A New Experience

Yesterday I stepped out of my comfort zone and went to the gym at work during my lunch break.  We have free access to our gym and yet I've never taken advantage of it.  Oh sure, I've gone in the bathroom a couple of times to change into outdoor running gear.  I've gone to the basketball court on blood donation days.  But I've never ventured into the cardio room, the weight room, or the locker room.  Until yesterday.

It's a pretty old facility and the locker room is a little nastophonic, but the cardio equipment is fairly up to date.  My real fear of the place stems from the tons of other people who use it.  I don't want anyone watching me workout-there's an aerobics room right behind the treadmills and the two rooms are separated with a wall of glass.  Even if no one is really staring at me, I know I would feel like they were the whole time.  Also, I don't want to share the locker room with anyone.  I didn't like changing with other people in high school, and I think I would like it even less with other worker type people. 

I decided to wait until after the rush.  I know most people go to lunch from 10:30 to 12:30 so I waited until 1:00 just to be safe.  Thankfully I was the only one in the locker room!  There were a few people in the cardio room, but no one in the aerobics room to stare at me!  Everything was working out great!

And then I ran.  It was the worst run of my life!!!  It wasn't bad because of the facility or anything.  The treadmill was nicer than the one I have at home so it was great.  I guess it was a little hot in there.  At home I have a fan clipped onto the treadmill and pointed right at my face.  At the gym there was no fan and no air flow.  So maybe that's part of it.  But mostly it was all me, I think.

I ran at a 1% incline for 22 minutes (I set out for 25) and went 2.19 miles (10:03 pace).  It was supposed to be my tempo run for the week, which means I warm up, run at my goal race pace for as long as I can, recover, repeat to the end of the workout, then cool down.  Recover usually means slow down to a comfortable run pace slightly below my normal easy run pace.  Yesterday recover meant stop the treadmill, stand there panting and sound like I have asthma, gulp water like I'e never seen it before, then a minute later get back on the treadmill and repeat.  It felt horrible having to stop in the middle.  And furthermore, it's the second workout this week where I've had to stop and rest!  I know I was sick for several days this week, and I want to blame it on my lungs still being clogged up, whether that's true or not.  But even if I do have a valid reason (and I'm not truly subscribing to that belief-I think maybe I made an excuse instead) it still felt horrible to have a run like that.  I'm too far in the training process to have to flat out stop and rest!

And because stories are more fun with pictures, here's one of me after a run I didn't hate:

See?  Happy!

"My feeling is that any day I am too busy to run is a day that I am too busy."

~John Bryant

Wednesday night I finally got to run again.  It was A-MAZ-ING!!  I ran 3.04 miles in 30 minutes, or a 9:53 pace.  To date I have 31.1 miles on the books for the month of January.  I plan to run 3 more today, 6 tomorrow, and 3 on Monday which would put me at 43.1.  A couple of weeks ago I analyzed the numbers to try and see what kind of monthly mileage I should be shooting for so that I can run a PR at my half marathon in May.  This January I will run about 20 miles less than I ran the year that I had my best half marathon time.  I’m not letting this get me discouraged!  Instead I’m using this as my motivation to pick it up in February.  I will get my February mileage at or above the mileage I put in during the famous 2009 training season!

In other (related) news, I’m changing my work schedule so that I can get my mileage up.  It is a problem when your work begins to interfere with your running J.  I was working 9 hours a day every Monday-Thursday.  Then one Friday I would work 8 hours, and the next Friday I would have off.  I still worked 80 hours every 2 weeks, it was just spread out so I could have a 3 day weekend every other week.  It sounds nice, but it posed two problems:

1. I don’t even run on Fridays, so it helped zero with that goal.  I spend my whole day off cleaning house while everyone else is at work/school.  That isn’t even fun.
2. I have a 30 minute drive to work, so with a 9.5 hour day (1/2 hour lunch) and a total of 1 hour driving time I was leaving home in the dark and coming home after dark.  That seriously puts a dent in my running time and means most of the runs I do get in are on the treaddy.

So I am officially going back on a traditional 8 hour a day work week.  That’s the schedule I had when I PRed after all. 

Is it bad I have to rearrange my work because running is more important (well, you know…not money-wise, but happiness-wise)?  How do you fit in runs during the week?

Three Tangent Tuesday

Here is the Accidental Runner version of Three Tangent Tuesday because The Hungry Runner Girl asked us to :)

1.  I love love love The Biggest Loser.  It is hands down my favorite show.  I have considered two things very carefully:

• Gaining extra pounds so that I can go on the show and meet Bob and Jillian (this wouldn't be that hard, given my propensity for McDonald's and ice cream), or
• Contacting the producers and pitching my idea for The Biggest Loser: Mini Edition featuring contestants needing to lose 25 pounds or fewer.  Are we less deserving of the healthy eating/healthy lifestyle tips that Bob and Jillian impart?  I think not.

2.  I like watching football.  The thing is, I can't pick a favorite team.  I enjoy too many of them.  The Packers (thanks to my stint living in Wisconsin), The Cowboys (I heart the cheerleaders, since I use to be a cheerleader and there's no classier organization to aspire to in the cheerleading arena), The Steelers (who doesn't love being in the stands when all those terrible towels start flying?), Da Bears (passed down from generations), you get the idea.

3.  I think being a stay at home mom would be stellar.  Today I hung out with my sick kid and had a super fun day watching silly cartoons, reading cool books, and making grilled cheese while my helper looked on:

Notice the Colts Jersey?  Our football fandom seriously has a multiple personality disorder.

Of course there were some chores going on too, but I think it would be a fair tradeoff for all the fun stuff.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Cinnamon Sixes Anyone?

Saturday was supposed to be my long run but alas, it was not to be. We had 6 inches of fresh snow which is akin to running on sand. It was one degree outside which by itself wouldn't be a problem but combined with the snow gave me a perfect excuse to stay indoors.  My best laid plans were to run on the treadmill somewhere between breakfast and lunch.  We made "homemade" mini cinnamon rolls for breakfast, which involves cheating by using refrigerator biscuits.  But the filling and icing were the real deal:

They sort of came out mini cinnamon sixes instead of cinnamon rolls.  But the taste was right, and of course we made sure the girls knew they were the best we'd ever had!

We've been preparing to put our house on the market and planned to have a realtor over during the weekend so we were trying to get the house show ready.  That ended up taking much, much longer than we expected.  Interpret: me and the treadmill missed our date on Saturday.

Sunday was church followed by finishing touches on the house and the actual realtor appointment, and somehow the day disappeared without running again.  I didn't stress about it much because I developed some knee and hip pain after my Thursday night run and subsequent Friday workout session.  Oh yeah, did I mention Friday?

I had the day off work Friday and decided to take advantage of the time off.  I started off with 35 minutes of Spine Awakening Yoga.  Ouch!  Then I popped in our latest Netflix movie (Why Did I Get Married Too?) and put in a lovely 30 minutes on the spin bike.  At this point, the movie was really just getting going and I really didn't want to switch to the family room TV and try to figure out how to scene select to where I left off.  There's no place to sit down in the workout room, except on the spin bike so relaxing in there wasn't an option.  Plus, I figured I might as well get some more activity in, so I hopped on the treadmill just to walk.  I ended up walking for 50 minutes on a hill workout.  I felt pretty good initially, but later my knee and hip started to bug me.

So fast forward back to Sunday night and I figured a couple days rest was in order, since my number one racing goal this year is don't get injured.  Then Monday comes and lo and behold, I wake up with a sore throat, A. wakes up with a fever, and the winter flu season has arrived in our house.  Suffice it to say that the last two days have also not included any running.  They have included copious amounts of liquids, Gilmore Girls, and ice cream (hey...the cold stuff really soothes a sore throat.  Try it.).  I'm looking forward to getting a run in tomorrow.  I'm not so much looking forward to returning to work but it had to happen sometime.

Also, did anyone else feel really angry at the end of Why Did I Get Married Too?  I mean, where's the happy ending?

A Tempo Run, and Random Thoughts on TV

Tuesday night was my easy run, unfortunately I had to run on the treaddy so it was NOT easy.  I run so much slower on the treadmill than I do outside.  It just feels harder to me.  I ran at a 1% incline and did 2.5 miles in 25:00, so exactly a 10:00 pace.  Not too shabby.

Tonight was a tempo run, and thanks to 6 inches of snow (and counting) I was on the treadmill again.  I was kind of not feeling it.  I think it was the copious amounts of M&M's I ingested today.  Maybe not the best pre-run fuel.  Much better as a post-run fuel.  At any rate, I ran 2.04 miles in 20:00, 9:49 pace.  Not as fast as I was hoping for but still pretty good since I still have 3.5 months until my race.  I still have plenty of time to get the speed picked up.

My next run is Saturday morning's long run.  I really hope the snow is melted, or at least cleared off the roads by then, because long runs are much better when shared with friends.

Tonight I have big, big plans.  Chocolate milk, lasagna, and Thin Mint ice cream (not all at the same sitting) will be eaten while wearing fleecey pants and watching The Office and Grey's Anatomy.  There's also the possibility of trying out this new show Perfect Couples.  I rarely commit to new shows, but I'm willing to give it a chance.  Remember the good old days, when Thursday night meant Must See TV?

It's Hard to Eat Spaghetti at Work

Because, you know, it's messy. And slurpy. I usually eat at my desk while I keep working. So I felt like a total pig today even though I tried really hard to eat nice and polite like. My cube neighbor must have loved me.

And while we're on the subject of food, yesterday Dave and I were rummaging around the kitchen looking for lunch. It was just one of those days where nothing sounded good. NOTHING. Dave suggested peanut butter and jelly and I threw a metaphorical fit because (and I quote) "I am not a child". So I continue to rummage until I'm in total starvation mode and then proceed to toast a bagel and top it with...you guessed it...peanut butter and jelly. The funny thing was the jelly bottle had some clog issues and it came out kind of sporadic at first. After I finished squirting the jelly I noticed this:

Uh-huh. A smiley face. Even though "I am not a child". The timing of my accidental smiley face was just too perfect as my hubby was all too happy to point out. And yes, my banana already has a big bite out of it. I couldn't wait until I was properly seated at the table to start eating ("I am not a child"). And yes, it has peanut butter on it, because peanut butter with a side of peanut butter is never wrong.

Long Run Saturday

Yesterday morning I woke up early...6:00...on a Saturday.  This is highly unusual for me since I usually set the alarm and snooze until the last possible moment.  For some reason I have woken up at a time with a 6: in front for the last 3 or 4 Saturdays.  This particular Saturday I woke up feeling pretty blah.  I was having some major tummy troubles.  I thought maybe I was just being a wuss and would feel better after my run was out of the way (fyi, I was wrong).  I skipped breakfast (unusual) and headed out to meet the running group.  I tend to hang on their heels for the first mile or so and then drop off the back and finish by myself.  I had my iphone in my pocket and my earbuds strapped on my jacket (aka hanging from my zipper) so that I wouldn't be lacking motivation or distraction after I ended up by myself.  They ended up being an unnecessary nuisance since one of my old running buds (who has since sped up and took off at a new pace without me) is dealing with some hip issues and decided to hang back with me yesterday.  It was nice to have some company for the entire run.  Unfortunately there were a few times she had to circle back and pick me up because I was struggling!

She slowed her pace to stay with me, but I had to speed mine to keep up with her.  It was good for me, because I know I'm capable of faster than what I've been doing on my long runs but I have a hard time pushing myself to an uncomfortable pace by myself.  But I know that if all my long runs are comfortable I'm not going to get to a point of growth.  So, although I wanted to puke and thought I might be dead on my feet around mile 4, after the run was over it all felt worth it.  Doesn't it always feel worth it when you finish and the run becomes a memory?

We did 6 miles in 1:03:29, or a 10:34 pace!  I felt happy and speedy, she felt no hip pain and enjoyed a run where she could keep a conversational pace.  Or she was just saying that to make me feel better :)

We followed it up by meeting up with another of our speedier running buddies for some breakfast.  Bacon, eggs, hash browns, and buttered toast taste so good after a hard run.  And bless the waitress...she kept the water coming!

On a related note, I woke up this morning alarm free at 7:00.  Why can I not wake up early when I actually have somewhere to be?