A Beautiful Week

Week of January 8, 2012:

Thursday: Run (25 min. + 2x20 sec sprints)

Friday: Bike commute to and from work

Saturday: Bike ride for groceries at hippie food store, Yoga

These Texas sunsets!  My goodness, they slay me.  I love that I can share them with you here, though my camera can’t capture the incredible panoramic view of a Texas sky.  You’ll just have to come visit me to see for yourself.

Last week was a good one: productive enough at work, relaxed enough at home, and I managed to run three times!  I can’t remember the last time I fit three runs into one week.  Let’s hope this habit sticks around because I’ve got a race with my name on it and the credit card bill to prove it.

By the way, I’m really enjoying my two 20-second sprints at the end of short runs.  I’d like to do it after both short runs each week, but I’ll settle for doing it at least once.  In the next few weeks, I need to make some adjustments to when and how I do my runs in order to get some mileage under my feet for the half-marathon, but I’ll tell you more about that soon.  Life!  It’s constantly throwing curveballs at me.  But running is treating me well, and I plan to treat my training schedule right.

Have a terrific week, everyone!

Legs, Meet Your Destiny

Week of January 8, 2012:

Monday: Yoga (Gentle Hatha #1, 20 minutes)

Tuesday: Bike and run

Wednesday: Off (though I did walk over to Blue Baker to buy bread…does that count?)

I like to count my victories wherever I find them, and this week, I’ve already run twice!  Whoa, stop the presses, right?  On Tuesday, I rode my bike to work, and in a pencil skirt no less.  In the evening, after work, I ran for 25 minutes, though I did not wear the pencil skirt for that.  I had the strangest pain during Tuesday’s short run: an achy inner thigh muscle—my right groin, I suppose?  I’ve never had pain in that part of my body during running, so I’m not sure what to think.  It doesn’t hurt today, but I’m still puzzled by it.

This week has been pretty lovely in general.  The undergraduates still haven’t returned, so campus is very quiet and peaceful.  The weather has been up and down, but today we reached 70+ degrees!  That kind of weather is not conducive to my productivity at work, so I have to be extra-disciplined when I just want to run away and play.  Instead, I revised my grant and wrote some new text, read a paper for journal club, and did a tiny bit of active research stuff.  I did not skip off into the sunshine, shouting, “See ya, suckers!”  Though it was very tempting indeed…

And do you see that sunset above in the first photo?  Texas, I swear, sometimes I think I might be falling for you.

“Welcome back,” said the road.

Week of January 1, 2012:

Saturday: Long walk with a friend

Week of January 8, 2012:

Sunday: Long run!

So.  It’s January of the new year, and I am sitting eight weeks out from a half-marathon that I just committed to running.  I’m excited and nervous!

I’m excited because I miss running regularly.  My commitment to running over the past six months has been sporadic, and while that may be frustrating, I know that I’m responsible for my own flaky behavior.  Now, with a race on my calendar and a friend to run with me, I know that I’m on the right path toward a more disciplined running routine.  That makes me happy.

It also makes me nervous because the most I’ve run in the past month has been about six miles (with my speedy friend JD!), and a half-marathon requires twice that distance and then some.  My running buddy Christy is recovering from some injuries, so we need to tailor our plan for her running ability.  I’m happy to do that.  In fact, I have a question for all of you, my blogging/running friends.  I’m thinking that for Christy and me, a run/walk plan might be good for the half, something like this:

Run 4 miles.

Walk 1 mile.

Run 4 miles.

Walk 1 mile.

Run 3.1 miles

Finish victoriously!

What do you think?

I think the run/walk plan might be more forgiving of our injuries/short training season.  I have two goals centered around the half-marathon: 1) complete it with my friend, if she’s able to enter the race and 2) use the half-marathon training season as a way of re-establishing a running routine that gets me into my sneakers 2-3 times a week.  I have a habit of not running much at all after finishing a half; this year, I’d like to keep running outside until the end of May, if I can take the heat.

Yesterday I headed out for my first serious post-illness run, and I decided to jump right into it.  I’m never really sure how to get back into my exercise habits after an illness, so I decided that I would try to run 4-5 miles, with walking breaks if necessary.  I ran about 12 minutes to my favorite park, dropped off my sweatshirt near the kids’ play area, and felt a little dizzy, so I sat down for a minute.  Then I felt better and ran about 3 miles (26 minutes) around the park.  Then I retrieved my sweatshirt, walked for 5 minutes, and ran another 10 minutes toward home.  I cooled down by walking another 10 minutes or so, figuring that if I’m following a run/walk plan for the half, then a longer walking cooldown is really part training, part cooldown.

I felt really, REALLY good after this run, and that happy feeling stayed with me all day.  I’m feeling upbeat about establishing a new running routine for the new year, and I’m hoping the positive momentum from running will spill over into the rest of my life.

And on Sundays, this is what the rest of my life looks like:

Here I am in my Sunday office.  I love Sundays.

Have a good week, my dears!

Odds and Ends, Bits and Bobs

Loose ends make me uncomfortable.  I often wish the world would comply with my need for boundaries and definitions, but alas, I’ll have to settle for reality.  It’s just so messy!  Gah.  Maybe I should go clean something now, as a way of giving the finger to this noncompliant world of ours.

(And here I pause to unload the washing machine, hang up the wet clothes, and fold some dry clothes.  Ah, sweet order!)

I have two little projects lurking on this blog, and I wanted to say a few words about them.  The first is Speed Demons, which I’m afraid never went anywhere.  It was all my fault—I didn’t put any oomph into it.  To be honest, I’ve had a hard time finding a groove with my running over the last six months or so.  It’s not that I haven’t been running, but I find that my groove keeps falling off the track when pushed by something unexpected—illness, travel, work-related chaos.  I feel like I don’t even know how to establish a groove any more.  Help!

My first order of business is to find my running groove again, which means running 2-3 times a week with a long run on the weekend, in preparation for the half-marathon in March.  For now, I’m planning to do 2x20 second sprints as easy speedwork, for fun.  I’m officially retiring Speed Demons (the feature, not any actual demons that consider themselves speedy), which makes me sad, but I’ll still cheer for you, dear reader, if you want to tell me how freakin’ fast you are running these days.

The second project is Unplugged After Five, which is more like Unplugged After Six because I work until close to 6 PM most nights.  This project actually went really well in November!  I had six evenings during which I didn’t touch a computer once I was home.  I carried UAF into December with another five computer-free nights, and it was peaceful and lovely.  I consider this goal accomplished, and I’m ready to reward myself with some new tights from We Love Colors.

I would love to do Unplugged After Five (or Six) this month, but because I’m writing a grant, I’m not sure if I should commit to computer-less evenings.  Maybe I could do one night a week?  It is really nice to take a break from screens to enjoy more old-fashioned pleasures, like listening to the radio or reading a book.  I think one night a week is do-able, which means now I have to think of how best to reward myself for getting my writing work done before 5 (or 6) PM…any suggestions?   

Healthy Again! (Almost…)

Week of January 1, 2012:

Sunday: Walk

Monday: Sprints + Short run

Tuesday: Bike

Wednesday: Walk (very, very slowly…)

Thursday: A little strength training

Friday: Walk (faster this time!)

One of the inevitabilities of traveling, at least for me, is that I get sick every time I visit Michigan.  Every time!  It’s ridiculous.  I think there is a combinatorial effect between the long travel day and exposure to a bunch of Midwestern germs such that my immune system just can’t keep up with the demands.  So here I am, back in Texas for over a week and today I finally feel like this cold is receding.

But the trip was worth it!  I had a great time with my family, and JD and I even managed to burn off some holiday calories with two runs, which he wrote about here.  Thanks, JD!  He totally kicked my butt during our 6-miler, but I see I redeemed myself during our 2-miler.

Since returning to Texas, running has been on the back burner while I cough and sniffle and feel my feverish forehead.  I hate being cooped up in the house, particularly when the weather is lovely, so I tried to get outside a bit every day this week, mostly for walks.  I figure that slow, short walks don’t put much stress on my immune system, right?  And just as I typed that, my immune system responded by saying, “Cough cough cough!”  Hrrmm.  Maybe I should have been on bed rest this week!

I am trying something fun and interesting with my running.  I heard on a podcast that there was a study that found that one minute of exercise every day is enough to keep diabetes at bay.  What must one do for one minute for this magical effect?  Two 20-second sprints of something, going all out, with a 10-second break between the two sprints.  In the study, I think the subjects did sprints on stationary bikes, but I’m going to do my sprints on foot.  I don’t have diabetes or any chronic health problems (current cold excluded), but it’s fun to try different things with your running.  I figure it gives me a chance to work my fast-twitch muscles, which, to be honest, don’t get much use.  Or perhaps I should say they don’t get enough use.

I figure I can do my little sprints twice a week, just for fun.  Why not?  Also on the agenda: half-marathon training with Christy on Sunday!  I’m excited to see my friend and get back into my sneakers.

Rebooted!

Week of December 18, 2011:

Run: Sunday

Wouldn’t it be even better if I were wearing boots in that photo above?  Alas, I have no cute boots, just a pair of extremely old black boots that are about to get, uh, booted from my closet if Santa brings me a new pair.  But I do have a great pair of black flats that I wear all the time now.  You could say they are part of my work uniform.

I’m finally caught up on my life!  My computer is working beautifully these days, the number of ants in my apartment is down to a tolerable minimum, and I’m making strides on my grant work.  What I’m not caught up on is blogging, and I think I’m going to let that go because frankly, I just don’t have the energy to rewind two weeks to tell you all about my work-outs.  Suffice to say that I have been working out.  The best part of my running life is having a running buddy, my friend Christy, with whom I’m training for the 2012 Armadillo Dash.  We ran 60 minutes this morning, starting at our home base (a pretty park in my favorite neighborhood) and into main campus.  It was a beautiful day for running, overcast but with mild temperatures and no wind.  We ran slowly, with several walk breaks, which is totally fine with me because I want to run with a friend, and sometimes that means running slower to accommodate your friend.  The important thing, in my mind, is that we get out there and get some miles under our feet.  I want to have a fun race at the Armadillo Dash, and if we’ve trained to go the distance, even if we run slowly, then we’ll have a better race day and better recovery after the race.

How is your Sunday, sweet reader?  I am brainstorming ideas for a grant and downloading papers that for some mysterious reason, I haven’t saved on my computer.  Oh, Past Rose-Anne, sometimes I do not understand you at all! 

Speed Demon! Or Maybe Not…

Week of November 27, 2011:

Run: Wednesday

I have a new running buddy!  Christy and I went running two days over Thanksgiving weekend, and I think we’ve decided to train for the upcoming Armadillo Dash half-marathon together.  It’s been really fun to have a buddy who is eager to run with me, despite the very chilly weather we had last Sunday.

When it comes to running buddies, compromise is often a necessity.  I’ve told Christy that we’ll run at her pace, and it doesn’t bother me if it’s slower than I might run on my own.  For the 2012 Dash, I’m not looking for a new PR; I’m just looking for the fun and health benefits of a good training season and then a fun race at the end.  I know that running helps to lift my mood and keep me feeling focused, energized, and positive about life, and I need that now more than ever.

So speed demons we are not on our runs together.  In light of that truth, I decided to hop on the treadmill last night to see if I couldn’t crank out two 8-minute miles.  And I could not.  I warmed up, and once I was running the 8-mile/min. pace, I realized just how hard it was.  It was hard, y’all!  I decided I could push through one mile at that pace, which was exciting.  And then I was done.  Whew!  Let’s do it again next week, shall we?

Have you had any good speed work-outs lately, dear readers?  Any failed attempts to run faster?  Does anyone else overestimate her fitness sometimes like I do?