What a great morning! The out and back/out and back loop at Alki worked out beautifully today. Nancy, Jess, Wendy and I ran the entire 11 miles, while Irina joined us for the first 5 and Tamara joined us for the back 6. Oh, and let's not forget Gabriel on his bike pulling the entire 11 miles! Then off to brunch at Endolyne Joe's... mmmm...
All in all, felt pretty good. The new shoes were great, no issues and it was obvious that I was finally in the right shoe size. Not sure why I hadn't clued into that way before, and had to have the girl at Everyday Athlete tell me to go up a size. Oh well, note taken.
During the run I kept a mental note of what my regular pains were so that I can highlight the right symptoms during my podiatry appointment tomorrow. I'm excited to go in and hope that this fresh set of eyes can get me in the right pair of orthotics. Dr. Mauer is supposed to be great, plus he's a serious runner... he gets it. His website is www.rundoctor.com, he better get it.
Because my back has been super sore I'm working today while sitting on a Swiss ball. Can't figure out if it's helping or making it worse... I hear good things about it so I figured I'd try.
On tap for tomorrow morning, nice easy indoor cycling and then off to the Run Doctor. :)
Sunday, July 6
Saturday, July 5
Not the same young body...
In case there was any impression that I can pull three workouts in one day, I can't... it wasn't even a good idea. What was I thinking?
After the icky, old substitute teacher on Thursday morning, I played (and actually walked) a round of golf. Yes I used a pull cart instead of carrying my bag, but I still walked. :-) I really had no intention of running the midnight Firecracker 5000. After all, I got up at 4:45 am to do 90 minutes of strength training... then I walked golf, that should suffice. Unfortunately one of my golf partners was planning on heading home after golf, knocking back a couple of more drinks and running the race. Colby has done this a few times, and he feels the same way about the Firecracker that I do about the Mark Forrester tournament: there is no point in participating unless you're hungover or still buzzed. Apparently this is a sentiment shared by many (Tamara)!
So he called me on my way home after golf to take one more shot at me for being a "ninny". Seems he knows how to get to me. I called Nancy and Tamara and planned to meet them at the Kirkland Park and Ride. For good measure, I decided to take Allison down with me. I did what every good friend does best... get to her husband first who I knew would be all over it, and before she knew it, she was getting out of bed to make her way to Seattle. She really DOES love me! ;-)
We ran a nice slow 5K, 29 minutes that felt pretty tough at times. We were planning on running even more slowly, but of course Allison the pace bunny doesn't know how to do that. So I chased, that's what I get for dragging her into it.
As for Colby on his buzz? 20:36. I don't think I can be friends with him anymore, I have a feeling his speed workouts for us are about to get a lot harder.
The point of this story is that I got home at 3 am and took Friday and Saturday off to recover... to clean the disaster that had become my condo and do laundry. I finally picked up a couple of new pairs of running shoes which I'm hoping will help with the aches I've been getting from running lately. I know this is a bad idea, but their first test run is our 11 mile long run tomorrow.
So where has Kirk disappeared to? I hope our lack of posting last week hasn't alienated him?!?!?
After the icky, old substitute teacher on Thursday morning, I played (and actually walked) a round of golf. Yes I used a pull cart instead of carrying my bag, but I still walked. :-) I really had no intention of running the midnight Firecracker 5000. After all, I got up at 4:45 am to do 90 minutes of strength training... then I walked golf, that should suffice. Unfortunately one of my golf partners was planning on heading home after golf, knocking back a couple of more drinks and running the race. Colby has done this a few times, and he feels the same way about the Firecracker that I do about the Mark Forrester tournament: there is no point in participating unless you're hungover or still buzzed. Apparently this is a sentiment shared by many (Tamara)!
So he called me on my way home after golf to take one more shot at me for being a "ninny". Seems he knows how to get to me. I called Nancy and Tamara and planned to meet them at the Kirkland Park and Ride. For good measure, I decided to take Allison down with me. I did what every good friend does best... get to her husband first who I knew would be all over it, and before she knew it, she was getting out of bed to make her way to Seattle. She really DOES love me! ;-)
We ran a nice slow 5K, 29 minutes that felt pretty tough at times. We were planning on running even more slowly, but of course Allison the pace bunny doesn't know how to do that. So I chased, that's what I get for dragging her into it.
As for Colby on his buzz? 20:36. I don't think I can be friends with him anymore, I have a feeling his speed workouts for us are about to get a lot harder.
The point of this story is that I got home at 3 am and took Friday and Saturday off to recover... to clean the disaster that had become my condo and do laundry. I finally picked up a couple of new pairs of running shoes which I'm hoping will help with the aches I've been getting from running lately. I know this is a bad idea, but their first test run is our 11 mile long run tomorrow.
So where has Kirk disappeared to? I hope our lack of posting last week hasn't alienated him?!?!?
Thursday, July 3
My future husband...
Allison's blog about the speed training was bang on, couldn't add a single bit of color to that. Except the following... I have always known that Allison was fast, but it's sad how slow she makes me look. The good news is, that she's the person running partner because I have to try to keep on her heels.
Three nights in a row now that I've had less than 5 hours of sleep. I skipped MC on Tuesday but made it to speed work yesterday morning. During our run yesterday I mentioned to Allison that at times, we will have to put work/school in front of training, but I would NEVER prioritize partying over training.
Well, last night I was out a little late and drank a little wine. We had an all day offsite and afterwards, by some gift from God, I was left at Redhook Brewery with three executives from work. I met two of them for the first time, and one just happens to be my future husband. He may not know it yet, he does have a girlfriend, but who doesn't? And that's my MO right? Go after the men that have girlfriends? Why change now? The difference is that this guy is not what I would call super hot (balding and a little quirky)... but he's just endearing and really smart, and funny as hell. Plus, he laughs at all my dumb jokes! Oh, did I mention that he is mega rich (started that company called aQuantive that Microsoft bought for 6 billion last year), but drives a Ford Escape? He aspires to be a cage fighter but has a 4.5 lb Pomeranian named Caramel? I'M IN LOVE (for this week at least).
What was my point? Oh yes, not putting partying in front of working out. Going to bed around midnight last night I set my alarm for 4:45 am. I didn't actually think I would make it, but knowing that I missed Tuesday and will be traveling for a full week in July I really had the guilt going. I woke up this morning and that conversation with Allison jumped into my head "I will never prioritize partying over training". And up I went.
ONLY TO SHOW UP IN CLASS AND THERE WAS NO CARL!!! Don't even get me started, and I'm sure Allison will be posting along these lines as well. But common! You want me to workout through a hangover and no sleep staring at a 65 year old Carl replacement? Give me a break! Apparently Carl had the choice of teaching today or climbing Mount Olympus. Who would ever pick Mount Olympus over seeing Allison and I at 5:30 am?
Anyways, suffered through it. Supposed to golf this afternoon but we are currently experiencing some thunder storms. Tonight at midnight is the Firecracker 5000 (5 km if first few minutes into July 4th). The plan is to run it, we'll see. :)
Three nights in a row now that I've had less than 5 hours of sleep. I skipped MC on Tuesday but made it to speed work yesterday morning. During our run yesterday I mentioned to Allison that at times, we will have to put work/school in front of training, but I would NEVER prioritize partying over training.
Well, last night I was out a little late and drank a little wine. We had an all day offsite and afterwards, by some gift from God, I was left at Redhook Brewery with three executives from work. I met two of them for the first time, and one just happens to be my future husband. He may not know it yet, he does have a girlfriend, but who doesn't? And that's my MO right? Go after the men that have girlfriends? Why change now? The difference is that this guy is not what I would call super hot (balding and a little quirky)... but he's just endearing and really smart, and funny as hell. Plus, he laughs at all my dumb jokes! Oh, did I mention that he is mega rich (started that company called aQuantive that Microsoft bought for 6 billion last year), but drives a Ford Escape? He aspires to be a cage fighter but has a 4.5 lb Pomeranian named Caramel? I'M IN LOVE (for this week at least).
What was my point? Oh yes, not putting partying in front of working out. Going to bed around midnight last night I set my alarm for 4:45 am. I didn't actually think I would make it, but knowing that I missed Tuesday and will be traveling for a full week in July I really had the guilt going. I woke up this morning and that conversation with Allison jumped into my head "I will never prioritize partying over training". And up I went.
ONLY TO SHOW UP IN CLASS AND THERE WAS NO CARL!!! Don't even get me started, and I'm sure Allison will be posting along these lines as well. But common! You want me to workout through a hangover and no sleep staring at a 65 year old Carl replacement? Give me a break! Apparently Carl had the choice of teaching today or climbing Mount Olympus. Who would ever pick Mount Olympus over seeing Allison and I at 5:30 am?
Anyways, suffered through it. Supposed to golf this afternoon but we are currently experiencing some thunder storms. Tonight at midnight is the Firecracker 5000 (5 km if first few minutes into July 4th). The plan is to run it, we'll see. :)
Wednesday, July 2
Speed workout...and the fence.
So Aleks convinces me to come do a "speed workout" basically by promising to wear Pauly Bleekers outfit headband and all. As a fan of Pauly and his ever so short yellow shorts I was foolishly suckered into the workout. We decide to meet at 5:45 because I have a stupid 8am meeting that I have to be in for the next month or so....grr arrrggg...but I digress.
Anyways I got to the park at 5:30 since I am a horrible judge of time and have a huge fear of being late. Well the park was beautiful and I walked around for a bit looking for the track. The closest thing I could find was the soccer field which is located in the center of the park. When Aleks got there ( not wearing anything even remotely resembling Pauly's outfit :( ), she confirmed that indeed that was where we were going to run.
Major flaw in that plan: the field is surrounded by a six foot chain link fence that was locked. Now this combined with the fact that I was nervous about a "speed" work out was not a good thing. Speed is so relative. I like how Gimle the dwarf puts it in The Two Towers "Dwarfs are not made for speed except over short distances". I embrace this mantra. But Aleks is training for a marathon and it was different so I conceded. Of course when she sent out the original post it didn't mention that the workout was designed by her co-worker Colby who while seemingly nice is quite possibly nutters based on this workout...
Anyway back to the fence.
Aleks proposes some different options like driving to the high school or just running. But I'm determined so I suggest we hop the fence. I mean criminals do this all the time - with ease. I hand my stuff to Aleks grab the dewy fence and hoist my not so slim self over the top. Unlike men getting up is not my problem it was the going down that really sucked - hahahaha pun not intended, well maybe a little. Anyway, wow I cant concentrate today...ADHD.
At the top of the fence I'm trying to get my footing and that fence seriously was violating me in ways that is not appropriate for 5:45 in the morning unless you are James Mcavoy. But I get over and then Aleks gets over and we set to it. We are supposed to run and easy mile for warm up followed by a fast lap of 7:45min/mile pace followed by a recovery lap and then a two mile alternating fast - slow lap with fast = 8:30 min/mile pace. The whole thing is ended by a mile cool down run. Thank you Colby.
We do the mile and are coming around the far turn when both Aleks and I see the First Response Security patrol car come around the corner. The car circles the soccer field, I'm screaming at Aleks about being too young for prison and how I don't want to be bitch to some big girl named Bertha. The officer stops at the fence just as we reach the corner and asks "Did you guys jump the fence?" A smart ass by nature my first thought was "Nope, I walked right through it that's my superpower" but then I thought about Bertha and I calmly said "Yup we didn't know if we had to reserve it or when it opened". The security guard just told us to wait until 6am next time. Hell no, we're hard core and jumpin' the fence again.
So we run the rest of the speed drills - all way too fast. I think our first super fast lap we ran at a 6:55 pace and the other laps at an average of 8:00, which was us consciously saying we need to slow down. The last fast lap we ran balls out (which is a metaphor that doesn't really work for females) to the end of the lap. The last mile was run easily and we both felt great afterwards. Its definitely different from long and slow, but sometimes I'm more for intensity anyway :)
I'm going to change the ice pack I'm sitting on now. The fence was not my friend.
Anyways I got to the park at 5:30 since I am a horrible judge of time and have a huge fear of being late. Well the park was beautiful and I walked around for a bit looking for the track. The closest thing I could find was the soccer field which is located in the center of the park. When Aleks got there ( not wearing anything even remotely resembling Pauly's outfit :( ), she confirmed that indeed that was where we were going to run.
Major flaw in that plan: the field is surrounded by a six foot chain link fence that was locked. Now this combined with the fact that I was nervous about a "speed" work out was not a good thing. Speed is so relative. I like how Gimle the dwarf puts it in The Two Towers "Dwarfs are not made for speed except over short distances". I embrace this mantra. But Aleks is training for a marathon and it was different so I conceded. Of course when she sent out the original post it didn't mention that the workout was designed by her co-worker Colby who while seemingly nice is quite possibly nutters based on this workout...
Anyway back to the fence.
Aleks proposes some different options like driving to the high school or just running. But I'm determined so I suggest we hop the fence. I mean criminals do this all the time - with ease. I hand my stuff to Aleks grab the dewy fence and hoist my not so slim self over the top. Unlike men getting up is not my problem it was the going down that really sucked - hahahaha pun not intended, well maybe a little. Anyway, wow I cant concentrate today...ADHD.
At the top of the fence I'm trying to get my footing and that fence seriously was violating me in ways that is not appropriate for 5:45 in the morning unless you are James Mcavoy. But I get over and then Aleks gets over and we set to it. We are supposed to run and easy mile for warm up followed by a fast lap of 7:45min/mile pace followed by a recovery lap and then a two mile alternating fast - slow lap with fast = 8:30 min/mile pace. The whole thing is ended by a mile cool down run. Thank you Colby.
We do the mile and are coming around the far turn when both Aleks and I see the First Response Security patrol car come around the corner. The car circles the soccer field, I'm screaming at Aleks about being too young for prison and how I don't want to be bitch to some big girl named Bertha. The officer stops at the fence just as we reach the corner and asks "Did you guys jump the fence?" A smart ass by nature my first thought was "Nope, I walked right through it that's my superpower" but then I thought about Bertha and I calmly said "Yup we didn't know if we had to reserve it or when it opened". The security guard just told us to wait until 6am next time. Hell no, we're hard core and jumpin' the fence again.
So we run the rest of the speed drills - all way too fast. I think our first super fast lap we ran at a 6:55 pace and the other laps at an average of 8:00, which was us consciously saying we need to slow down. The last fast lap we ran balls out (which is a metaphor that doesn't really work for females) to the end of the lap. The last mile was run easily and we both felt great afterwards. Its definitely different from long and slow, but sometimes I'm more for intensity anyway :)
I'm going to change the ice pack I'm sitting on now. The fence was not my friend.
Tuesday, July 1
Getting Older
It is so funny getting older. And no this is not a commentary on how old is really old, blah blah blah. Its a commentary on how you body and life changes, sometimes unexpectedly as you age. For instance I have never been particularly slim but my ability to lose weight has an inverted correlation with my aging. My body is more sore after workouts too. Don't you remember in high school when you were on the track team ( or whatever sport you played) you did that workout then went and played on your club soccer team, or horseback rode in my case until it was too dark to do any more. All the while thinking nothing of it, not getting sore and looking forward to the next day. I see pics of myself from that age and wish I could have appreciated that body in that time. I wonder if in ten years will I look at pics of myself now and think "You should have appreciated it while you had that."
With this dawning realization I have to admit I have a larger dose of fear as I head into new challenges that life throws at me. The prospect of grad school, while exciting, fuels fear about balancing work and life. I think Aleks was really spot on when she said sometimes work does come first, I'm just worried about work/school always coming first come September. And then there is pregnancy, I cannot begin to describe the fear of gaining weight for pregnancy. While in my twenties I always had this feeling that it was so far away. Now the feeling is that it is imminent, maybe not this year but definitely the following year. People around me give me hope, those women who look amazing after pregnancy. But like many things I don't think i am one of those women. I think it will be crazy hard, potentially impossible, task to lose that weight and get back into shape.
So for now I'm not going to future trip, which I have a habit of doing. I will borrow a page out of the Big Book in AA and say that I will take this one day at a time, one life changing event at a time.
Today I did Mountain Conditioning, I have logged my food on www.thedailyplate.com which I liked better than Fit Day. Today I will pinch myself enough to remind me that there is still something to pinch but also enough to remember to appreciate what I have.
With this dawning realization I have to admit I have a larger dose of fear as I head into new challenges that life throws at me. The prospect of grad school, while exciting, fuels fear about balancing work and life. I think Aleks was really spot on when she said sometimes work does come first, I'm just worried about work/school always coming first come September. And then there is pregnancy, I cannot begin to describe the fear of gaining weight for pregnancy. While in my twenties I always had this feeling that it was so far away. Now the feeling is that it is imminent, maybe not this year but definitely the following year. People around me give me hope, those women who look amazing after pregnancy. But like many things I don't think i am one of those women. I think it will be crazy hard, potentially impossible, task to lose that weight and get back into shape.
So for now I'm not going to future trip, which I have a habit of doing. I will borrow a page out of the Big Book in AA and say that I will take this one day at a time, one life changing event at a time.
Today I did Mountain Conditioning, I have logged my food on www.thedailyplate.com which I liked better than Fit Day. Today I will pinch myself enough to remind me that there is still something to pinch but also enough to remember to appreciate what I have.
Work over working out
Last night I worked late and couldn't get to sleep. You know the feeling where you analyze everything you have to get done and wonder how you'll do it? The time just keeps slipping by and you think "6 hours of sleep"... "5 hours"... "4 hours"... and so on...
That was last night and this morning I woke up and thought... I have got to sleep or else I will be useless at work and it will all just get worse. I actually got up and got dressed (because I wanted to be at Jess and Tamara's first MC class). That's the other thing. I wasn't just skipping a workout, I was skipping a class. I stood in front of the mirror, dressed to go and had to convince myself that my body and brain needed to sleep.
Sleep = Recovery = Reduced Stress = Reduced Binges = List goes on and on...
Ultimately I knew that I was going to be at a full day planning offsite tomorrow (no laptops allowed) and absolutely had to be productive today. I actually thought about showering and going straight into work at 5 am but I also knew that would be counterproductive.
So back to sleep I went. I was so irritated though, thinking about choosing work over working out that I had to count my breathing to try to settle my mind. "But the girls will be there, but I have to miss two classes in mid July for work travel, but I need the workout"...
I finally had to give in to the fact that *sometimes* work will be busy and you have to make it a priority (too often and you have to make serious changes). But also, my good good friend Melissa's voice chimed into my head with her voice of reason "Aleks, how many times have you told me that a good night's sleep when needed is much better than a workout" and my mom "it's 80% diet, 20% exercise". Both true, I've been crashing by 2 pm most days for the last few weeks and today my body just spoke to me.
Enough blabbing... I have 113 unread emails to get to and FY09 POs to send through for 16 vendors. One foot in front of the other...
That was last night and this morning I woke up and thought... I have got to sleep or else I will be useless at work and it will all just get worse. I actually got up and got dressed (because I wanted to be at Jess and Tamara's first MC class). That's the other thing. I wasn't just skipping a workout, I was skipping a class. I stood in front of the mirror, dressed to go and had to convince myself that my body and brain needed to sleep.
Sleep = Recovery = Reduced Stress = Reduced Binges = List goes on and on...
Ultimately I knew that I was going to be at a full day planning offsite tomorrow (no laptops allowed) and absolutely had to be productive today. I actually thought about showering and going straight into work at 5 am but I also knew that would be counterproductive.
So back to sleep I went. I was so irritated though, thinking about choosing work over working out that I had to count my breathing to try to settle my mind. "But the girls will be there, but I have to miss two classes in mid July for work travel, but I need the workout"...
I finally had to give in to the fact that *sometimes* work will be busy and you have to make it a priority (too often and you have to make serious changes). But also, my good good friend Melissa's voice chimed into my head with her voice of reason "Aleks, how many times have you told me that a good night's sleep when needed is much better than a workout" and my mom "it's 80% diet, 20% exercise". Both true, I've been crashing by 2 pm most days for the last few weeks and today my body just spoke to me.
Enough blabbing... I have 113 unread emails to get to and FY09 POs to send through for 16 vendors. One foot in front of the other...
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