Day 17
It's official, I have a new appreciation for the morning. Huh?!? Yup, mornings definately have their perks.
Take today for example:
After forcing myself out of bed at 4:45 this morning, and severely confusing my basset hound Ellie, I got dressed, drove to pick up Alyssa, and the two of us got to Baldwin Whitehall High School at right around 5:30. The sun was not yet up, so we were able to watch it rise on the horizon as we made our laps around the track, it was warm, but not too hot yet, and the rain had not yet started.
We ran/walked for 30 minutes - run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes, repeat 6 times. I won't lie, it hurt. Mainly because of my hamstring pain.
Afterwards I went to the grocery store and the gas station before showering and heading to work and getting there almost 30 minutes earlier than usual. Mornings are good!
Not good this morning however was the aforementioned rain. It started just as I got in my car to go to work. By the time I was walking across the bridge to downtown the rain was coming down in sheets and when over the river was blowing it sideways. I walked into work with morning with just the left side of my lower body and both feet soaking wet! Luckily Wendy had a hair dryer so I was able to dry out my skirt, if she didn't I'd probably still be sitting here in a sopping wet skirt being miserable.
The plan for the rest of the week is:
Tomorrow (Day 18) rest day
Thursday (Day 19) another early morning run/walk (3.5 minutes run, 1.5 minutes walk, repeat 5 times)
Friday (Day 20) cross training of some sort
Saturday (Day 21) run/walk (4 minutes run, 1 minute walk, repeat 5 times)
Sunday (Day 22) cross training of some sort - possibly weights, although I am very angry with Bally's right now because they double billed me this month
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
New Countdown and a Not Well Thought Out Plan...
New Countdown
First things first, did you notice the new countdown? At the request of Alyssa, I have posted a countdown for our first real race. The race is a 5K which benefits the Luke Hadley Foundation. Alyssa has dubbed it the Sock Monkey Race due to their logo being a sock monkey.
If you're not familiar with the Luke Hadley Foundation, you should check out their website, Luke's story totally made me cry (but then again, I cry easily). Luke Hadley was born premature with a rare chromosome disorder, he died at the age of 2 and his parents started the foundation in his name as a way to raise money to be able to bring smiles to other disabled children. They work closely with the Children's Home of Pittsburgh and the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. They help arrange field trips for the kids, bring in visitors, and one of my favorite things is they made art carts for Children's Hospital. The art carts are able to go to kids who can't leave their rooms, and they're fully stocked with crayons and paper and markers and paint and even scrapbooking supplies for the older kids!
Back to the race: it's a 5K (3 miles) run/walk (we're going to run it since we're scheduled to run 5 miles that day - we'll have to do the other 2 at some other point that day too) at South Park on September 4th (Andrea is planning on joining us for this race too). It's very exciting because this will be our first officially timed race, they're doing the chipped timing.
http://www.lukehandleyfoundation.org/
Not a Well Thought Out Plan
During lunch I had what I thought was a brilliant idea - since my hamstrings were so tight, maybe a nice long walk is just what they need to loosen up a bit.
It wasn't.
I walked over to the North Shore via the Andy Warhol Bridge and back via the Rachel Carson Bridge. It was ridiculously hot, and I realized my pants are much more winter pants than summer pants. Walking 2 miles on a tight hamstring in the sun on a really hot day is probably not the best move in the world. Oh well, you live, you learn - right?
First things first, did you notice the new countdown? At the request of Alyssa, I have posted a countdown for our first real race. The race is a 5K which benefits the Luke Hadley Foundation. Alyssa has dubbed it the Sock Monkey Race due to their logo being a sock monkey.
If you're not familiar with the Luke Hadley Foundation, you should check out their website, Luke's story totally made me cry (but then again, I cry easily). Luke Hadley was born premature with a rare chromosome disorder, he died at the age of 2 and his parents started the foundation in his name as a way to raise money to be able to bring smiles to other disabled children. They work closely with the Children's Home of Pittsburgh and the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. They help arrange field trips for the kids, bring in visitors, and one of my favorite things is they made art carts for Children's Hospital. The art carts are able to go to kids who can't leave their rooms, and they're fully stocked with crayons and paper and markers and paint and even scrapbooking supplies for the older kids!
Back to the race: it's a 5K (3 miles) run/walk (we're going to run it since we're scheduled to run 5 miles that day - we'll have to do the other 2 at some other point that day too) at South Park on September 4th (Andrea is planning on joining us for this race too). It's very exciting because this will be our first officially timed race, they're doing the chipped timing.
http://www.lukehandleyfoundation.org/
Not a Well Thought Out Plan
During lunch I had what I thought was a brilliant idea - since my hamstrings were so tight, maybe a nice long walk is just what they need to loosen up a bit.
It wasn't.
I walked over to the North Shore via the Andy Warhol Bridge and back via the Rachel Carson Bridge. It was ridiculously hot, and I realized my pants are much more winter pants than summer pants. Walking 2 miles on a tight hamstring in the sun on a really hot day is probably not the best move in the world. Oh well, you live, you learn - right?
Day 16
Today is Day 16 - we're past the 2 week mark!!!! And luckily it's a rest day. My hamstrings are so tight today, even though I stretched like crazy yesterday.
Weekend Recap:
Saturday (Day 14) - We were supposed to run, but given that Alyssa's softball team was in the championship, we decided to swap running and cross training days this weekend. Alyssa got her cross-training in with the two softball games she played (her team won the championship!!!) and I headed to the gym. Andrea and I agreed to meet at 10 to do some weight training, I arrived a few minutes early and while I waited for her I did a quick 5 minute warm-up on the elliptical and did 3 sets of 15 crunches - nothing too crazy. When Andrea arrived we began with legs: squats, calf raises, leg presses, etc... Next up was arms, neither of us being aficionados on the machines we pretty much just stuck with the cable machines and followed the instructions, which let me tell you was plenty. My shoulders were quite sore the next morning, and Andrea reported that her arms were killing her!
Saturday evening I paid a visit to one of my favorite stores: REI. I love it; walking in there just makes me want to be outdoorsy and go camping and hiking and biking and kayaking all at once! I spent a good 45 minutes just slowly walking through looking at everything - REI is right up there with the LL Bean factory store in Freeport Maine in my book (maybe not quite on par with but darn tootin' close and only being 2 miles from my house as opposed to 702 miles, I suppose it is a good stand in). I found the main thing that I had gone there for: Body Glide - it looks like deodorant and feels like a slightly slimy sticky version of that, but is used for anti-chaffing (one of my 3 main concerns along with black toenails and needing to pee mid-race). I also picked up the recent edition of Runners World magazine - very interesting and informative! I'm actually thinking about getting a subscription. The last and possibly most frightening thing I got there was a product called GU. GU is a gooey substance that's supposed to give you lots of energy and stuff. It comes in all sorts of flavors some that sound appetizing and some that don't, REI carried these flavors: Jet Blackberry, Orange Burst, Mint Chocolate, Chocolate, Tri-Berry, and Vanilla. I bought blackberry for myself and orange for Alyssa.
Sunday (Day 15):
I picked Alyssa up a little after 9:30 and we were off to South Park for our run/walk. This was a very important one too, this was the first session where the running time was more than the walking time. It was run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes, repeat 5 times. The first 3 minutes of running wasn't bad at all, the second 3 minutes was a little harder, but still doable, the third 3 minutes caused my calves to start burning, the fourth 3 minutes was pretty torturous, and the fifth 3 minutes made me want to die. That being said, it went great! I was surprised at how easy the first set was - yay!!! Alyssa had a bit of a rougher time than me, but we're going to chock it up to the 2 softball games the day before.
Soreness Report:
Me: My hamstrings are so tight today - and I stretched! My knee is still bugging me, but I'm learning to live with it.
Alyssa: Just an all over soreness.
At the end of our last run session we decided to try the GU as we were walking to the car - it was nasty. A similar consistency to rubber cement, just without the strong odor and with artificial fruit flavoring. Alyssa took hers in one big gulp, but I couldn't do it. It took me about 4 or 5 gag inducing swallows to finish the whole packet. Gross, gross, gross!!! I think I'll wait until we're in the higher mileage rage to try it again I think.
Weekend Recap:
Saturday (Day 14) - We were supposed to run, but given that Alyssa's softball team was in the championship, we decided to swap running and cross training days this weekend. Alyssa got her cross-training in with the two softball games she played (her team won the championship!!!) and I headed to the gym. Andrea and I agreed to meet at 10 to do some weight training, I arrived a few minutes early and while I waited for her I did a quick 5 minute warm-up on the elliptical and did 3 sets of 15 crunches - nothing too crazy. When Andrea arrived we began with legs: squats, calf raises, leg presses, etc... Next up was arms, neither of us being aficionados on the machines we pretty much just stuck with the cable machines and followed the instructions, which let me tell you was plenty. My shoulders were quite sore the next morning, and Andrea reported that her arms were killing her!
Saturday evening I paid a visit to one of my favorite stores: REI. I love it; walking in there just makes me want to be outdoorsy and go camping and hiking and biking and kayaking all at once! I spent a good 45 minutes just slowly walking through looking at everything - REI is right up there with the LL Bean factory store in Freeport Maine in my book (maybe not quite on par with but darn tootin' close and only being 2 miles from my house as opposed to 702 miles, I suppose it is a good stand in). I found the main thing that I had gone there for: Body Glide - it looks like deodorant and feels like a slightly slimy sticky version of that, but is used for anti-chaffing (one of my 3 main concerns along with black toenails and needing to pee mid-race). I also picked up the recent edition of Runners World magazine - very interesting and informative! I'm actually thinking about getting a subscription. The last and possibly most frightening thing I got there was a product called GU. GU is a gooey substance that's supposed to give you lots of energy and stuff. It comes in all sorts of flavors some that sound appetizing and some that don't, REI carried these flavors: Jet Blackberry, Orange Burst, Mint Chocolate, Chocolate, Tri-Berry, and Vanilla. I bought blackberry for myself and orange for Alyssa.
Sunday (Day 15):
I picked Alyssa up a little after 9:30 and we were off to South Park for our run/walk. This was a very important one too, this was the first session where the running time was more than the walking time. It was run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes, repeat 5 times. The first 3 minutes of running wasn't bad at all, the second 3 minutes was a little harder, but still doable, the third 3 minutes caused my calves to start burning, the fourth 3 minutes was pretty torturous, and the fifth 3 minutes made me want to die. That being said, it went great! I was surprised at how easy the first set was - yay!!! Alyssa had a bit of a rougher time than me, but we're going to chock it up to the 2 softball games the day before.
Soreness Report:
Me: My hamstrings are so tight today - and I stretched! My knee is still bugging me, but I'm learning to live with it.
Alyssa: Just an all over soreness.
At the end of our last run session we decided to try the GU as we were walking to the car - it was nasty. A similar consistency to rubber cement, just without the strong odor and with artificial fruit flavoring. Alyssa took hers in one big gulp, but I couldn't do it. It took me about 4 or 5 gag inducing swallows to finish the whole packet. Gross, gross, gross!!! I think I'll wait until we're in the higher mileage rage to try it again I think.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Day 12/13
Day 12 was yesterday, and last night we both sucked it up and ran/walked. Never has yoga kicked my butt so much!
Here's a quick run down of the facts: we ran 2.5 minutes, walked 2.5 minutes and repeated 5 times. We averaged about a 15 minutes mile - not very good, but hey we were hurting from yoga - a lot! We ran at the Baldwin Whitehall track, since it is so close to Alyssa's house we used the walk to and from there as the warm-up and cool-down. Stretching ensued following and I used my trademarked freezy pop icing technique on my knee (first ice the knee, then eat the freezy pop) - which I am glad to say did some good, because I did not wake up in pain!
Today is Day 13 and it's a rest day - woo hoo!!! In celebration of almost being done with 2 weeks of training (only 20 more to go!) Alyssa, Bob (her husband), and I are going to see Toy Story 3 tonight followed by dinner at Quaker Steak and Lube - yum....
Random other notes:
- I charged my camera battery, so I'll be able to take and post some pics in the next week
- Depending on weather, we may move our running day from Saturday to Sunday and have cross training on Saturday. This is because Alyssa's softball team has their championship game this weekend and we figured that would be cross training enough for her on whichever day her game is, so the other day will be the day we run.
- I'm going to meet Andrea at the gym for my cross training day to do a little bit of elliptical and lift weights.
- Andrea is going to run the 5k with us on September 4th at South Park for the Luke Hadley Foundation.
- Running this weekend is: run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes, repeat 5 times.
- We're going to run at one of the riverfront trails (most likely South Side), just to have a different surface to run on. I think it's a good idea to mix it up (track, cinder, asphalt, dirt...) because race day it won't all be one surface.
- Thinking about it more, my calves were stiff as can be this morning, but with a little stretching they felt better.
- I think I'm having an allergy flair up, I keep needing to sneeze, and I've been snotty all morning. I don't think I'm sick though since it's just all in my sinuses.
- As I told Alyssa yesterday, I am still concerned about what to do if I have to pee mid-race since the only port-a-potties are at the end of the race... hmm... I may have to perfect my peeing behind bushes... yuck
Here's a quick run down of the facts: we ran 2.5 minutes, walked 2.5 minutes and repeated 5 times. We averaged about a 15 minutes mile - not very good, but hey we were hurting from yoga - a lot! We ran at the Baldwin Whitehall track, since it is so close to Alyssa's house we used the walk to and from there as the warm-up and cool-down. Stretching ensued following and I used my trademarked freezy pop icing technique on my knee (first ice the knee, then eat the freezy pop) - which I am glad to say did some good, because I did not wake up in pain!
Today is Day 13 and it's a rest day - woo hoo!!! In celebration of almost being done with 2 weeks of training (only 20 more to go!) Alyssa, Bob (her husband), and I are going to see Toy Story 3 tonight followed by dinner at Quaker Steak and Lube - yum....
Random other notes:
- I charged my camera battery, so I'll be able to take and post some pics in the next week
- Depending on weather, we may move our running day from Saturday to Sunday and have cross training on Saturday. This is because Alyssa's softball team has their championship game this weekend and we figured that would be cross training enough for her on whichever day her game is, so the other day will be the day we run.
- I'm going to meet Andrea at the gym for my cross training day to do a little bit of elliptical and lift weights.
- Andrea is going to run the 5k with us on September 4th at South Park for the Luke Hadley Foundation.
- Running this weekend is: run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes, repeat 5 times.
- We're going to run at one of the riverfront trails (most likely South Side), just to have a different surface to run on. I think it's a good idea to mix it up (track, cinder, asphalt, dirt...) because race day it won't all be one surface.
- Thinking about it more, my calves were stiff as can be this morning, but with a little stretching they felt better.
- I think I'm having an allergy flair up, I keep needing to sneeze, and I've been snotty all morning. I don't think I'm sick though since it's just all in my sinuses.
- As I told Alyssa yesterday, I am still concerned about what to do if I have to pee mid-race since the only port-a-potties are at the end of the race... hmm... I may have to perfect my peeing behind bushes... yuck
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Last Night
Last night I think I was in hell - seriously - it was hot enough! Alyssa and I went to Amazing Yoga. Now when you think of yoga, don't you think of nice and relaxing poses - possibly by a cabana on the beach at some relaxing spa somewhere? Not Amazing Yoga - there it's 90+ degrees, in a crowded room where you're about a foot away from the person next to you, on the 2nd floor of a building on Carson Street. And for those not familiar with Carson Street it's where a lot of bars are located - so it's busy, crowded and noisy. I especially liked the revving of motorcycles while we were trying to focus on our breathing.
Anyway the instructor - Michelle - was really nice, but she totally kicks your butt. The class lasted over an hour, and I think you spend about 1/4 of the time in downward dog. It's not that bad of a pose, but when you're sweating buckets, I find that my hands and feet like to slip and the sweat just pools on the mat below you. By the end of the class I was soaked through with sweat and my mat resembled a slip'n'slide. It's sad when you go outside into 80 degree heat and it feels refreshing and cool. Leaving class, as we walked past the bar next door to the studio, I overheard the bouncer trying to explain to a couple of guys about 'hot yoga', they didn't really seem to be getting the point. Although I can understand their initial confusion, we (the class as a whole) must look like quite the motley crew after a class, soaking wet with pained expressions on our faces.
Afterwards Alyssa and I went to Giant Eagle, with a pit stop by my house to change shirts, and as my body cooled down my wet clothes became more and more uncomfortable. Yes I had changed my shirt, but I still had on the pants and sports bra I wore to class. And let me tell you there is not too much pleasant about cold clammy boobs. Especially when walking through an air conditioned grocery store. Note to self - after next class before going out again, change out of sports bra too.
Soreness report:
Me: Still having problems with that one knee. I iced it last night, which seemed to help some. And by icing it, I mean I put a freezy pop on it while I ate my 1/2 of a wrap for dinner. I then ate the freezy pop - it was awesome.
Alyssa: Sore in general, in particular her shoulders. She doesn't want to do yoga again, but I told her we only have 7 more yoga sessions, but 72 more running sessions, so yoga shouldn't seem too bad. To this she said she would prefer running. Haha.
This morning when I was putting in some laundry I saw my shirt from last night lying on the floor and when I went to move it into the laundry hamper, it was still soaking wet.... gross....
Anyway the instructor - Michelle - was really nice, but she totally kicks your butt. The class lasted over an hour, and I think you spend about 1/4 of the time in downward dog. It's not that bad of a pose, but when you're sweating buckets, I find that my hands and feet like to slip and the sweat just pools on the mat below you. By the end of the class I was soaked through with sweat and my mat resembled a slip'n'slide. It's sad when you go outside into 80 degree heat and it feels refreshing and cool. Leaving class, as we walked past the bar next door to the studio, I overheard the bouncer trying to explain to a couple of guys about 'hot yoga', they didn't really seem to be getting the point. Although I can understand their initial confusion, we (the class as a whole) must look like quite the motley crew after a class, soaking wet with pained expressions on our faces.
Afterwards Alyssa and I went to Giant Eagle, with a pit stop by my house to change shirts, and as my body cooled down my wet clothes became more and more uncomfortable. Yes I had changed my shirt, but I still had on the pants and sports bra I wore to class. And let me tell you there is not too much pleasant about cold clammy boobs. Especially when walking through an air conditioned grocery store. Note to self - after next class before going out again, change out of sports bra too.
Soreness report:
Me: Still having problems with that one knee. I iced it last night, which seemed to help some. And by icing it, I mean I put a freezy pop on it while I ate my 1/2 of a wrap for dinner. I then ate the freezy pop - it was awesome.
Alyssa: Sore in general, in particular her shoulders. She doesn't want to do yoga again, but I told her we only have 7 more yoga sessions, but 72 more running sessions, so yoga shouldn't seem too bad. To this she said she would prefer running. Haha.
This morning when I was putting in some laundry I saw my shirt from last night lying on the floor and when I went to move it into the laundry hamper, it was still soaking wet.... gross....
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Day 11
Day 11 - that's today!!!
I bought new shoes during lunch today - yay!!! Hopefully this will help my knee/ heel problems. Since I am nearly as broke as broke could be, I went to Burlington with my fingers crossed that they would have something. They had only about half a dozen styles of running shoes, and only 2 or 3 of these came in my size. I got a pair of adidas, which is what I had before, but it's easy to forget what a difference new shoes makes until you're walking around the store with one new shoe and one old shoe on!
They're not as pretty looking as my old shoes, which were grey and pink, the new ones are white and blue. Oh well, at least they'll make my feet happier :-)
I bought new shoes during lunch today - yay!!! Hopefully this will help my knee/ heel problems. Since I am nearly as broke as broke could be, I went to Burlington with my fingers crossed that they would have something. They had only about half a dozen styles of running shoes, and only 2 or 3 of these came in my size. I got a pair of adidas, which is what I had before, but it's easy to forget what a difference new shoes makes until you're walking around the store with one new shoe and one old shoe on!
They're not as pretty looking as my old shoes, which were grey and pink, the new ones are white and blue. Oh well, at least they'll make my feet happier :-)
Yesterday was Day 10
Like I said in the title, yesterday was day 10 - we're up to double digits now baby, woo hoo! Luckily it didn't rain, and we were able to run/walk at the Baldwin Whitehall track. It was a bit awkward though because they were having track & field practice. Huh?!? Yup, track & field practice. I suppose they're trying to get a head start on next school year, months before the other schools even think about the season. Luckily they were only running sprints for part of the time we were running, and we were able to go around them on the inside of the track. At one point, probably during around the 4th rep, my calves started killing me! Seriously, I think that if they could have disconnected themselves from my legs they would have strangled me. Since that is not physically possible (I don't think anyways), their choice of torture was just to hurt - a lot. I still have that slight twinge in my left knee, and this morning I woke up with a pain in my heel. The heel pain concerns me more than the knee pain - maybe I've been reading too many articles about running, but Plantar Fasciitis has me concerned. I'm going to go shoe shopping today so hopefully getting new shoes will help shop the pain before it develops into anything horribly wretched.
This morning Alyssa texted me to inform me of the Brentwood 5k on July 3rd - to this I replied "Hell no. Too soon, too soon." Ok maybe I didn't say that exactly, but you get the gist.
Tonight we're going to Amazing Yoga - I haven't been in a few months, but it should be fine. They won't need to turn the heat up too much, it's been in the 80's for a while now, and since they aim to have the studio at 90 degrees that won't be too big of a change. We're going to the one on the SouthSide which is nice, but if you get there late than you're stuck having a spot close to the window, and the problem with that is all of Carson Street can see you workout if they are inclined to just look up. And let me just say, that after 30 minutes of doing yoga in 90 degrees, I look far from pretty, so as far away from the windows as possible is ideal.
This morning Alyssa texted me to inform me of the Brentwood 5k on July 3rd - to this I replied "Hell no. Too soon, too soon." Ok maybe I didn't say that exactly, but you get the gist.
Tonight we're going to Amazing Yoga - I haven't been in a few months, but it should be fine. They won't need to turn the heat up too much, it's been in the 80's for a while now, and since they aim to have the studio at 90 degrees that won't be too big of a change. We're going to the one on the SouthSide which is nice, but if you get there late than you're stuck having a spot close to the window, and the problem with that is all of Carson Street can see you workout if they are inclined to just look up. And let me just say, that after 30 minutes of doing yoga in 90 degrees, I look far from pretty, so as far away from the windows as possible is ideal.
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