Tips for the New Year:
Megumi (and Kangway) recommend UA Cold Gear--warm and lightweight, kept my legs the optimal temperature, then at the end of the run, all of the nasty mud spatters crumbled cleanly off of the outside and hadn't soaked through the fabric. Nice!
Megumi does NOT recommend macaroni and cheese from the year 1998. However, if you DO happen to consume some by accident, you may still live to tell the tale. Apparently.
Sunday 12/30: 44:05, a shortened river path to avoid the roads without shoulders. Back up the big hill. Ah, finally the effects of last week have started to manifest... Shin splints on the left side only, due to running on banked road sides for the past week. People ruin their legs forever running marathons on banked roads. This is not good... Knees feeling pretty balky as well, heels sore. Gah, I guess when one thing goes, it all goes. Probably going to program in 2 rest days this week as a down week, and hopefully I won't be crippled again before I can get back to the trails.
On a brighter note, I mapped out the routes I've been running here, and the old cemetary loop is 4.8 and the river path loop is 5.2, so I've been going a fairly steady 8:45 pace all of last week, for just about 29 miles. Amazing, that's almost like a JV highschool training week... woo hoo! I guess I'm about halfway at this point between the starting point (3 miles per day at 10 min/mile pace) and the goal point (7 miles per day at 8 min/mile pace).
Monday 12/31: Off. Shins still feel inflamed, knees hurt... running on the east coast sucks. Probably going to take a few days off until I get back to Pasadena, so I can start the third microcycle in one piece. I guess it will just be a super super down week.
Tuesday 01/01: Resolutions. I will not shirk PT and core strengthening. I will not shirk PT and core strengthening. I will not shirk PT and core strengthening. I will not shirk PT and core strengthening. I will not shirk PT and core strengthening. I will not shirk PT and core strengthening. I will not shirk PT and core strengthening. I will not shirk PT and core strengthening. I will not shirk PT and core strengthening. I will not shirk PT and core strengthening.
Happy New Year everybody!!!!
Wednesday 01/02: Already starting to become mentally unstable after 3 days of not running. Argh... My feet have developed some strange aches, though the shins and knees feel better after a few days off. Meanwhile, snowflakes the size of quarters are falling relentlessly outside. Tried to take a picture but it didn't come out very well. On the plus side, scouted out the golf course... it looks like it could be a good non concrete running loop for when there's not 3 feet of snow everywhere. There's kind of an outer perimeter where one of the longer sides is a pretty decent incline, will check that out the next time I am here.
Thursday 01/03: 42:45, Monterrey to bridge loop. Normalcy returns, sort of. Flew back to L.A. today, happy to run on the trails again. Breathing felt a bit off, but that's pretty normal after a few days off. Wish it wasn't so cloudy and dreary... also that I wasn't as morbidly obese. I sat next to fat person on the plane today, and the row was DEFINITELY not big enough for the both of us :(. Discovered this break that my scale has somehow become incorrectly calibrated so that I'm actually 5 lb MORE than what it says! Horrors upon horrors, I guess that's what happens when you buy a scale for $10 at Target. This would also explain why I am having trouble fitting into my fat pants. Gah...
Friday 01/04: 42:36, Monterrey out and back to the second bridge, due to some annoying construction that was blocking up the other side. Feet feeling a lot better with the resumption of daily PT. Took it really nice and easy today, realized that I was running a lot faster than usual in Boston. For some reason it feels disproportionately harder (muscularly) to run on the trails than not. Felt kind of crappy this morning, but glad I forced myself to go run before it started to rain!
Saturday 01/05: 43:03, Monterrey to bridge loop in the aftermath of torrential downpour. Definitely an adventure negotiating all of the wash-out, mud pits and stranded boulders, but not really the type of adventure that I hope and wish for. The run had two redeeming qualities, however: I finally got to park in the 3rd parking spot, and it was also a completely pain free, easy breathing, fantastic feeling run.
First core strengthening in over a week at the gym with Peter. Was really painful. I guess the time off was bad. Tried some horrendous new hamstring/hip exercises. Hard. Good to get back into the habit of doing this though. Not a ton of training this week, but its a down week, so I guess its okay. I think the ill-effects of the 3 days off are pretty much gone now, and I'm solidly into the 40+ minute run range, so I'm feeling pretty good about the next microcycle.
Target training this week: 3 hours ... with only 4 days, what're you gonna do?
Actual training: 2:52:29
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Week of 12/23/2007 - 12/29/2007 (Pre-Base Week 7)
I arrived at the airport in Boston sweating through my 3 layers, because it was an unseasonably warm 40 degrees out. Fantastic, I say, until I push through the sliding doors and find a snow covered landscape... preserved faithfully by the not-sufficiently-above-freezing weather. ARGHHHHH... snow and ice on the ground, is by FAR worse than cold.
Running in Boston is... un-ideal. Its okay during the spring and the fall if you're able to take a lot of pavement miles, you can venture a lot of towns out into the hills and the nice little back country lanes... cuz everything's so small... but in the winter, its a nightmare. I don't even live near the trying-not-to-get-blown-into-the-river-by-gale-force-winds running path any more. Sidewalks are covered by a foot of crusted over snowdrift and probably a few weeks worth of preserved dog poo...
If you can get used to the vehicles whizzing around you, its maybe 50% tenable to run in the streets, but on larger streets, the cars splatter you with slush, or there's no room to avoid both the car AND the large puddle.... turning corners you have to take it really easy in case there's hidden ice. Its kind of an adventure, but more in the "I slightly fear for my life and can't ever get into a decent stride" sort of way, rather than the enjoyable sort of way. This is going to be... interesting.
Sunday 12/23: Off. Whole day shot due to being booted from my flight and not getting another one until 16 hours later. At least first class was enjoyable--mmmmmm ice cream sundae...
Monday 12/24: 42:00, First Boston run, to the old cemetary and back in a square. Same route as last time I was here, except with many, many detours to avoid traffic and weather phenomena. 45 and sunny is actually a lot more pleasant than 50 and dark, apparently. Was pleasant, except for the lack of ability to get any sort of rhythm at all bc of the constant zig zagging, back tracking, last minute swerving, almost getting hit by cars. Feet did not enjoy the pavement. I've also been slacking on PT and core strengthening, so maybe that has a little to do with it. Just so busy, so busy, so busy...
This week may end up being about damage control. Its hard to do all of the prep work away from home, the daily PT routine, the core strengthening, the gym is all far, far away. I'm also feeling less optimistic about the pavement running than before. Feet and also knees not liking this. Maybe will try for fewer longer runs to give the extra recovery time. Or, just take the down week now and build back up end of next week when I'm back in the land of trails and no snow.
Tuesday 12/25: 41:55, same loop as yesterday. Merry Christmas everyone!!! As a christmas present from the world to me, there were not many cars on the road today, and slightly less ice, making for a much more pleasant run. Knees and ankles also feeling better, managed to get in some PT and core strengthening as well. A nice day. Made a lot of food.
Wednesday 12/26: 45:13, did some adventuring to try to find my way back to the river path. Do not think I'll do that again. Between getting stopped for a really long time at a monsterously complex traffic intersection that only the east coast could have dreamed up, and realizing that the river path is mostly under 3 feet of snow, this was highly unpleasant. Got my first honk for being in the middle of a busy street--felt annoyed but then realized that that guy must have been from out of state, and/or the only sane one here, unaccustomed to the frequency of outrageous traffic phenomena. However, as "in a lane of traffic" is the only running space available here, I have no choice but to persist in consterning motorists with my presence....
A nice half mile hill on the way home, definitely not used to topographical features anymore... Wasn't as bas as I thought it would be. Wondered when I could add back the Bailey Canyon route again...
Thursday 12/27: 41:28, the cemetary loop again, in the cold and drizzle. Not a pleasant experience... outer layers soaked, could not see anything. Thankfully wasn't too too cold and not too many cars, could have been worse... but rain makes me grouchy. Felt a bit tired on the uphills due to yesterday's hill, but good on the flats. These runs are bad because I end up probably running faster and faster as I become more cold and uncomfortable and I don't even register it. Nothing alarming, but I'd prefer to keep a nice mellow intensity level for these first few weeks of getting used to the 40+ minute runs.
Friday 12/28: 41:00, same loop... not much room for creativity here. If I can find a relatively car and snow free route, its just not worth it to risk trying other streets. Realized that there's something about the cold and the cars that makes me subconsciously hurry. Each of these loops have gone faster than the previous one, but every day somehow during the run I've just rationalized away that well, I *think* my feet are moving about as fast as they were yesterday... I never thought the Arroyo was particularly exciting, but I think I'll appreciate traffic-less, snow-less, pavement-less running a lot more after this.
Saturday 12/29: 41:22, slightly more slowly this time. Yayyy! I have survived a week here, without an egregious drop in training time and so far, a lot of blisters but no stress fracture. I'll consider that a success. Pleasantly warm today, but did not have time to do the longer route, per being late for meeting my high school chemistry teacher for coffee. Everyone this break seems totally fascinated with the whole charter school thing. Interesting to hear how the systems are different in MA. Learned that I am inept at utilizing public transportation. I didn't think trying to use the pass card like a prox card was THAT illogical that the bus driver had to employ as much eye rolling as he did. *shrug*
Target training this week: 3:30 - 4:00
Actual training: 4:12:58
Running in Boston is... un-ideal. Its okay during the spring and the fall if you're able to take a lot of pavement miles, you can venture a lot of towns out into the hills and the nice little back country lanes... cuz everything's so small... but in the winter, its a nightmare. I don't even live near the trying-not-to-get-blown-into-the-river-by-gale-force-winds running path any more. Sidewalks are covered by a foot of crusted over snowdrift and probably a few weeks worth of preserved dog poo...
If you can get used to the vehicles whizzing around you, its maybe 50% tenable to run in the streets, but on larger streets, the cars splatter you with slush, or there's no room to avoid both the car AND the large puddle.... turning corners you have to take it really easy in case there's hidden ice. Its kind of an adventure, but more in the "I slightly fear for my life and can't ever get into a decent stride" sort of way, rather than the enjoyable sort of way. This is going to be... interesting.
Sunday 12/23: Off. Whole day shot due to being booted from my flight and not getting another one until 16 hours later. At least first class was enjoyable--mmmmmm ice cream sundae...
Monday 12/24: 42:00, First Boston run, to the old cemetary and back in a square. Same route as last time I was here, except with many, many detours to avoid traffic and weather phenomena. 45 and sunny is actually a lot more pleasant than 50 and dark, apparently. Was pleasant, except for the lack of ability to get any sort of rhythm at all bc of the constant zig zagging, back tracking, last minute swerving, almost getting hit by cars. Feet did not enjoy the pavement. I've also been slacking on PT and core strengthening, so maybe that has a little to do with it. Just so busy, so busy, so busy...
This week may end up being about damage control. Its hard to do all of the prep work away from home, the daily PT routine, the core strengthening, the gym is all far, far away. I'm also feeling less optimistic about the pavement running than before. Feet and also knees not liking this. Maybe will try for fewer longer runs to give the extra recovery time. Or, just take the down week now and build back up end of next week when I'm back in the land of trails and no snow.
Tuesday 12/25: 41:55, same loop as yesterday. Merry Christmas everyone!!! As a christmas present from the world to me, there were not many cars on the road today, and slightly less ice, making for a much more pleasant run. Knees and ankles also feeling better, managed to get in some PT and core strengthening as well. A nice day. Made a lot of food.
Wednesday 12/26: 45:13, did some adventuring to try to find my way back to the river path. Do not think I'll do that again. Between getting stopped for a really long time at a monsterously complex traffic intersection that only the east coast could have dreamed up, and realizing that the river path is mostly under 3 feet of snow, this was highly unpleasant. Got my first honk for being in the middle of a busy street--felt annoyed but then realized that that guy must have been from out of state, and/or the only sane one here, unaccustomed to the frequency of outrageous traffic phenomena. However, as "in a lane of traffic" is the only running space available here, I have no choice but to persist in consterning motorists with my presence....
A nice half mile hill on the way home, definitely not used to topographical features anymore... Wasn't as bas as I thought it would be. Wondered when I could add back the Bailey Canyon route again...
Thursday 12/27: 41:28, the cemetary loop again, in the cold and drizzle. Not a pleasant experience... outer layers soaked, could not see anything. Thankfully wasn't too too cold and not too many cars, could have been worse... but rain makes me grouchy. Felt a bit tired on the uphills due to yesterday's hill, but good on the flats. These runs are bad because I end up probably running faster and faster as I become more cold and uncomfortable and I don't even register it. Nothing alarming, but I'd prefer to keep a nice mellow intensity level for these first few weeks of getting used to the 40+ minute runs.
Friday 12/28: 41:00, same loop... not much room for creativity here. If I can find a relatively car and snow free route, its just not worth it to risk trying other streets. Realized that there's something about the cold and the cars that makes me subconsciously hurry. Each of these loops have gone faster than the previous one, but every day somehow during the run I've just rationalized away that well, I *think* my feet are moving about as fast as they were yesterday... I never thought the Arroyo was particularly exciting, but I think I'll appreciate traffic-less, snow-less, pavement-less running a lot more after this.
Saturday 12/29: 41:22, slightly more slowly this time. Yayyy! I have survived a week here, without an egregious drop in training time and so far, a lot of blisters but no stress fracture. I'll consider that a success. Pleasantly warm today, but did not have time to do the longer route, per being late for meeting my high school chemistry teacher for coffee. Everyone this break seems totally fascinated with the whole charter school thing. Interesting to hear how the systems are different in MA. Learned that I am inept at utilizing public transportation. I didn't think trying to use the pass card like a prox card was THAT illogical that the bus driver had to employ as much eye rolling as he did. *shrug*
Target training this week: 3:30 - 4:00
Actual training: 4:12:58
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Week of 12/16/2007 - 12/22/2007 (Pre-Base Week 6)
Death by cold.
Room mate has contracted the plague, which means that it could only be a matter of time... Have been afflicted by a headache-y malaise starting Saturday evening, so prognosis is not looking good. Really want to make it to the 4 training hours this week though, before the respiratory symptoms commence.
If by some miracle, I manage to escape the plague, it will be on to a cold of different nature, as the prodigal child returns home to the frigid artic wasteland that is the east coast in the wintertime. 2 pairs of base layer tights are being delivered to my home as we speak, but one knows all too well, that when it snows and sleets until you're drenched down to the very core, ain't nothing gonna keep you warm at that point...
Sunday 12/16: 43:52, leisurely 3 x Arroyo Tempo Loops (14:08, 14:11, 14:04) plus jog back to car. Felt dull and head-achey all day, but managed to drag myself out to the Arroyo before the daylight ran out. Run was surprisingly comfortable, took it real easy and felt better all around afterwards. Apparently 9:15 pace is here to stay, judging from the recent longer runs. I guess that's okay for now, 40 minutes doesn't seem so long now, and I think 8:45 is just around the corner. Core strengthening afterwards at the gym. These are getting easier too, felt under control today, major concern right now is some tweaks in the L ankle, likely resulting from the sprain last week. They were bothering me during the first loop today, but resolved themselves... really hoping that's on the mend.
Monday 12/17: 34:07, Monterrey to rock. A short run... going to have to modify this route again to make it 2-4 minutes longer. I think I'm okay to graduate the sub 35 minute runs at this point. Felt that faint soreness of the post-core strengthening day again, but it doens't affect my running that much anymore. Vague headache and not sleeping well continues... perhaps the two are at a causal effect to eachother, but not really sure how to exit the cycle.
Tuesday 12/18: Off. Rain... ugh. Was planning to run in the morning, but the rain started earlier than weather.com claimed it would. *shakes fist*. I really do not enjoy the rain. Plus, it kinda packs down all of the dirt in the Arroyo, basically taking away all of the feet-not-killing effect of soft surface training. Disgruntling...
Wednesday 12/19: 46:06, Huntington back via Virginia in the PM. I'm not really a patient person... sometimes its a wonder that I'm still enrolled in the Meinhold School of Running for Kids who need to Chill the hell out, with its promise of injury prevention and extolling the virtues of delayed gratification... *sigh* sometimes being slow just gets old! I was really hoping for some... non negligible improvement over last week, like there really is NO reason why it should take more than 45 minutes to complete this run... oh, the horror!
Thankfully it wasn't super cold this week, but it was unpleasantly damp, and that dampness seemed to turn into a positively suffocating steam when I went indoors for core strengthening. Felt discouraged and grouchy today. At least my feet felt mostly okay this time.
Thursday 12/20: 42:18, many, many laps around lane 6 on the track. Started to drizzle at the end... did not enjoy that. I guess the rain days are good consistent low HR training days though, bc I end up going to the track. Feet felt relatively okay for the second consecutive day of non trail running. I think 40 minutes is about manageable these days. Woo hoo! L ankle still a bit unsteady. That's really the worst injury concern right now, for better or for worse. I've got two training days left in Pasadena this year, and I've already picked out which two runs I want. Now the only thing left is... Weather, I command you to cooperate!
Friday 12/21: 42:29, Monterrey to bridge loop. GLAHGHAALHGHG... the curse of the parking spot continues! I am very particular about the necessity to park in the third spot from the end of Monterrey next to the little tree. For the most part, there aren't many takers for parking in this area, but every now and again, someone's wayward vehicle finds its way inauspiciously into MY parking space. At first it was merely the convenience of a standardized starting and ending point for every run, but over time I've come to believe that the third parking spot affords some magical protection from injury and consternation, ensuring a pleasant and productive training experience. Every time I do NOT park in this space, something disgruntling always occurs.
Today, a car was parked annoyingly in 3/4 of the third parking space, so I had to park 3/4 in the fourth parking space, and about 3/4 of the way through my run, I rolled my bad ankle again! GAH! It wasn't a bad sprain, but given the amount of damage already done to this ankle from the last sprain (also on a bad parking day) I can't express how consterning this turn of events is. I felt ironically as if today was the first day that the weird pains that percolated from the last sprain were starting to subside... calamity of the world!
Saturday 12/22: 41:44, one trail perimeter of Rose Bowl in the dark. Maybe not the best idea, given the nature of the terrain... had to go slow to pick through the semi-dark obstacles, almost turned my ankle numerous times, but I really wanted to do this one for the last Pasadena run of the year. Cold, cold, cold... but fun. Had to squeeze this in before going to the airport to go home to Boston. Little did I know the horrors that lay in wait...
Got in a good solid training week this week. So much so that my legs were actually feeling less than fresh. Did not do the requisite 3x per week core strengthening... nuts. This is a big increase from the previous week, given the trajectory of the past training cycle, so considering taking an early down week for the 3 week microcycle instead of the 4 week microcycle. We'll see how arctic wasteland goes.
Target training time: 4 hours 5 minutes
Actual training: 4:10:36
Room mate has contracted the plague, which means that it could only be a matter of time... Have been afflicted by a headache-y malaise starting Saturday evening, so prognosis is not looking good. Really want to make it to the 4 training hours this week though, before the respiratory symptoms commence.
If by some miracle, I manage to escape the plague, it will be on to a cold of different nature, as the prodigal child returns home to the frigid artic wasteland that is the east coast in the wintertime. 2 pairs of base layer tights are being delivered to my home as we speak, but one knows all too well, that when it snows and sleets until you're drenched down to the very core, ain't nothing gonna keep you warm at that point...
Sunday 12/16: 43:52, leisurely 3 x Arroyo Tempo Loops (14:08, 14:11, 14:04) plus jog back to car. Felt dull and head-achey all day, but managed to drag myself out to the Arroyo before the daylight ran out. Run was surprisingly comfortable, took it real easy and felt better all around afterwards. Apparently 9:15 pace is here to stay, judging from the recent longer runs. I guess that's okay for now, 40 minutes doesn't seem so long now, and I think 8:45 is just around the corner. Core strengthening afterwards at the gym. These are getting easier too, felt under control today, major concern right now is some tweaks in the L ankle, likely resulting from the sprain last week. They were bothering me during the first loop today, but resolved themselves... really hoping that's on the mend.
Monday 12/17: 34:07, Monterrey to rock. A short run... going to have to modify this route again to make it 2-4 minutes longer. I think I'm okay to graduate the sub 35 minute runs at this point. Felt that faint soreness of the post-core strengthening day again, but it doens't affect my running that much anymore. Vague headache and not sleeping well continues... perhaps the two are at a causal effect to eachother, but not really sure how to exit the cycle.
Tuesday 12/18: Off. Rain... ugh. Was planning to run in the morning, but the rain started earlier than weather.com claimed it would. *shakes fist*. I really do not enjoy the rain. Plus, it kinda packs down all of the dirt in the Arroyo, basically taking away all of the feet-not-killing effect of soft surface training. Disgruntling...
Wednesday 12/19: 46:06, Huntington back via Virginia in the PM. I'm not really a patient person... sometimes its a wonder that I'm still enrolled in the Meinhold School of Running for Kids who need to Chill the hell out, with its promise of injury prevention and extolling the virtues of delayed gratification... *sigh* sometimes being slow just gets old! I was really hoping for some... non negligible improvement over last week, like there really is NO reason why it should take more than 45 minutes to complete this run... oh, the horror!
Thankfully it wasn't super cold this week, but it was unpleasantly damp, and that dampness seemed to turn into a positively suffocating steam when I went indoors for core strengthening. Felt discouraged and grouchy today. At least my feet felt mostly okay this time.
Thursday 12/20: 42:18, many, many laps around lane 6 on the track. Started to drizzle at the end... did not enjoy that. I guess the rain days are good consistent low HR training days though, bc I end up going to the track. Feet felt relatively okay for the second consecutive day of non trail running. I think 40 minutes is about manageable these days. Woo hoo! L ankle still a bit unsteady. That's really the worst injury concern right now, for better or for worse. I've got two training days left in Pasadena this year, and I've already picked out which two runs I want. Now the only thing left is... Weather, I command you to cooperate!
Friday 12/21: 42:29, Monterrey to bridge loop. GLAHGHAALHGHG... the curse of the parking spot continues! I am very particular about the necessity to park in the third spot from the end of Monterrey next to the little tree. For the most part, there aren't many takers for parking in this area, but every now and again, someone's wayward vehicle finds its way inauspiciously into MY parking space. At first it was merely the convenience of a standardized starting and ending point for every run, but over time I've come to believe that the third parking spot affords some magical protection from injury and consternation, ensuring a pleasant and productive training experience. Every time I do NOT park in this space, something disgruntling always occurs.
Today, a car was parked annoyingly in 3/4 of the third parking space, so I had to park 3/4 in the fourth parking space, and about 3/4 of the way through my run, I rolled my bad ankle again! GAH! It wasn't a bad sprain, but given the amount of damage already done to this ankle from the last sprain (also on a bad parking day) I can't express how consterning this turn of events is. I felt ironically as if today was the first day that the weird pains that percolated from the last sprain were starting to subside... calamity of the world!
Saturday 12/22: 41:44, one trail perimeter of Rose Bowl in the dark. Maybe not the best idea, given the nature of the terrain... had to go slow to pick through the semi-dark obstacles, almost turned my ankle numerous times, but I really wanted to do this one for the last Pasadena run of the year. Cold, cold, cold... but fun. Had to squeeze this in before going to the airport to go home to Boston. Little did I know the horrors that lay in wait...
Got in a good solid training week this week. So much so that my legs were actually feeling less than fresh. Did not do the requisite 3x per week core strengthening... nuts. This is a big increase from the previous week, given the trajectory of the past training cycle, so considering taking an early down week for the 3 week microcycle instead of the 4 week microcycle. We'll see how arctic wasteland goes.
Target training time: 4 hours 5 minutes
Actual training: 4:10:36
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Week of 12/09/2007 - 12/15/2007 (Pre-Base Week 5)
"FAT" is just one S away from "FAST"
A series of unfortunate events have lead to some dietary changes lately, which has regrettably begun to tip the scales... I suppose with a diet consisting primarily of cashews, meat and stirfry, I shouldn't exactly be surprised, but good golly, I am officially fat.
Heading into my second pre-base microcycle, I'm actually feeling like the running portion is under control. Injury prevention remains top of the priority list, and I'd like to shed a few pounds to head off any risk factors as I approach the next increase in training minutes. Add 10 extra pounds to lug around for 10% more minutes... the impact starts to add up, when you're dealing with an already erratic and temperamental system.
Tune in this week to see if our roly-poly heroine will be able to curb the snacking and make it to 4 hours of training time!
Sunday 12/09: 43:32 Monterrey to second bridge loop. Felt some motivational issues while cramming cashews and pastries into my mouth at the kitchen counter. Did not feel as fresh and rested as I was supposed to after the additional day away from core strengthening. R hip a tiny bit inflamed but not at the usual spot. Felt uneasy about that, but a lot of stretching and it was fine during the run. This run always makes me happy bc it is kind of a real loop instead of an out and back. 40 minutes feels more like a real run, felt good all the way through. Core strengthening at the gym afterwards. Felt irritable due to large number of people and lack of exercise ball. Cookies in the late PM. Doing my part to deserve J.R.'s pet name, Fatty McFat Fat. Not starting the week off right on the weight loss front.
Monday 12/10: Off. Lately the off day is coinciding with non-core strengthening day, so I've been doing literally nothing. Today's strategy is to make the opening of the cashew bag really small, so I have to squeeze them out one at a time. Maybe that will slow the rate of consumption.
In other news, got some bloodwork back that included cardiovascular metrics... both hemoglobin and hematocrit a lot lower than a year ago, putting me on the lower end of the range for females... and presumably these are like normal, non athlete females... ugh, so depressing. Kind of a disgruntling, hating the world sort of day.
Tuesday 12/11: 34:45, Monterrey to rock. The Arroyo claims its first casualty of the season... the misfortunes continue for the embattled L foot. Just as soon as the bruise from the bottle accident has healed, I've managed to sprain it pretty badly on that first little downhill to get onto the path by Monterrey. Had to stop for a few minutes to shake it out, really painful... but I think the angle of torsion spared most of the key ligaments, so its really mostly a stabilizer on the outer part of the heel that took the brunt of it. Rest of run was a bit shaky but pain free as long as I made a very concerted effort to keep the foot strikes straight. ARGHHH....
Decided that it is just too exhausting to hate the world... so I'm going to try to have a better attitude. Make every obstacle into an opportunity: Maybe being allergic to 95% of the delicious free holiday chocolates and baked goods is an opportunity for me to lose weight, instead of a cruel and unusual deprivation of even the most simple pleasures of life. Maybe my abyssmal physical state is an opportunity to work on core strengthening and mechanics and things I would otherwise be too distracted to put effort into, instead of a reminder of being a disappointing failure and how I may never race again.
Wednesday 12/12: 33:35, California to RB. Had to park far away, grouchy. Ankle feeling steadier than expected. Felt good for a post-core strengthening day. Mostly a good run, but the breathing system was not in sync with the running system. Must have been a bad air quality (as defined by concentration of tree particles) day, per the mysterious tightness in my throat/upper chest area that occurs occasionally and unpredictably.
Thursday 12/13: 46:22, Huntington to Virginia in the PM. So cold I thought I was going to die! First "real" run in so much that its a route I used to do in the pre-crippled days. Other than the cold, it was nice to be out somewhere different, resisted the urge to do the full route up Oak Knoll, probably a very wise move. Felt really weird to run on so much pavement. Feet felt ... unenthused about the change. Kinda realized by the end that my body was a little freaked out by the change in terrain, grass, pavement, inclines, curbs, etc. which was a bit of a reality check in terms of how far I've got to go... but I think I'm going to keep trying a few more of these road runs, since pavement is all that is available when I go home for the holidays.
Had a good core strengthening session at the gym afterwards. Was really enthused about these for the first time ever, namely because after my run, I was ice cold from head to toe, and I knew that the core exercises would warm me right up. Feeling a bit worried about running in Boston. It's really tough with the low intensity training--you get up to cruising speed, and if you're still cold, then that's just too bad.
Friday 12/14: 34:42, Monterrey to rock in the twilight hours before Peter's company holiday party. Sub-optimal amount of sleep, but mostly a good run. Many dogs out. Really wishing I hadn't sprained that ankle earlier this week. There's kind of a persistent soreness in the L ankle area, probably connected to that incident. Mostly feels better after stretching the extensors.
Saturday 12/15: 40:33, One trail perimeter lap around the RB with Talia and the Brain in the AM. Really excited to have company, was fun. Good change of pace from the usual Arroyo jogs, met a nice man who knows Jesse Bloom. Yummy breakfast at Whole Foods afterwards. An unseasonably warm morning, very nice and sunny. Didn't quite make it to 4 hours of training time, but I still think this was a solid week.
Target Training time: 3 hours 50 minutes, gotta take it easy on the damn sprained ankle.
Actual training: 3:53:29
A series of unfortunate events have lead to some dietary changes lately, which has regrettably begun to tip the scales... I suppose with a diet consisting primarily of cashews, meat and stirfry, I shouldn't exactly be surprised, but good golly, I am officially fat.
Heading into my second pre-base microcycle, I'm actually feeling like the running portion is under control. Injury prevention remains top of the priority list, and I'd like to shed a few pounds to head off any risk factors as I approach the next increase in training minutes. Add 10 extra pounds to lug around for 10% more minutes... the impact starts to add up, when you're dealing with an already erratic and temperamental system.
Tune in this week to see if our roly-poly heroine will be able to curb the snacking and make it to 4 hours of training time!
Sunday 12/09: 43:32 Monterrey to second bridge loop. Felt some motivational issues while cramming cashews and pastries into my mouth at the kitchen counter. Did not feel as fresh and rested as I was supposed to after the additional day away from core strengthening. R hip a tiny bit inflamed but not at the usual spot. Felt uneasy about that, but a lot of stretching and it was fine during the run. This run always makes me happy bc it is kind of a real loop instead of an out and back. 40 minutes feels more like a real run, felt good all the way through. Core strengthening at the gym afterwards. Felt irritable due to large number of people and lack of exercise ball. Cookies in the late PM. Doing my part to deserve J.R.'s pet name, Fatty McFat Fat. Not starting the week off right on the weight loss front.
Monday 12/10: Off. Lately the off day is coinciding with non-core strengthening day, so I've been doing literally nothing. Today's strategy is to make the opening of the cashew bag really small, so I have to squeeze them out one at a time. Maybe that will slow the rate of consumption.
In other news, got some bloodwork back that included cardiovascular metrics... both hemoglobin and hematocrit a lot lower than a year ago, putting me on the lower end of the range for females... and presumably these are like normal, non athlete females... ugh, so depressing. Kind of a disgruntling, hating the world sort of day.
Tuesday 12/11: 34:45, Monterrey to rock. The Arroyo claims its first casualty of the season... the misfortunes continue for the embattled L foot. Just as soon as the bruise from the bottle accident has healed, I've managed to sprain it pretty badly on that first little downhill to get onto the path by Monterrey. Had to stop for a few minutes to shake it out, really painful... but I think the angle of torsion spared most of the key ligaments, so its really mostly a stabilizer on the outer part of the heel that took the brunt of it. Rest of run was a bit shaky but pain free as long as I made a very concerted effort to keep the foot strikes straight. ARGHHH....
Decided that it is just too exhausting to hate the world... so I'm going to try to have a better attitude. Make every obstacle into an opportunity: Maybe being allergic to 95% of the delicious free holiday chocolates and baked goods is an opportunity for me to lose weight, instead of a cruel and unusual deprivation of even the most simple pleasures of life. Maybe my abyssmal physical state is an opportunity to work on core strengthening and mechanics and things I would otherwise be too distracted to put effort into, instead of a reminder of being a disappointing failure and how I may never race again.
Wednesday 12/12: 33:35, California to RB. Had to park far away, grouchy. Ankle feeling steadier than expected. Felt good for a post-core strengthening day. Mostly a good run, but the breathing system was not in sync with the running system. Must have been a bad air quality (as defined by concentration of tree particles) day, per the mysterious tightness in my throat/upper chest area that occurs occasionally and unpredictably.
Thursday 12/13: 46:22, Huntington to Virginia in the PM. So cold I thought I was going to die! First "real" run in so much that its a route I used to do in the pre-crippled days. Other than the cold, it was nice to be out somewhere different, resisted the urge to do the full route up Oak Knoll, probably a very wise move. Felt really weird to run on so much pavement. Feet felt ... unenthused about the change. Kinda realized by the end that my body was a little freaked out by the change in terrain, grass, pavement, inclines, curbs, etc. which was a bit of a reality check in terms of how far I've got to go... but I think I'm going to keep trying a few more of these road runs, since pavement is all that is available when I go home for the holidays.
Had a good core strengthening session at the gym afterwards. Was really enthused about these for the first time ever, namely because after my run, I was ice cold from head to toe, and I knew that the core exercises would warm me right up. Feeling a bit worried about running in Boston. It's really tough with the low intensity training--you get up to cruising speed, and if you're still cold, then that's just too bad.
Friday 12/14: 34:42, Monterrey to rock in the twilight hours before Peter's company holiday party. Sub-optimal amount of sleep, but mostly a good run. Many dogs out. Really wishing I hadn't sprained that ankle earlier this week. There's kind of a persistent soreness in the L ankle area, probably connected to that incident. Mostly feels better after stretching the extensors.
Saturday 12/15: 40:33, One trail perimeter lap around the RB with Talia and the Brain in the AM. Really excited to have company, was fun. Good change of pace from the usual Arroyo jogs, met a nice man who knows Jesse Bloom. Yummy breakfast at Whole Foods afterwards. An unseasonably warm morning, very nice and sunny. Didn't quite make it to 4 hours of training time, but I still think this was a solid week.
Target Training time: 3 hours 50 minutes, gotta take it easy on the damn sprained ankle.
Actual training: 3:53:29
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Week of 12/02/2007 - 12/08/2007 (Pre-Base Week 4)
3 weeks down! Beginning to feel like its coming together a little bit. This week is supposed to be a down week, but I'm struggling to define what that means. When you run so little and so slowly, do you really NEED a significant down week? I'm feeling like my body can deal with the PT and the core strengthening a lot better now than when I started, which makes it feel like the load is less already.
On the other hand, there's been the unfortunate incident of the bottle falling squarely onto my bad toe. Its very disconcerting because there's a lot of bruised sore feeling in that area now, and I can't tell the pain from the blunt trauma apart from the pain from potentially having screwed up the original trouble spot again. So the current plan is, one "long run" and then a full week of the ~35 minute runs only, hopefully to let this heal and be in good shape to start the next training cycle.
Sunday 12/02: 44:59, Monterrey to second bridge loop. Nice and easy, felt like I've finally crossed over into a fitness level where I can run with a natural, smooth stride and still keep a low HR. vs. in last week's experiment, it felt like in order to keep the HR low, I had to change my stride to an uncomfortably glacial shuffle. Still really slow, but I realized on this run that I'm starting to feel a little bit of the joy of running again. It's gotten to the point where I don't have to concentrate so hard to keep my anti-foot hurting form, and running feels easy enough that my mind can wander into that transcendentally liberating brainspace where you can think about everything and nothing and for the time being you're outside of your life and all of its limitations.
Monday 12/03: Off. Diddly-squat.
Tuesday 12/04: 35:54, Monterrey to rock. Forgot to do PT yesterday, feet felt bad in the morning. Okay during the run though, boy is it nice to wear shoes that are not 3 years old. Starting to get this sore heel thing that often happens to me when my shoes start to accumulate miles... thought the whole trails only thing would extend the lifespan, but apparently not.
I think the meaning of this off week is that I'm logging some really truly low HR training, and I'm not going to stress about it being slow(er). I'm a bit worried about the toe/bottle situation and I'd really like all of the tweaks to be under control before I make an attempt on the elusive 4 training hours per week mark. Core strengthening in the PM.
Wednesday 12/05: 35:13, California to RB. Like 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag. Some runs are just not enjoyable... Felt dehydrated in the morning, but was late, so didn't drink water. Uncomfortably sunny/warm, weird upper abdominal cramps made it hard to take deep breaths. Sharp pain in L ankle, but figured out halfway through what I was doing wrong that kept tweaking it... form gets sloppy when I feel crappy. A bad morning on many accounts... but fortunately the day did improve.
Thursday 12/06: 35:02, Monterrey to rock. A good run. Felt happy again, like a damn manic depressive. How well the run goes basically colors how I view my training future, my life, world politics, global warming... etc. Really need to get the emotions under control. A few little tweaks in the L ankle/achilles, a tiny bit concerned, but will just monitor for now. Core strengthening in the PM. Still more taxing than I would like, but it IS having a very pleasing effect on my progress towards the quest for the Butt Dimple!
Friday 12/07: 33:39, California to RB, a.k.a. the how far will you go to avoid that mud puddle?adventure. My answer: As far as necessary (without breaking stride). Wet shoes are among the top 5 catastrophes that typically happen on a run, so I make absolute sure to avoid this as much as possible. Felt really good and steady, despite it being a post-core strengthening day. Ran in the afternoon to avoid the rain, then holiday party with Peter at Dodger Stadium. Got screwed over for the batting cage, but ate some delicious mini red velvet cakes... yum!
Saturday 12/08: 34:46, Monterrey to rock. Still a lot of puddles, argh... but pleasant and sunny to round out a mostly positive down week. Felt a bit queasy from donuts and cashews eaten for breakfast... but a solid run anyways. Most of the aches and pains have resolved themselves, but the bad toe feels sore in a new way, which is a little bit consterning... will have to monitor that heading into next week. Felt like this week's training load was not taxing, which is encouraging because it was more minutes than I had expected.
Target Training: TBD - supposed to be a down week. Not sure how to define that.
Actual Training: 3:39:33
On the other hand, there's been the unfortunate incident of the bottle falling squarely onto my bad toe. Its very disconcerting because there's a lot of bruised sore feeling in that area now, and I can't tell the pain from the blunt trauma apart from the pain from potentially having screwed up the original trouble spot again. So the current plan is, one "long run" and then a full week of the ~35 minute runs only, hopefully to let this heal and be in good shape to start the next training cycle.
Sunday 12/02: 44:59, Monterrey to second bridge loop. Nice and easy, felt like I've finally crossed over into a fitness level where I can run with a natural, smooth stride and still keep a low HR. vs. in last week's experiment, it felt like in order to keep the HR low, I had to change my stride to an uncomfortably glacial shuffle. Still really slow, but I realized on this run that I'm starting to feel a little bit of the joy of running again. It's gotten to the point where I don't have to concentrate so hard to keep my anti-foot hurting form, and running feels easy enough that my mind can wander into that transcendentally liberating brainspace where you can think about everything and nothing and for the time being you're outside of your life and all of its limitations.
Monday 12/03: Off. Diddly-squat.
Tuesday 12/04: 35:54, Monterrey to rock. Forgot to do PT yesterday, feet felt bad in the morning. Okay during the run though, boy is it nice to wear shoes that are not 3 years old. Starting to get this sore heel thing that often happens to me when my shoes start to accumulate miles... thought the whole trails only thing would extend the lifespan, but apparently not.
I think the meaning of this off week is that I'm logging some really truly low HR training, and I'm not going to stress about it being slow(er). I'm a bit worried about the toe/bottle situation and I'd really like all of the tweaks to be under control before I make an attempt on the elusive 4 training hours per week mark. Core strengthening in the PM.
Wednesday 12/05: 35:13, California to RB. Like 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag. Some runs are just not enjoyable... Felt dehydrated in the morning, but was late, so didn't drink water. Uncomfortably sunny/warm, weird upper abdominal cramps made it hard to take deep breaths. Sharp pain in L ankle, but figured out halfway through what I was doing wrong that kept tweaking it... form gets sloppy when I feel crappy. A bad morning on many accounts... but fortunately the day did improve.
Thursday 12/06: 35:02, Monterrey to rock. A good run. Felt happy again, like a damn manic depressive. How well the run goes basically colors how I view my training future, my life, world politics, global warming... etc. Really need to get the emotions under control. A few little tweaks in the L ankle/achilles, a tiny bit concerned, but will just monitor for now. Core strengthening in the PM. Still more taxing than I would like, but it IS having a very pleasing effect on my progress towards the quest for the Butt Dimple!
Friday 12/07: 33:39, California to RB, a.k.a. the how far will you go to avoid that mud puddle?adventure. My answer: As far as necessary (without breaking stride). Wet shoes are among the top 5 catastrophes that typically happen on a run, so I make absolute sure to avoid this as much as possible. Felt really good and steady, despite it being a post-core strengthening day. Ran in the afternoon to avoid the rain, then holiday party with Peter at Dodger Stadium. Got screwed over for the batting cage, but ate some delicious mini red velvet cakes... yum!
Saturday 12/08: 34:46, Monterrey to rock. Still a lot of puddles, argh... but pleasant and sunny to round out a mostly positive down week. Felt a bit queasy from donuts and cashews eaten for breakfast... but a solid run anyways. Most of the aches and pains have resolved themselves, but the bad toe feels sore in a new way, which is a little bit consterning... will have to monitor that heading into next week. Felt like this week's training load was not taxing, which is encouraging because it was more minutes than I had expected.
Target Training: TBD - supposed to be a down week. Not sure how to define that.
Actual Training: 3:39:33
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