The Longest Yet

Thursday’s Long Run (12/09/10)

Apparently, when I said that running 40 minutes felt intimidating, I totally forgot about all the long runs that must follow 40 minutes during half-marathon training: 50, 60, 70…The truth is, they are all intimidating because you must convince your body that it can do this thing that, at best (at least for me), it has not done in a long time.  If you’re training for your first half, you might have to convince your body that yes, it can run six or seven miles in one work-out.  When you are staring into the face of your longest run yet, whether in the season or ever in your life, it’s hard not to want to hide under a table until this insanity called “I want to run a half-marathon” clears your system.

Not surprisingly, I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of running 60 minutes in the dark on Thursday night.  I cut myself a little slack after I came home from work—a little computer time, a blog post written, a snack with peanut butter (for energy, of course).  But at some point, one must lace up her sneakers and go.  At some point, the prospect of doing a long run turns into a question of now or never.  I chose now.

I started out slowly on my 60-minute run, running at a very easy pace, which is another way in which I ease myself into the long run.  Once I got going, though, I think my pace resumed its “natural” speed—that is, the speed at which I tend to run unless I’m deliberately running faster or slower.  It was a good run, and not nearly as hard as it could have been.  My legs held up well until about 40-45 minutes into the run, when I started to feel fatigued.  I took a tiny walk break at the 43-minute mark, which gave me a little second wind, and I finished my 60 minutes feeling pretty strong.  Most importantly, I finished feeling happy that I had completed that which I set out to do.  That feeling, that sense of triumph—that is why I run half-marathons.  That is why I run, period.

PS  Congratulations to my blog friend Kate O., who finished her first marathon this weekend!  Congratulations, Kate!  26.2 hurrays!

On Trend with Winter (or not…)

Wednesday’s Bike Ride Commute (12/08/10)

Here in Texas, we don’t want to be seen as untrendy by the rest of the states, so when it comes to winter, we do our best to fake it.  We bring out our cozy mittens and hats, we decorate our malls with images of attractive people playing in snow, and we put snowflake decals on the library windows so that maybe, for just a split second, someone will think that it is actually snowing outside.  But so far, all we really have that could be construed as vaguely wintry is cold.  It’s not even consistent cold; we got 70-something degree F warmth last Saturday, and who knows what today will bring?  At 9:30 in the morning, it’s already 65 degrees F (18 degrees C for my nerdy friends who, like me, think more in Celsius and metric than American units).

All of this is to say that riding a bike around town in December is very pleasant on most days.  It did feel chillier on Wednesday, but I would feel like a total wimp complaining about the cold here after spending my whole life in the Midwest, where we are winter trendsetters.  I’m excited to spend a week in Michigan for the holidays this month, but I am even more excited to spend another winter in Texas.  It turns out that when it comes to cold, snow, and ice, I really am a wimp. 

At Least the Lights Come Out at Night

Monday’s Bike Ride Commute (12/06/10)

With a December vacation practically breathing down my neck, I’m trying to squeeze in as many experiments as I can before I leave town.  I do this every year: freak out a bit about being gone from the lab for a week to spend Christmas with my family, and things always work out.  Still, there’s a frenzy of activity before I leave, and I can’t say I regret it.

That’s why I scheduled an experiment for Monday that started at about 10 AM and didn’t finish until 9 PM that night.  I wanted to get it done, so this week I did it.  It didn’t turn out the way I had hoped—science, you break my heart again!—but at least I got it done.  I didn’t want to be left in the clutches of the bus schedule, so I rode my bike to and from work that day.  To keep my energy up, I took a dinner break at The Pita Pit, one of my favorite fast food places near campus.  On my way over to dinner, I admired the light tree you see above.  I’m mighty pleased that my camera was able to capture a good picture of the tree!  And I love that you can see the church in the background.

On the subject of dinner, I tried something new at Pita Pit, the Morning Glory pita, which is packed with good things of the morning type: scrambled eggs, hash brown potatoes, cheese, and some vegetables.  I got mine with a squirt of mustard (yum!) and some pepper jack cheese, and it was wonderful—almost good enough to take the exhausted edge off of an 11-hour day on campus.

Double Up

Saturday’s Bumming Around + Sunday’s Bike Ride Commute and Run (12/04-12/05/10)

It was a strange weekend here.  I’m afraid it wasn’t the best Saturday I’ve ever had, despite the deliciously warm temperatures and sunshine.  My Saturday night stew was a disaster, and I forgot to buy the veggie sausage the first time I went to Albertson’s for groceries, so I had to go back.  I felt spacey and out of it all day, and I had a weird headache that persisted until I finally gave up and went to bed.

All was not lost, however, despite my lousy Saturday.  I did get the grocery shopping done, a load of laundry washed, and much to my pleasure, I finally got around to re-doing my artsy bulletin board in my writing studio.  I covered it with new wrapping paper, hung up my little inspirational index cards, and tacked the announcement from my thesis seminar up there.  The wrapping paper is gorgeous, brown with these big flowers in blue, white, and green.  Every time I see my bulletin board, I feel all inspired and accomplished, which is exactly how one should feel when she enters her writing studio, I think.

Sunday was a much, much better day.  I rode my bike to the lab in the morning to work on a few experiments, then I rode back home after lunch.  I made granola bars, which were dangerously delicious, and ate one with a big mug of tea in my Santa mug.  Feeling fully loaded with sugar and carbs, I headed outside for a brief, brisk 20-minute run.  Saturday’s heat gave way to chilly temps on Sunday, so it was no faux-summer, running-in-shorts day.  I bundled up, because I hate being cold, and ran a shortened version of my favorite loop.  My legs felt a big heavy that day, like they were dragging some fatigue around with them.  It wasn’t a bad run; I just didn’t feel very light on my feet.  I’ll take it as a sign that my muscles are getting stronger.

(I could go for another one of those granola bars right now, especially looking at this picture, which is reminding me that those bars are only one room away from me…)

The Strangest Thing

Thursday’s Walk + Friday’s Run (12/02-12/03/10)

I’m not necessarily inclined to say that running errands, like I did on Thursday, is a “work-out.”  It’s more like active rest between harder work-outs, like bike rides or runs.  Thursday’s walk was an attempt to get some fresh air while buying new coffee (Winter Blend!) and groceries, which I needed, especially the coffee.  I took the long way around the block, enjoying the warm evening.  On Friday, I was surprised to find that my calves were sore!  I could feel them all day, which was just the strangest thing because normally walking does not have that effect on my calves.  Sometimes I’ll feel the after-effects of a walk on my hips or my back but almost never in my lower legs.  I’m stumped

Sore calves or no, I needed to do a longer run on Friday.  I played this one by ear a bit; I promised myself I’d run for at least 30 minutes and then see how things felt.  At the 18-minute mark, I decided that things were going well and I would go for 40 minutes.  It worked out well; I felt pretty strong for the duration of the run.  40 minutes is still a long ways from 60 minutes, which is what I need to hit this month, but I’m planning to do my first 60-minute run of the season next week.

For those of you who may be wondering, yes, I wore shorts during my outside run on Friday!  But that’s a Texas winter for you.

What December First Looks Like…in Texas

Wednesday’s Bike Ride Commute (and fun mobile photo session!) (12/01/10)

December in Texas is a funny month.  One morning it’s literally freezing and I’m digging out my scarf and gloves; the next day it’s balmy and I take an afternoon walk without my coat.  It’s disconcerting and lovely and totally bizarre.  I adore this place.

On Wednesday, I rode the bike to and from work, and on the way home, I had time to stop at Brazos Natural Foods to pick up sweet potatoes and crisp celery, just in time to make this recipe, my adaptation of which was totally delicious.  It’s been a slow week for me at work, so I was able to leave early enough to catch the last of the day’s sunshine with my camera.  I also encountered a very friendly cat who proceeded to make whiskery love to my bike, circling round and round and rubbing its cheek on all the surfaces it could reach.  Luckily, I find this sort of thing quite charming, so I allowed it.

Forgotten, Then Remembered!

Monday’s Quick Strength Work-out and Tuesday’s Run (11/29-11/30/10)

I tend to go through phases with different types of exercise.  One example of this is circuit training.  I like circuit work-outs a lot, mostly because I have a short attention span and circuit training prevents me from getting bored.  As soon as I’m bored, it’s time to move to the next exercise!  It’s perfect.  Except that I can grow tired of the doing the circuit work-outs, in which case it’s time to move on to another exercise obsession, like Pilates.

On Monday night, I was in the mood for a quick work-out before bed, and I was inspired to dust off an old Self magazine work-out that describes an at-home circuit work-out.  It had been so long since I had done this work-out that I had forgotten how much I enjoy it (and how hard it is!), but I remembered it on Monday.  The gist of it is that you alternate cardio (I walk or jog in place) with different strength exercises, such as push-ups or crunches.  For example: walk for 1 minute, do push-ups for one minute.  Walk for one minute, do crunches for one minute.  This work-out feels like a really effective way to do a quick, fun strength work-out while keeping your energy and motivation high.  I put on a bouncy techno CD and did my thing for 13 minutes, and that was that.

By Tuesday, the temperature had plunged and I had to dig out all my cold-weather gear to go for an evening run.  S. just did a great post on winter running, and I’m so glad she did because I felt motivated to embrace the chilly temps and enjoy my run.  We have no snow here (yet), but we do have some cold days and nights, so my collection of running tights and long-sleeved shirts will get used this winter.  As far as work-outs go, I still feel a little like I’m recovering from my illness last week, so I’ve been taking it easy.  Tuesday night was an easy, 20-minute jaunt around the block a few times.  It totally hit the spot—I came home with that wonderful glowy post-run feeling, which is really the very best part of running.  That, and an excuse to wear running tights.