It was surprisingly a relatively easy 5K over 40 minutes flat, which bodes well for the spring race I think I want to do. More on that later.
My knees hurt now. That doesn't bode so well.
Friday, February 6
Resolutionista
So on a premeditated whim (is that an oxymoron?), I decided to go 2 for 2 to the gym, in terms of weeks. I went twice last week, once for some stationary biking and the second time for a yoga class that was too advanced for my impatient and unGumbyish self. Today, I spent my lunch break at the gym -- running on the treadmill of all things. I've been wondering lately what my fitness level was, having continued to avoid the gym for another month where there was no doubt a lot of New Year's resolutionistas. I read a blurb today about how the majority of people who make New Year's resolutions to go to the gym inevitably quit by February 1. It was kinda quiet at the gym late into the lunch hour. Usually I would have to fight for a treadmill. Maybe it's true, that blurb... I've probably been that statistic one year. Call it a February resolution, but all I really want right now is to fit better into a few favorite pieces that don't feel so right anymore.
Thursday, January 1
Unfinished business: part 2
New year, oh a new year.
I've been on another of my famous hiatuses. I had finished the Zoo Race on quite a high. I could have let that momentum carry me. Instead, I let it die ....and along with it, this blog.
I could make the excuse that I had started a new job (actually I finished a three-year special project and sadly returned to a job I thought I had progressed from) and it wasn't going well. I could make the excuse that my shoulder was causing me to back off from running (how? I don't know. I said it was an excuse.) I could make the excuse that I hate winter running. Or maybe I am just not enthused about running anymore and seek another challenge.
A girl at work has asked me to run with her -- no wait, she said "teach me to run" -- when we return from the holiday break. It was an fascinating proposition and I wasn't sure how to respond. Teach? I don't know what I have to offer, but I suppose I am a non-threatening slower-than-average runner whose fleeting persistence somehow motivates others. What they don't know is that I think I actually need them more to motivate me than they need me.
The seriousness with running that I applied to the Chicago Marathon in 2006 is all but gone. I wish to do another marathon but the thought scares me a little because of the commitment involved. I know I am comfortable with the half-marathon and the shorter distances -- much more forgiving with the other things I enjoy in life (mostly extreme laziness whenever the whim takes me). Out of habit, I'll probably sign up for Harry's, Sporting Life, and the Zoo and likely the Scotiabank half-marathon too. I am not looking to do anything out of town this year, but I can be swayed easily. The year is only a few hours old.
I've been on another of my famous hiatuses. I had finished the Zoo Race on quite a high. I could have let that momentum carry me. Instead, I let it die ....and along with it, this blog.
I could make the excuse that I had started a new job (actually I finished a three-year special project and sadly returned to a job I thought I had progressed from) and it wasn't going well. I could make the excuse that my shoulder was causing me to back off from running (how? I don't know. I said it was an excuse.) I could make the excuse that I hate winter running. Or maybe I am just not enthused about running anymore and seek another challenge.
A girl at work has asked me to run with her -- no wait, she said "teach me to run" -- when we return from the holiday break. It was an fascinating proposition and I wasn't sure how to respond. Teach? I don't know what I have to offer, but I suppose I am a non-threatening slower-than-average runner whose fleeting persistence somehow motivates others. What they don't know is that I think I actually need them more to motivate me than they need me.
The seriousness with running that I applied to the Chicago Marathon in 2006 is all but gone. I wish to do another marathon but the thought scares me a little because of the commitment involved. I know I am comfortable with the half-marathon and the shorter distances -- much more forgiving with the other things I enjoy in life (mostly extreme laziness whenever the whim takes me). Out of habit, I'll probably sign up for Harry's, Sporting Life, and the Zoo and likely the Scotiabank half-marathon too. I am not looking to do anything out of town this year, but I can be swayed easily. The year is only a few hours old.
Unfinished business ... Race report: Lions and tigers and bears, oh my
Ed: The following race report was written Oct 18, 2008. It's not entirely complete, and never posted til now. It was my last race and the last time I had put running shoes on. It was probably one of my best races.
My second 10K Zoo Run is in the books. I really enjoyed it today and have been thinking it should be part of my race plans every year, and I think Team Family might agree to it. Today's race went extremely well. I am very pleased with the effort, the results. I wasn't sure how I'd perform after having very little sleep this past week and having workload issues that left me more than a little upset this week, but it was like the crisp autumn air and seeing a couple of zoo animals made everything okay for an hour.
I only slept about 4.5 hours before this race, not much more than all the other days this week. When I woke up, I nibbled on half a bagel with peanut butter and swigged some Gatorade. I didn't feel good. My cousin drove my sister and I and on the way, we decided where to go the post-race meal.
We lined up. My cousin and sister had blue markers on their bibs, indicating they were in the last corral, the 1:00:00+ group. I had a green marker, one corral ahead of them. When you sign up for these things -- and for me that's usually months ahead before I've actually really considered any kind of training plan -- they sometimes ask when you plan to finish. I guess I thought I'd do it in under an hour because I've done that once and would like to repeat. Again, this is like two weeks ago with the half-marathon: I lined up where I shouldn't.
The three of us started together. I kept pace with my sister, who still has weak ankles, and then left her after we'd completed the first kilometer. She was planning on not aggravating her ankles, despite the elastic foot wrap. We wished her luck and said we'd meet at the finish line. She urged me to run the distance without her, so she wouldn't be holding me back from improving my time since I would otherwise stick with her from start to finish. Today, I would be making sure my cousin didn't slack off. I mostly didn't but I gave in to her wish to walk for a minute around the 7K mark. I think I could have otherwise ran the distance nonstop but it was nice to run a race with my cousin. We haven't signed up for that many together, but every time we have, we start together and separate (usually I was behind -- be it bladder, conditioning, or sticking with my sister). I left my cousin shortly after 9K. I had a lot of energy left -- who knows where it was coming from -- and took advantage. As I was doing the final K, I thought I could run the whole course again.
We left the zoo and did the same thing we did last year (sadly without Yumke who was resting between marathons or something) and went Chinese styles -- noodles, a big bowl of congee with fried dough on the side, and lots of cups of green tea. Funny thing this year, my parents and a friend were also coincidentally at the same restaurant. Bonus -- they paid!
Chip time: 1:07:34.2 (last year 1:14:37.9)
Pace/km: 6:52 (last year: 7:38)
My second 10K Zoo Run is in the books. I really enjoyed it today and have been thinking it should be part of my race plans every year, and I think Team Family might agree to it. Today's race went extremely well. I am very pleased with the effort, the results. I wasn't sure how I'd perform after having very little sleep this past week and having workload issues that left me more than a little upset this week, but it was like the crisp autumn air and seeing a couple of zoo animals made everything okay for an hour.
I only slept about 4.5 hours before this race, not much more than all the other days this week. When I woke up, I nibbled on half a bagel with peanut butter and swigged some Gatorade. I didn't feel good. My cousin drove my sister and I and on the way, we decided where to go the post-race meal.
We lined up. My cousin and sister had blue markers on their bibs, indicating they were in the last corral, the 1:00:00+ group. I had a green marker, one corral ahead of them. When you sign up for these things -- and for me that's usually months ahead before I've actually really considered any kind of training plan -- they sometimes ask when you plan to finish. I guess I thought I'd do it in under an hour because I've done that once and would like to repeat. Again, this is like two weeks ago with the half-marathon: I lined up where I shouldn't.
The three of us started together. I kept pace with my sister, who still has weak ankles, and then left her after we'd completed the first kilometer. She was planning on not aggravating her ankles, despite the elastic foot wrap. We wished her luck and said we'd meet at the finish line. She urged me to run the distance without her, so she wouldn't be holding me back from improving my time since I would otherwise stick with her from start to finish. Today, I would be making sure my cousin didn't slack off. I mostly didn't but I gave in to her wish to walk for a minute around the 7K mark. I think I could have otherwise ran the distance nonstop but it was nice to run a race with my cousin. We haven't signed up for that many together, but every time we have, we start together and separate (usually I was behind -- be it bladder, conditioning, or sticking with my sister). I left my cousin shortly after 9K. I had a lot of energy left -- who knows where it was coming from -- and took advantage. As I was doing the final K, I thought I could run the whole course again.
We left the zoo and did the same thing we did last year (sadly without Yumke who was resting between marathons or something) and went Chinese styles -- noodles, a big bowl of congee with fried dough on the side, and lots of cups of green tea. Funny thing this year, my parents and a friend were also coincidentally at the same restaurant. Bonus -- they paid!
Chip time: 1:07:34.2 (last year 1:14:37.9)
Pace/km: 6:52 (last year: 7:38)
Monday, October 13
Twilight turkey trot
.... and so like I said yesterday: Rinse and repeat...
Again with the turkey, this bird with my side of the family. My family is wont to overdo any food occasion, even just regular Sunday dinner. Subconsciously that's probably why I had one plate yesterday because I was going to more than make up for it today. My dad served up a turkey, prime rib, with fixings that included roasted root vegetables, white and green asparagus, mashed potatoes, broccoli, a green salad, potato salad with dill and stuffing. My brother-in-law brought his homemade rolls and corn pudding. My cousin and I each bought pie, a pumpkin and a cherry (neither of us were free this holiday weekend to get homemade desserts made. We'll make up for it at Christmas I'm sure.) Everyone went home with leftovers.
I was able to get in a short run before it got too dark but even though I had let a couple of hours pass after eating, I still felt pretty full barreling up and down hills. I worked a little harder today too, ending the 2-mile route with a hard uphill 1/2-mile nonstop. The ZooRun 10K is this Saturday!
Again with the turkey, this bird with my side of the family. My family is wont to overdo any food occasion, even just regular Sunday dinner. Subconsciously that's probably why I had one plate yesterday because I was going to more than make up for it today. My dad served up a turkey, prime rib, with fixings that included roasted root vegetables, white and green asparagus, mashed potatoes, broccoli, a green salad, potato salad with dill and stuffing. My brother-in-law brought his homemade rolls and corn pudding. My cousin and I each bought pie, a pumpkin and a cherry (neither of us were free this holiday weekend to get homemade desserts made. We'll make up for it at Christmas I'm sure.) Everyone went home with leftovers.
I was able to get in a short run before it got too dark but even though I had let a couple of hours pass after eating, I still felt pretty full barreling up and down hills. I worked a little harder today too, ending the 2-mile route with a hard uphill 1/2-mile nonstop. The ZooRun 10K is this Saturday!
Sunday, October 12
Turkey trot
CMan and I went to the first of two turkey lunches of this Thanksgiving Day weekend today. I surprisingly restrained myself to one plate of food -- usually I can be and am more gluttonous -- than to stop just after few pieces of turkey, cranberry/apricot/sage stuffing, roast potatoes, squash and carrots. And one small piece of four-fruit pie. I did accept a piece of apple crumble too but I had a bite and a half of it and decided I didn't like it enough to be polite and eat the whole thing.
And then we drove home and I went for an easy 4K run.
Rinse and repeat tomorrow.
And then we drove home and I went for an easy 4K run.
Rinse and repeat tomorrow.
Friday, October 10
TGIfF
I am so glad this work week is over. I'm in transition from one job to another (within the same company) and the change has been less than smooth. It's been a steep learning curve in a very short span, and by no means am I even close to the end of it, and it has left me near-frustration at time, but definitely completely exhausted already. I have gone to bed earlier than usual all week, even after having 2-3 hour naps after work.
Which is to say I haven't had the desire to run. Yesterday, during the drive home, I told CMan that I was going to go for a run as soon as we got home because I didn't want to squander the good fortune of a perfect autumn afternoon. We made a stop at the butcher and the neighborhood farmer's market was still on so we got our dinner ingredients before getting home. I got my running gear together and for some reason, decided to lie down for 10 minutes. Mistake! It turned into two hours and I only woke up because CMan, who had been watching TV when I had supposedly said I was on my way out for a jog, was starting to wonder why I was out running for so long and found me passed out in bed.
Well, I had good intentions but seriously, this week has kicked my ass. I hope it's better next week.
I had better luck today. I couldn't waste a second perfect autumn day (although if I were honest with myself, history would show I'm consistent with that kind of waste). I got home, did a few chores, and didn't lie down. I stepped outside a bit overdressed (a long sleeve shirt was a bit much after I got going) and completed a 4.3K loop around the neighborhood. I almost felt like I could do the whole round again but I reined that idea in real quick.
And yes, that extra "f" in the "TGIfF" title is there on purpose.
Monday, October 6
Renewed
I renewed my gym membership today. I am not entirely sure why since I don't go regularly anymore -- partially out of laziness, partially out of disinterest, partially because I don't make the time. But I also don't want to not have a gym membership. Just in case? Well, I went today after work and did 1 paltry mile on the treadmill, the first run since the race, and started work on rehabilitating my right shoulder (also something that's fallen off lately). Time to get back my good habits.
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