Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Back in business - 2 miles

...on the treadmill at lunch. I did them really, really fast. For me, anyway. It was the fastest I've run two miles in a very long time. I think the treadmill motivates me to run fast - the faster I run, the quicker I can get the hell off of it.

I went to the shop on Monday to get my shoes and inserts looked at. The staff loved my Road ID, but chastised me for my totally thrashed inserts and hooked me up with new ones. I was also advised to wear supportive shoes all the time, which, awww shucks, meant going directly home and getting on Zappos to buy a new pair of Naots. I'm digging all the new footwear, but it's pretty depressing to be told that my arches might be falling. I'm getting old. And here I'd thought I was the only woman alive to go through pregnancy and not have serious foot changes - my shoe size has never wavered from a 7.5. But all that gestating, lactating, and marathoning has indeed taken their toll on my perfect feet.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Track workout

I was supposed to do 9, but the workout was only about 4, plus a 2 mile warmup, and 1 mile cooldown, so I ended up doing only 7. Seven was plenty.

We've been spoiled by cool mornings all summer, and this was the first really humid run of the season. The air was sweaty. Since I've been running either in the a.c., or in 60 degree temps, the sweaty air kicked my sweaty butt. I drank waaaaay too much water after the first interval. And I have no Endurolytes, since I've been lulled into thinking that an ounce or two of Gatorade is enough electrolytes to sustain me.

The workout went like this:
2 mi warmup through hilly neighborhood streets. I should have just done my warmup on the track.

4 laps at 10:30
Up the hill, down the hill
3 laps at 7:45
Up the hill, down the hill
2 laps at 5:15
Up the hill, down the hill
1 lap at 2:25
Up the hill, down the hill

1-2 mi cooldown

I did the mile in right around 10:30, maybe 10:35 or something like that. Then I chugged a lot of water, and ate half a pack of Sport Beans. The uphill kicked my ass. It is incredibly steep. And halfway up, you turn off the path, and run through the uneven grass and mud. And then you run down. I'd gotten used to the nice paved road at UVA, where you jog down first, then surge up.

My 3 laps, I did mostly with Pamela, who wanted to chat. At some point, I just couldn't talk any more, and feigned a side stitch to fall behind her. So I ended up a little slow on the 1200.

Then the uphill really kicked my ass, as the excessive amount of water I'd had started to catch up with me.

Let us not talk about the 800, nor about the uphill that followed it.

The final lap, I completed in 2:23. Go me!!!! And then I treated myself to a cooldown on the track.

Coach Mark was there for the entire session. He never remembers my name, but he did do a little "rah rah" on my way uphill, and reminded me to turn over my legs faster (dear heart, I would if I could) and really use my arms. I stopped to ask him about my sore arch, and to my surprise, he remembered exactly what my stride looked like, and advised me to come in to the shop this week to work on my inserts. When I bought the new shoes, I intended to buy new inserts as well, but they were out of my size. So my current ones have a lot of miles on them.

And best of all, today was schwag day for the training program. We all got free shirts that say "distance is my game." So there you go.

When I got home and emptied my CamelBak, I realized I had drunk almost an entire liter of water with no more electrolytes than contained in a pack of Sport Beans. That's just stupid. And I've paid for my stupidity with that slightly hungover feeling. I finished off the last of the Pringles, and ate a banana to help, but I don't expect to feel quite right until tomorrow.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Yikes, Thursday already

How'd that happen? I got in a great run - outside! not on a treadmill! - on Monday. I think it was around 2 miles, then I did another half or so on the torture machine. I figured I'd do my other weekday run at lunch on Wednesday, but it was not to be. Max had giant, and I mean huge, like, I should have taken a picture huge because they must be seen to be believed, lymph nodes. He had a skosh of a fever Saturday afternoon, but otherwise seemed quite happy and healthy. By Tuesday, the nodes were even larger, and I heard that a few kids at school had strep, so I reluctantly made an appointment with the pediatrician for Wednesday morning. Great, I thought, I'm going to be late to work and the doctor will just pat my head, and tell me to give him Tylenol and come back in a week if they're still enlarged.

The nurse was quite impressed with the lymph nodes, and peppered me with questions about whether we had cats (yes, but elderly and declawed), or if he had been exposed to any strange diseases (you never really know at day care), or what other strange symptoms had he had (none). The doctor took a throat culture and gave a long speech about what the next step was if/when it came up negative for strep. But no sooner had the exam room door clicked behind her than she was back. Eureka! The strep test had turned positive in record time. So, no school for Max, no work for Mama, no precious, precious lunch hour workout. Today was a similar wash - Max had to stay home until he'd been on the antibiotics 24 hours (as if he hadn't already been spreading pestilence around day care earlier in the week), and I had a work deadline bearing down upon me.

We did manage a few wagon rides, though. Does that count?

I almost forgot - I got new shoes! Hooray! Good for me. I went with the same shoes I first got back in December. And I am happy to report that instead of blah blue, they now feature punchy purple as their highlight color! They're still more serviceable than pretty, though.

I think tomorrow will be a wash, too. I have serious work to catch up on, plus there's a 9 mile track workout Saturday, and I don't want to overexert beforehand.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

8 miles

I went to Target yesterday during my lunch hour to buy Sport Beans, since I was out of Shot Bloks. I can never find Shot Bloks, but I knew Target had the beans, plus I was looking for a potty seat for Max. I ended up with a box of beans, no potty seat, a $20 Aquadoodle, and a new pair of shorts and a shirt.

I sat down last night with Google Maps to get some good directions to this morning's run, and discovered that Keene is way the heck down Route 20. It would take me 45 minutes of driving through nowhere to get to the middle. So rather than wake up at 5 to be on the road by 5:30, and then inevitably get lost somewhere, show up late, and have to run an unfamiliar route in the middle of nowhere by myself, I changed my plans. I slept till 6:45, and drove 18 minutes to the Monticello Trail. It's two miles uphill, and two miles down. I did two roundtrips.

The uphills are pretty relentless, but the downhills make it all worth it. I had some weird pain in my left arch, that slowed me to a walk on mile 3 (the first downhill mile) and again for almost the whole of mile 5 (first uphill mile on the second lap). But overall, I felt pretty good, and vowed to make it to the shop on Monday to buy a long overdue pair of new shoes. The last two miles, I flew downhill, did the last two miles in under 20:00, and it felt great. I finished in just over 92 minutes, again, an 11:30 pace. So, eh, not great, but better than I thought I was going to do when I hit mile 3. The arch doesn't hurt now, but I might just be distracted by the huge chafed area that the new shorts left on my lower back. They have a clever little zipper pocket for gels or keys, except I had my Camelbak strapped on right over it. Ouch.

Oh, and I saw a giant crayfish with one claw.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Another 2 on the treadmill

When my options are blazing heat and imminent thunderstorms, or air conditioning and treadmill, the treadmill starts looking better and better. I did 1.5 miles at 6 mph, a 10 minute mile! Scoff all you want, naturally athletic types, this is a big deal for me! I did the rest at an 11:00 pace. Then I lifted, did some abs, and a bunch of stretching. Yesterday (day off), I did a little yoga and spent some quality time with The Stick, and I was feeling limber and ache-free today.

As I left the gym, black clouds were gathering, and by the time I was halfway to Kroger, the skies had opened up. I waited it out sitting in the car listening to the radio for about 15 minutes, but working mama's got a schedule to keep. (BTW, The Corner, luv ya, but if you play "Hey There Delilah" and "Two Sisters" one more time, I'm switching to books on CD.) I switched my ever-so-stylish Birks for the shower shoes from my gym bag, and put my 10 min mile legs to the test sprinting across the parking lot.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Seven miles

An unseasonably cool morning on Ridge Road. I arrived late and missed whatever inspiration Coach Mark doled out to the more punctual folks. The pace groups were already leaving when I arrived. I said a brief hello to Jim, and I was off. Given the two miles here and there I've been doing, I felt great for, oh, two miles. Mile 3 was okay, but not stellar. I turned around after 3.5, and mile 5 really whipped me. At one point, I felt pretty nauseated. It was not pleasant. My knees also felt a little creaky - all that carrying Max around last week really put a lot of stress on my joints. I felt a lot better after mile 6, and I finished strong. Overall, my pace was around 11:25, better than I would have guessed after missing two long runs, but not where I want to be.

On the treadmill the other day, I realized that when I run faster, my form is better, my whole body feels better. When I run my normal (slow) speed, everything's bunched up. I feel like I've found a good stride, but it's a matter of getting my heart and lungs to keep up with what feels good to my body.

After the run, I pushed Max in the stroller on a reasonably long walk with Louise that left me pooped. After lunch, I took advantage of Max's naptime to have one of my own.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

800 yards

Swimming today! I was late to work because just as I was putting on Max's shoes so he could come outside to wave goodbye, I noticed a peculiar odor following him about like Pigpen's cloud. So upstairs for a diaper change. I will leave out the details, but suffice it to say he hadn't pooped in two days, and had eaten a lot of blueberries, so, well, I was 15 minutes late to work. Which meant that I had to cut my workout a little short at lunchtime to make up for said tardiness. This working mom athlete is a tough gig.

But I swam a very brisk 800, including 200 backstroke. My backstroke is less "stroke" and more "random splashy thrashing," but I had the pool to myself so I went for it.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Another 2 on the treadmill

A quick lunchtime run on the treadmill. And not quite Chinese water torture. The treadmills at the gym closer to my work are much better suited to running. There's no bar right in front, where my arms need to go while running, and the TV screen is up higher, keeping my eyes up, instead of awkwardly down. Not as fun as running outside, but more pleasant than braving July heat and humidity.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Two miles on the treadmill

Running on the treadmill is mental torture. If I were ever captured, and the enemy wanted me to spill state secrets, they'd merely have to threaten the treadmill and I'd sing like a canary. It took all my mental fortitude to do the two miles on the treadmill. The thought of the 95 degree temps outside kept me going. I had hoped to do a longer workout today, but Max's pediatrician appointment ran long, and as usual, there just weren't enough hours in the day. I did do plenty of abs and stretching, plus got my daily dose of lifting a toddler. For the record, he came in at just 27.5 pounds, not the nearly 30 we were all expecting. I guess I'll have to up my reps instead.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Catch-up

The blog fell by the wayside as it's been pretty busy around here, and we went on vacation. Since my last entry, I've done the following:
-Run 2 miles on a treadmill. It was even more boring than I thought it would be. In fact, I think I really only ran 1.5 on the treadmill, then did the rest on the teeny tiny indoor track.
-Done some random lifting, stretching, etc.
-Gone to the beach! I had two great morning runs on the beach. On the Fourth, I had to stop in the middle of my run to watch dolphins frolicking in the ocean. The only downside to this soothing, zen run is that now the treadmill will seem worse than ever.
-Missed two Saturday runs. Shameful. Buck Mountain is just over three months away.
-Registered (just in the nick of time) for the Women's 4 Miler.
-Spent quality time with family, and worked on upper body strength by toting my 30-lb toddler all over tarnation.

What's next? Back on the wagon! Back to the gym tomorrow, and a long run on Saturday. And, as the beach pictures make plain and undeniable, some serious ab/core work.