Yippee-ki-yay motherf-

DieHard 4 is still on the brain after watching it last night before this morning's fun run 5K. And I say those yippee words with joy because those were the last kilometers of the year... I'm pretty sure I'm not running tomorrow. Total mileage for the year: actually I have no clue since I haven't kept accurate records. I did a little over 500 miles last year.... so perhaps I might have logged maybe half of that since I feel like I put in a half-assed effort all year.
Today's effort was a little bit labored even if I was still smiling as I crossed the finish line. Yumke was, as usual, looking like he was in fine form. R. was in town and started the race with me, but that lasted about as long as it took to get out of the first 100 meters of cobblestoned road. My cousin didn't look so hot by the end-- she said she felt like her lungs were bleeding. That sounds like it hurts, but she's such a trooper; she didn't stop to walk and pushed through the whole thing even though she was battling a cough. Neither of us have really ran very much in the past month (okay, maybe more than a month). We finished in just over 32 minutes, which for me is five minutes slower than last year, which also sounds about right.

Just as we were finishing I thought of my sister. She would've been at this fun run with us, but she's down in Kentucky visiting her inlaws. She did promise to do her own run as we were -- I hope so, she got a lot of nice outdoor running gear for Christmas.

d'oh

On my way home from my first day back at work in what seems like an eternity, yet paradoxically still not long enough, I was thinking it's mild enough to go for a run outside. And because there's this 5K fun run I'm signed up for that's happening on Sunday and I haven't had a serious jog since before I went on vacation. I guess it's only 5K but my mental space thinks it might as well be a marathon. 

While on vacation, I managed one mile on the hotel treadmill. But I figure I did some good cross-training with two (half)days of skiing and this 2-1/2 hour obstacle course amongst tree tops (see photo). Best part of the vacation was the apres-ski -- outdoor hot tub!

But back to today's run. Didn't go. Watched a Simpsons episode while chilling after a long day at work (which included my performance review -- who gets appraised during Christmas week? Only me). And also have plans to watch The Simpsons movie tonight. With pizza. It is Thursday after all. 

There's snow. and then there's snow. (or why vacation is postponed)

This is amazing, just the sheer amount of snow that's falling right now. It's whirly, it's blustery, it's fast and slow at the same time, it's just piling on. This is great for skiing, which is the vacation plan starting today. Or should I say was. We're not at the resort yet. And after looking outside the window -- now we're going to heed some national advice to just stay in and go tomorrow.
Well, at least we're getting a white Christmas this year.

Past week's tally: three consecutive days of holiday cheer, but all preceded by good running on the treadmill (one for distance, one uphill, and one hard sprinting) totaling 10 miles.

martinis=inspiration=marathon

Not that I had a little bit too much holiday cheer last night (these martinis were like candy: goldschlager, cranberry juice, vodka) but I recall some conversation with colleague at The Office who told me she and I are running a MARATHON next September or October. And I have no doubt she's serious since she 1) she's already training for a spring half, and 2) kept using my name and the word "inspiration" and its derivatives in the same sentence.

Oh, and I got about 5-1/2miles done on the treadmill last week over two days. Which is quite an accomplishment for me since all running and strengthening exercises were done before 730AM.

If pigs could fly.....

It's not impossible.

If I can finish a marathon, really anyone can. I tell that to everyone who will listen, to anyone who says they couldn't possibly do it themselves. I repeat: If I can do it, you can too. It just takes a little bit of discipline and a plan.

So having apparently been inspired by my marathon finish last year, my sister begged me to run with her this year. And so we went on to do two 10K races this year, along with my cousin for support. My sister ran spring and fall races with great enthusiasm and always finished with a smile.

And now onto bigger things. Since I bought her a race for Christmas last year, she's decided to return the favor -- for my birthday, belatedly, she's gone and outdid me. Not only did she today register us for a half marathon, she booked us for 13.1 miles in Cincinnati, OH.

FLYING PIG 2008!

Now it's not a total surprise because she and I have talked about this for weeks now. The idea was sprung on us by her husband, somewhat in passing but enough that when he said it, he also looked it up on the web to give us more details because we were intrigued by the thought of hanging out at his family's farm in northern Kentucky, but also that the magical asparagus I've heard about for three years will actually be in season by the time the race rolls around.

I didn't want to talk about this race, make promises, just in case it turned out like the MCM in Washington. But my sister hit her Dec. 1 deadline of signing us up. It's going to be great. I'm sure this party is going to grow... I have this way of infecting people with crazy ideas like going on the road for a road race.

I'm looking forward to training for something. Hail to the treadmill!

No stam

I forced myself to go to the gym after work. Why haul all this workout gear to The Office and then lug it back home unused? Usually I feel better after a workout but today I was just not into it. I went through strength class with no will to really lift the 4-lb weights I had in each hand (yes, 4lbs! I am such a lightweight). And then the crunches were achy, the lunges were unsteady, and to top it off, the music was bad today. When the music is bad, it's going to be a bad workout. So I slipped on my iPod after class with a 5K treadmill run in mind, rationalizing that at least my personal selection of tunes would motivate me. Wrong again. I quit after 1.6 miles, of which I walked probably a third of it. I switched to the stationary bike. Nothing in my legs to pedal, and after a torturous 2.65 miles of stop-go, I halted the charade.

I told C about this pathetic gym episode during the drive home.
"I have no stam," I said.
And in a genuine moment of pure geekiness, he replied: "Well you just need a blue gem."
(It's pure nerd because it's a reference to that game we play online. Certain blue gems added to armor give bonus stamina stats. Oh, I'm a nerd too! Well, they shall inherit the Earth, so the saying goes.)

The 20-minute workout

Back in the 80s, my sister and I used to watch the "20-minute workout" (follow the link to video for trip down memory lane. Though I just don't get what's going on from minutes 06:00-06:30!) I think it used to be on in the morning while we were getting ready for school. My Tuesday strength class instructor talks about it every once in a while too, and sometimes we do some of the cool moves. No we don't.
I was thinking about the leg warmers today when I was doing my own 20-minute workout... in three phases... !
1. 20 minutes on the treadmill. 1.7miles.
2. 20 minutes of weights. 20 reps for various arm muscles, some lunges too.
3. 20-minute ab class.