Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Working mom workout

The plan:

Monday was a holiday, but I work Tues - Fri, so somewhere during the week, I get to use my 6 hrs of holiday time. So I planned to work a half day today, leave at lunch, go straight to the gym, go for a long swim, dry off, get on the bike for 20-30 min, then lift weights, etc. And still have time to shower, run an errand or two, and pick Max up from day care right after his nap, and possibly go for a walk with him in the stroller. This is pretty much my ideal day. I've been daydreaming about it since last week.

The reality:

Awaken in the wee hours of the morning to the sound of Max coughing up a hairball. Realize that the little cold and cough he'd been nursing since the weekend had turned into a bad cold and cough. Realize that I can't send him to school in good conscience. Formulate plan to drive to work super-early, grab laptop, and come home before the Supportive Husband has to leave to start his workday. He's self-employed and works out of the house, but today was a rare day where he had to be on-site at 9am.

Spend the morning alternately trying to work, answer IMs and e-mails, and cater to the whims of a sick and cranky two year old. Receive Toddler Wrath when I dare to queue up Signing Time on the DVR instead of WonderPets. Finally get him to eat his chewable Motrin three hours after I gave it to him. Rejoice when he goes down early for a nap. Rejoice when the Supportive Husband comes home for lunch.

Try to finish a few work tasks. Change into running clothes and head out into the cold and damp for a quick 2 miles around the 'hood. Get snowed on.

Blog furiously, and hope that I've got enough time to shower before the cranky toddler wakes up.

Net result:
No swim. No weights. Very little stretching. No podcasts while on the exercise bike. No errands. At least I got out in the fresh air, and got to watch the snow work its way over the mountains. Now I just have to cross my fingers that I don't come down with Max's cold.

Monday, February 18, 2008

3.4 miles

I ran a little segment of the ten miler, and when I mapped it out on mapmyrun.com, it was 3.4 miles. I was unbelievably slow - 11:20 min/mi, but I didn't care. My feet didn't hurt for once (yesssss!!!), and I felt ridiculously cute in my new running skirt. Much of the course was over uneven sidewalks, so I stepped cautiously. But the balmy weather made me giddy to be outside - it was 65 degrees!! I headed to the gym after, and spent 30 minutes lifting and stretching. Overall, it was quite a change from yesterday when I struggled through 4 miles in the cold.

I'm definitely not in 10 Miler shape, but I'm not out of the ballpark. I've got over a month, and know that I'll be ready.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Spring Fever

It's been unseasonably warm lately, and I think I've come down with a serious case of spring fever. How else can you explain that I went to the shop to buy a pair of black shorts and walked out with a lime green running skirt?

Monday, February 04, 2008

Four miles

The forecast was for warmer weather, so I dropped Max off at daycare and headed to the Monticello Trail for two up and two down. Only on the way there it started raining. I came very close to bagging it, and heading to the gym instead, but decided I needed to suck it up and start bringing my A-game and actually TRAIN for the ten-miler.

It had stopped raining by the time I got to the parking lot, and I was delighted. And then about 100 yards from the car the skies opened up. Going uphill was a lot of work. More than it should have been. I kept bargaining with myself, okay, if I don't stop to walk, I can turn around at 1.5 miles. If I can run 5 min for this half mile, I'll turn around at the bridge. My nose was running, and I kept having to spit. I really needed to pee. I could not get a rhythm; everything just felt off. My monkey mind was scurrying about.

But somewhere around mile 1.5, everything just settled down. My stride and breathing were steady, and I wasn't anywhere near ready to stop. I went all the way to the parking lot at the top, and slapped the signpost at the 2 mile mark with both hands, and turned around.

I didn't worry about speed, or try to fly down the mountain like I usually do. In fact, I didn't even look at my watch once until I was at the bottom. My time wasn't spectacular, but for as slow as I'm sure I was on the way up, it was much faster than I would have expected without pushing it on the way down.

I stretched out using the low stone wall at the parking area for support. As I was stretching my quads, I could hear a group of three older men talking as they came off the trail. One said to the other "Can you get your foot up to your fanny like she can?"

I was giggling, and stopped to chat with them for a moment. They were out fitness walking, and are planning on doing the MJH 4K walk next month - good for them! We had a lovely chat, they asked me about my time on the course today, and they told me how exercise keeps you young. Good advice.

Friday, February 01, 2008

Counting down

Eight weeks from tomorrow is the 10 miler, and I'm nowhere near ready. I've gone for a few 4 mile runs on the weekends, and done the occasional 1-2 on the treadmill, but really haven't been training. I have been making it to yoga once per week, which eats up one possible workout. The weekends have been increasingly busy, and I barely have time for a decent workout on Sundays. But the latest development is that my foot problems, which had given me no trouble at all over the past month, have returned with a vengeance. And it's my own fault.

My new running shoes have been doing wonderfully. But silly me wanted to wear cute shoes to work yesterday instead of clogs. So I did. And got so many compliments!! And now I have terrible sharp pain in the balls of both my feet. As soon as my feet started hurting, I put on my Birks, and I'm planning on wearing my running shoes while out and about tomorrow. I had been hemming and hawing about buying a second pair of running shoes, but I think I'm going to bite the bullet and do it - I really need a pair for out and about, and a pair for actually running. Man, getting old is expensive!

But the good news is that I'm still pretty fit, and still working out 3-4 times per week or more. I'm much more nervous about the ten miler this year than I was last year. I was all high off the marathon last year, and this year all I've got under my belt is the half.