday is normally our track workout day but this is our "by" week. Of course, I can't leave well enough alone so I took a look at the FIRST marathon training plan on which I based my marathon training plan to see what was on the schedule for this week. The result? 4x800 @ 8:05 minute/mile w/1:30 minute rest intervals. So I decided I'd do it on the treadmill in the gym at work so that I could get it out of the way and maybe lift weights in the evening.

I did a 1.5 mile warm-up and then cranked the treadmill up to 7.5 MPH at a 1.5% incline. Woof. That first half mile felt rough. I took a 2 minute rest break instead of 1:30 and then tried again at closer to 8:20 minute/mile. Still rough. Not sure what was up with that. Too fast? Legs too tired? This cold I seem to be fighting off? I took a quarter mile rest break and then tried one more time. I only made it a tenth of a mile before I called it quits. I just wasn't feeling it. But, I'm guessing that sometimes it's smarter to end a workout early instead of pushing through when you're fatigued. I ended up doing 3 miles total on the treadmill and was sweating in places I didn't know I could sweat. So 2x800 instead of 4x800. I think the treadmill and I do better on 400 meter intervals. I'll have to remember that for next time.

Too Hot to Trot

As you may or may not be aware, Chicago is currently in the middle of a crazy heat wave. We're talking almost 90 degrees by 8:00 AM and heat indexes in the 100s. Most of the running training programs in the area canceled their workouts for this week and, after initially just deciding to make our Wednesday night track workout shorter, Coach Holly decided to cancel it.

What did we do instead of running? We went and got ice cream at a local ice cream parlor!

Well, actually, I did do the workout. 2 mile warm-up, 4x400 meters w/400 meter jog intervals, 1 mile cool down. I just did it on the treadmill at the gym instead. Hey, look, ice cream is my food vice so I wanted to enjoy it guilt-free. And I wanted to get the running miles in.

I've decided that the worst part of doing a speed workout on the treadmill is the cool down. The warm up is boring but I can handle it knowing that I'll get to break it up with some intervals in a little bit. The intervals, of course, are fine since you're constantly changing it up. The cool down, though? I just want to be done! Especially when post-cool down you know you get to really cool down with ice cream!

Anyway, I managed to do the entire workout with the incline on the treadmill set at 1.5. I did my first 400 at 7.6 MPH (approx 7:53 mile), the middle two at 7.5 (approx 8:00 mile), and the last at 7.6 again. I probably could have gone faster but I'm trying not to wear myself out on the track and not have anything left for races and long workouts.

So, five miles total followed by ice cream. And, yes, I ate ice cream before dinner. So sue me. I'm adult. I can do that.

The 5(K)'s Have It

Even though the doctor told me I can run, I knew it probably wasn't a good idea to go for my usual Saturday morning long run. So instead I slept in a bit and then went to the gym for the Saturday morning yoga class. Second time around and I still enjoyed it!

After an hour of stretching and posing I decided to jump on a treadmill for a short Saturday run. Just a 5K. Easy 10 minute/mile warm-up, increasing the speed every .10 miles for the next mile, and then slowing back down for the last 1.1. Nothing major. I didn't want to wear myself out. And why not?

Because now that I have the green light to run I'm running the Frosty Footrace 5K with Kim on Sunday! Okay, I'll be honest, I probably would have run it no matter what the doctor said, but now I can do it and not feel guilty.

Kim and I ran this race last year and both placed in our age groups. I'd love to have that happen again but I don't know if I'm in the right shape to repeat my performance. I'm still going to try but I won't be too upset if I don't.

So check back tomorrow afternoon for my race report!

Treadmill Trotting

After over a week off from running while resting my shin I decided to give running a try last night.

My shin and, actually, my left leg in general still felt "off" but there were no sharp pains and mostly it just felt like things needed to get stretched out.

So I went to the gym and, thankfully, managed to snag a treadmill. Man, it was busy in there last night! I think at one point every single treadmill had someone on it and my gym has A LOT of treadmills.

I walked for about 5 minutes just to get warmed up and then decided to go for the 3-4 miles I had on my schedule.

I also decided that if everything felt okay I'd try for a short tempo run.

For the most part my leg felt okay. A few twinges now and then and most of them were in my calf. In fact, I think the problem might be a tight calf and a tight Achilles. No sharp pains, no buckling feeling. Good signs, right?

I ended up doing 1 mile where I increased the speed every quarter mile from 10 minute/mile to just under 9:00 minute miles. Then I ran 2 miles with speed at 8:57 and short stint at 8:34. My plan had been to finish up with a full mile where I decreased the speed back to 10:00 but my stomach had other ideas.

At about the 5K mark I had to pause and try to get my intestines to stop doing some kind of crazy dance. I made it until the 3.5 mile mark before I couldn't stand it anymore and had to rush off to the facilities. Let's just say I felt pretty drained afterward.

Guess that will teach me to scarf a new-to-me protein bar shortly before running.

I thought about going back to the treadmill and finishing up that last half mile but, in the end, decided I'd done enough and went home. Where I stretched and foam rolled and iced.

After the run my shin felt okay but for some reason the outside of my left foot ached like crazy. Was I favoring my left leg and landing funny while running? I don't know. All I know is that I iced it before bed and it feels okay today.

I also took advantage of being on the treadmill and figured out my cadence. Apparently I run between 170 and 176 steps per minute (a cadence of between 85 and 88), assuming my oxygen starved brain was counting correctly. A quick google search shows me I'm at the lower end of ideal. At least when running on the treadmill. Maybe something I'm learning while doing those intervals on Thursday is actually working?

As for the leg, I'm going to step up my stretching, foam rolling, and icing so that I stay on top of whatever is going on. I think if I can do that I'll be okay.

December Wrap-Up

Source

Due to a series of events I missed my opportunity to run my last run of 2010 outside. I'm a little bummed about that but I made up for it by doing 2x800 and 2x400 on the treadmill at the gym AFTER doing some strength training and BEFORE doing some ab work.

I started my treadmill workout with a .5 mile warm-up at 6.0 MPH then did half a mile at 8:00 min/mile pace, followed by another half mile at 6.0 MPH and then another half mile at 8:00 min/mile pace. Then I switched to 400s and did .25 miles at 6.0, .25 at 7:30 min/mile pace, .25 at 6.0, and .25 at 7:30. All that added up to 3 miles.

Which means that even though I felt like a total slacker for all of December, I ended up running a total of 51.96 miles!

Like November, December was sort of a "blah" month in terms of running. However, I did manage to finally join the running group for a Saturday morning run and I ran in a snowstorm so I suppose there were some highlights.

I'm looking forward to 2011 (already signed up for three races!) but first I need to do my year in review post and come up with a few resolutions. Do you do resolutions or goals for the new year?

Treadmill Thursday

I had such grand plans for Thursday. I packed my gym bag figuring that I would either run at lunch or, if no run materialized, I would do a strength training workout in the little scary basement gym at work. Brilliant, right?

What was not so brilliant was forgetting my running shoes at home.

Sigh.

I still really wanted to get in a run. But that meant the treadmill. Since the treadmill in our basement has been rather suspect since the flood I opted for the treadmill at the gym. Plus, those treadmills are nicer and actually tell me what the incline is.

My treadmill goal? Speedwork! I went back to my first track workout from this summer and based my plan on that. I decided to do a one mile warm up, 4x800, 4x400, and a one mile cool down.

It's been awhile since I've done speedwork so I decided not to push the pace too much. I set the treadmill to a 1% incline and did my one mile warm up at 6.0 MPH (10:00 minute mile). After my warm up I hit the Pause button. The treadmill has a 60 second pause function so I waited until it counted down to 15 seconds and then started it back up.

I did my first two and a half 800s at 7.4 MPH (8:05 pace) with 45 second pause breaks in between each full 800. Strangely, they didn't feel all that hard. Sure, I was huffing and puffing, but I didn't feel like I was going to die. I didn't feel like I wanted to quit. I didn't feel like I wanted to walk.

The last one and a half 800s I did at 7.5 MPH (8:00 pace). And I did three of my 400s at 7.5 and the last one I slowly upped the speed until I was doing 8.0 MPH (7:30 pace). I could tell I was definitely working but I think I could have gone a little bit faster on each of those intervals. Which means I may have some new things to try out on the treadmill this winter.

The only downside to running on the treadmill is that when you change the speed it takes it a bit to get up to that speed. I didn't want to count those seconds spent accelerating towards my actual intervals so by the time I finished my cool down (also done at 6.0 MPH) I had actually run 5.25 miles. Although, I guess that's not really a downside.

But let me tell you: running a cool down on a treadmill is HARD. Not physically. Just mentally. My mind kept wanting to be done but I pushed on and finished the full mile.

And afterward I did 100 various crunches, some leg lifts, and some foam rolling. And then lay panting on the mat.

While I was recovering my running group was out singing Christmas carols at a nursing home. As much as I love my running group I wasn't too sad to have missed it. First, I got home from work later than originally planned so I wouldn't have been able to attend the pre-singing prep meeting. Second (and here's a little known fact), even after six and a half years of choir and performing in several junior high and high school musical productions, I am TERRIFIED of singing in front of other people. Dancing? Sure. Public speaking? Sure. Singing? Count me out.

But running like a fool on the treadmill while mouthing the words to Lady Gaga and Ke$ha? Sure.

Think Optimistically

I spent most of yesterday with leg propped up on an overturned trash can under my desk.

At lunch I closed my office door, lowered the blinds on my windows, and did my stretching and my leg strengthening exercises.

But I still didn't feel like I should go running with my running group. My knee was still achy and I didn't want to chance it. I cried about it to Jason who then reminded me about the escalator to nowhere. Oh yeah!

So I went to the gym with my knee strap in place and did 30 minutes on the stepmill. No knee pain and I managed to get the level up higher than the past few times.

After that I had a little bit more time and I wanted to get in the same amount of cardio time that I would have if I had been running. So, I hopped on the treadmill. Just a little experimental run, I told myself. I'll stop if I feel pain. I'll go slow. I set the treadmill at a 10:20 pace (later changed it to 10:30) and set off. And you know what? No knee pain!

The first half mile was tough. It's been so long since I ran any kind of distance on the treadmill but I finally got into a groove. The knee twinged a few times but nothing serious. I ran 2 miles before I ran out of time. I didn't want to stop but I had to get home for dinner.

Sure, it wasn't the 5.5 mile tempo run I originally had on my schedule but 2 pain-free miles (plus 30 minutes and 100+ floors of stair climbing) isn't half bad. Plus, my little test run left me feeling much more optimistic. The knee didn't lock up at all after the run and even today it feels much better than yesterday.

Fingers crossed, people. Fingers crossed.

We Will Be Victorious

The scene: a treadmill in the basement
The plot: Woman has to run a 4 mile tempo run (plus warm up and cool down) at a 9:12 pace

Act I: The Warm Up

Should be a mile. At the half mile mark the legs just want to go. Feeling good.

(So come on)

Act II: Mile 1

Feeling good, feeling good, feeling...uh oh. Maybe not so good? What to do? How about a mind game? You can only look at the distance at the end of a song. Change the speed up or down when the song ends. Break it up into quarter mile chunks.

(They will not control us)

Act III: Mile 2

The mind trick is working. That first mile went by fast. Now it's just more sets of 6.5 MPH, 6.4, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5 and on and on.

(Come let the revolution take its toll)

Act IV: Mile 3

Less than two miles left. Doing good. Stay strong. Keep it up. This is supposed to be hard. You love it when it's hard.

(Rise up and take the power back)

Act V: Mile 4

This is it. Pound it out. The faster you go the sooner you'll be done. Imagine crossing a finish line. See yourself pushing yourself. Pushing your friends. Just...one....more....quarter....mile.

(We should never be afraid to die)

Act VI: The cool-down

Should be a mile according to the plan. Who cares if you walk a bit? Get your heart rate back down. Savor the moment. Jog a bit. Hit the half mile mark. Call it a night. You did good. You did great.

(So come on)

Minimum Mileage

see more Epic Fails

Due to factors outside my control (two lunch meetings for work) I didn't get to run with my lunchtime running group at all this week. In fact, most of this week conspired against me in terms of working out.

Last night I finally made it to the gym. I know that getting in the mileage should trump doing strength training....but I really love strength training. So, while my schedule said to do 4 miles at half marathon pace, I did 3 on the treadmill with my speed between 6.4 and 6.8 MPH on a 1% incline and then switched to the weight machines.

My brain was just not in it last night. Running was boring. I was irritated at having to wait for machines to free up. I couldn't find a resistance band I wanted to use so I just skipped that exercise. I felt rushed the entire time.

So, to make myself feel better let's take a look at some of the awesome giveaways going on the blogosphere:

Holly over at The Balance Broad is doing a Chobani Greek Yogurt giveaway. I'd really love to win this one. The only time I tried Greek yogurt plain I about gagged because it tasted so much like sour cream. Apparently the flavored kinds taste better but I haven't been able to find Chobani in any of the stores near me. According to their website they only sell it at a few Meijer stores and I'm not driving that far out of my way just for yogurt!

Erica at I Run Because...I Can has two giveaways going on! I totally agree with everything she says in her giveaway for a flattering sports bra.

She's also giving away fun "motivational" gym towels. My gym has all the free towels you want, but I like the idea of having one with a fun saying on it. I mean, really, who doesn't want a towel hanging off their treadmill or spin bike that says "Sweat is Sexy"?

*Sheepish Look*

I feel so ashamed. I hope you all will forgive me.

I went back to Treadmill.

I know, I know. I said we broke up. I know I said I wouldn't be running with Treadmill anymore. But, last night I had to.

I'm sure you don't want to hear my excuses. I know you don't care that I had a book club meeting at 7:30 and I didn't want to show up late AND sweaty (just sweaty was okay).

But the worst part is that....I liked it.

Don't worry. I'm not taking Treadmill back permanently. But, hey, sometimes a girl just had to get in a run and when Treadmill is the most convenient option what are ya gonna do?

Anyway, last night was speedwork in the form of mile repeats. If I had run outside it would have been 1 mile warm-up, 1 mile at 8:36, half mile jog, then another mile at 8:36, followed by a half mile jog and then a 1.5 mile cool down. Instead I did almost all of that on the treadmill. And, if I say so myself, I did it well.

I still haven't figured out the incline on my treadmill so I pretty much just guess at how fast I'm going using this conversion chart. I know I don't have it on 0% incline so when I tell you that my two mile repeats were done between 7.0 and 7.3 MPH you know I was hitting my paces pretty close.

I persevered through some weird right IT band ache and I admit to holding on to the handlebars for a few brief periods of time. But, overall I did 5 miles in less than 50 minutes (49 and change) which I think is pretty good considering I jogged much of my recovery mileage between 5.0 and 6.0 MPH. I was a freaking drippy sweaty mess when I got done, though.

And I made it to book club on time.

With the snow we're getting today I can't promise this will be a one night stand with Treadmill. I may give in to another fling in the near future. Please don't judge me :-)

Dear John...er...Treadmill

Dear Treadmill,

I've been trying to recall how our love-affair started. I've been thinking about this time last year when we spent so many hours together. Our time together, while not always perfect, was good. I had stars in my eyes and you were there to help me fulfill my dreams. And for that I thank you.

But the time has come. It's difficult for me to say this, but I think we need to break up.

I don't want to say that old, tired line about how it's not you, it's me but I think it might be true. You just don't motivate me anymore. We seem to be stuck in a rut, doing the same thing over and over again. We're not going anywhere. I'm sure you agree.

I don't want to accuse you of lying, but I can't understand why you make things so much harder when I do them with you as opposed to without you. You stand there, so full of promises. So full of potential. But then, the last few times we've been together it's just been so difficult to stay with you. Instead of joy and exhilaration, I feel pain and defeat when we're together. I think I can do better than you.

So, Treadmill, I think I'm going to move on. I'm not going to depend on you anymore. I don't want to string you along. I'm sure we'll still see each other occasionally and I hope we can be friends. Maybe we'll go on walks together in the future, but for now I think the most you'll see of me is a wave as I run past the window.

I hope there are no hard feelings.

Sincerely,

The girl who attempted a 4.5 mile run at the gym last night but couldn't even make it a full 2 miles even at 10:00 minute/mile.

Return of the Treadmill

I really, really wish I could have gotten a good picture of what it looked like outside at lunch time yesterday. The best I could do was the following photo out the window of my office:


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Yeah. It was snowing. A lot. And windy. And the sidewalks were kind of scary. So, although two people from our usual lunch running group braved the elements, I wussed out and stayed in.

This gave me two options: run on the treadmill at home after work or run on the treadmill at the gym after work. I decided on the treadmill at home. At least there I had a commercial-free episode of Bones to watch (aside: I am like two seasons behind on Bones so no spoilers, please!).

If I had run at lunch we would have done a minimum of 4 miles. So, that was my treadmill goal. A commercial-free episode of Bones runs about 42 minutes. Even though I run like a sloth on our treadmill I figured I should be able to finish 4 miles in that amount of time.

I'll admit. It was hard. See, I attended my favorite aerobics class on Wednesday night and I think I was the hardest working person in the room except for maybe the instructor. And after not working out for over a week, well, let's just say I was feeling it! In fact, I was still feeling it on Thursday when I started up the treadmill. My shoulders were sore and my calves were screaming at me! But, I made it through 4 miles. My first miles of 2010.

Kim asked me if I had any mileage goals for 2010. I've thought about it and my answer is no. I want to run the miles that I need to run in order to accomplish my race goals and that's it. Whatever that ends up as is fine for me. I would hate to get so tied up in hitting a specific overall number that I obsessed and stressed over making up every missed run. So, no set mileage goals. Maybe next year :-)

Snowy Day

That was the view from my gym where I did a 3 mile treadmill run on Saturday. Why the treadmill? Look at that snow! It was coming down fast all day. Enough so that by the time you plowed a road or shoveled a sidewalk no one would know you'd done anything ten minutes later. Also, I wanted to get in some strength training in addition to a run.

I did my 3 miles on the treadmill in just over 29 minutes. The first mile was the worst. The second mile I ramped up the speed every quarter mile or so and then slowed back down for the last mile. Sort of like a tempo run, I guess.

I'm pretty happy I managed to get in a whole three miles on the treadmill. My last few treadmill attempts had not been pretty. However, this upcoming week brings a new challenge. Why? Well, you see, our cruise ship leaves today! Last time we took a cruise I ran once on the outdoor jogging track just to say that I'd done it. This time? I'm bringing the Garmin. I want to see what it does on a ship at sea.

Plus, the weather is bound to be better than that snowy scene up above :-)

See you in a week!

Baby It's Cold Outside

The cold really wipes you out, doesn't it? And I feel like this year we skipped from shorts weather to freezing with very little time in between.

Yesterday morning I felt as though I'd been hit by a truck. If I drank caffeine it definitely would have been a double dose day. As it was, I dragged myself to work and managed to keep my eyes open. I debated running at lunch. With the windchill it was 6 degrees F outside. Running outside would either wake me up or put me into an afternoon coma. In the end, I decided to go for it.

We did the "short" three miler which still ended up being almost 3.5 miles. However, we went north on the lakefront path which we hadn't done in awhile. Turns out they're doing some construction on the bridge over the Chicago River. Part of the concrete sidewalk is missing so they diverted foot traffic onto the bridge itself. Running on the metal grates covered with plywood certainly is springy!

I let the guys go ahead and hung in the back with the other woman. The cold makes me sluggish and I wasn't in the mood to be speedy. Same reason I skipped the OPRC run on Monday night (and walked/jogged on the treadmill instead). I can't run that hard all the time in this cold. My joints don't like it.

I bundled up in three layers on top and two layers on bottom and was pretty toasty by mile 2. I think the worst part of running in the cold is the first few minutes. You know you'll warm up but it's just so hard to go out there with fewer clothes on.

Also, has anyone else noticed that exhaust fumes are more pronounced when it's cold outside? During our run yesterday we decided that the benefits of running are probably off-set by all the exhaust we breathe in.

Much to my surprise, the cold weather actually perked me up instead of turning me into a hibernating bear. And when my boss let us off work early, I headed to the gym for some strength training. My abs actually feel a little sore today. Excellent!

It might be quiet around here for the next few days as I prepare for holiday celebrations. But, first, a few fun announcements! Caitlin over at Healthy Tipping Point was doing an Amy's Kitchen soup pack give-away earlier this week...and I won! My plan? To take them to work for lunches so that I can warm up after my freezing lunch time runs.

Caitlin is also doing another Pile On The Miles Challenge until January 1st. There's still no chance of me winning, but it's still fun to watch the mileage add up.


Not in the mood to pile on the miles? How about one mile? Running Laur is hosting a Winter Misery One Miler "race" which seriously has the cutest logo:



I'm trying to decide if I want to count my mile as part of a longer run or if I want to run one mile as fast as I can. I've never done just the latter.

Finally, I have an idea for a giveaway brewing in my head. It's not really running related and it's definitely not unisex (sorry, guys!) but I figure a little branching out never hurt anyone. Stay tuned!

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Stats

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 588 ft Location: Chicago, IL Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 12/15/09 Up/Downhill: [+147/-144] Time: 12:19 PM Difficulty: 2.6 / 5.0   Weather: A Few Clouds   20 F temp; 42% humidity   20 F heat index; winds NW 17 G 24 Performance Distance: 3.44 miles Time: 0:31:32 Speed: 6.5 mph Pace: 9' 10 /mi Calories: 409 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 9' 03 -0' 07 6.6 +0.1 -23 ft 2 10' 02 +0' 52 6.0 -0.6 +10 ft 3 8' 44 -0' 26 6.9 +0.3 +4 ft end 9' 22 +0' 12 6.4 -0.1 +10 ft Versus average of 9' 10 min/mile

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