Lunch Time Workouts for Those Who Don't Have a Gym

Today Christen and I went on a run from the studio...the first mid-day workout for Fill Creative. It wasn't too bad not showering afterwords. The breeze helped keep me cool and I wasn't terribly sweaty at the end of the run. I think runs during lunch will be possible in winter, given the cooler temps.

Christen hasn't been running in a while, so we took it pretty easy. That was fine by me because I'm still planning to ride tonight. We went down to the trail and headed north. We passed a lot of people with dogs. The weather was perfect and the trail was beautiful. You could barely see the path because of the carpet of orange-brown-red leaves covering it. And the leaves were falling the entire time, giving an additional motion to our own movement forward along the trail.

While I would have rather showered afterwords, it really isn't too bad. Not sure I'd go to a meeting like this, but thanks to the spit-bath in the bathroom, I feel and look fine. When we got done, we sat outside in the sun and chatted, letting the breeze cool us down, which I'm sure helped also. It was very nice to have this kind of break in the middle of the day.

This Morning's Weather Would Be Perfect for Race Day!

It was a beautiful cool fall morning, and we ran 3 miles at a 9:20 pace. It felt faster to me...but at the same time I didn't really have any problems until near the end. The run was shorter due to little Max and puppy logistics! He's sooooooooooo cute. I had a good time playing with him this morning. I want to take some pictures of him soon, while he's still so tiny, so we can all look back on him and laugh later. Like I do with this pic of baby Dexter.

My legs felt very fresh this morning. I guess that's what I expect after not running yesterday. We didn't do track because the Powells are still in Austin. I was going to run with Christen at work, but we were both slammed all day, so it never happened. At least I got on the bike Monday.

And now, since it appears my weight is public knowledge, I might as well start tracking it here and make good use of accountability. I don't like to focus on the numbers, but in reality I realize that it is the easiest way to know progress. I was enjoying having to buy new clothes and feel things fit differently as the numbers were decreasing. I was able to focus more on that. But now I've plateaued so I need to boost the progress again, because I need to lose more weight. And while eventually I might go down another size, a more immediate confirmation of progress would be shown in the numbers. 

So official weigh-in this morning was 131. It's the Wednesday weigh-in. I'll try to only weigh myself once a week. Try.

I think that with more biking on the trainer now, my calorie burn throughout the week will be increased so that is good. This winter I am going to work on toning up. I'm mushy!

Yay- exciting, though probably slow, tracking begins!

Fluid Ride #2

Tonight I hopped on the bike when I got home. I didn't want to, but first fired up the wii and found something to watch on Netflix. I ended up watching the first episode of 30 Days. It's a series where Morgan Spurlock (the guy that did Supersize Me) tries out humanity-type experiments for a month each. The first one was him and his fiancée living in Columbus, OH for a month on minimum wages.

The ride was enjoyable enough, and I'm really glad I finally did something on a Monday again. I didn't push too hard, but my heart rate was up during the 45 minutes. My legs are still a little sore from the 12 mile run Saturday.

After I was done, I remembered to feel the the fluid chamber this time and yes...it gets very very warm!

More running and spinning.

Quick run down of the last few weeks.



Sept 29 -3 miles on Wednesday morning with Steph.
- Great 9:20 pace.
Sept 30 - Left gym bag at home, missed spinning.
- Took a 2 mile walk with Jannelle after work.
Oct 2 - Supposed to run 6 miles. But I was in Pburg, and
- It was 46 degree and raining. No thanks. I'm a wuss, shoot me.

-This was a very slow week for me. One 3 mile run, and no spinning. No wonder I....

Oct 4 - Spinning, and I put on a pound!! 185
-This class was brutal. There something about missing 2 spinning classes that dooms you for your return. I just felt like I couldn't keep up. It was tough for sure.
Oct 6 - Awesome fast 4 mile run with Steph.
- 9:17 pace and felt strong. This was a great run for sure.
Oct 7 - Fantastic ASS KICKING Spin session.
- I destroyed that fucking bike! WHOOOOAH! It's the second class back, and I've experienced the same phenomenon before. First class back is brutal, second class a breeze.
Oct 9 - 12 miler. It was our last long run pre-race.
-It was a great start, but my knee pain, while arriving on delay, managed to bother me around the half way marker. Shortly thereafter Steph was starting to drag and I think the decrease in pace started to bother my knee. Eventually i would run ahead a bit, then walk quickly till Steph caught up. It gave my knee a break.

The aftermath!!!! Well, It's been much better after this run, than after the last 2 long runs. After the 11 mile run, first my right, then my left knees were barking loudly. I think that pain cuased bruising that came out a few days later. This time, only my left knee hurts, and not so much to make me need to sit and ICE. I did ice it a bit on Saturday after the run, and I have made sure to stretch and roll it out the last few days. Today was

Oct 11 - Spinning. Its the first time I've gone to spinning on Monday after a long run.
- I really felt like I needed to work my knees today. My left knee was noticably problematic, but I just relaxed and backed off a bit. My work in today's class came mostly from cardio work/quick pace run where my knee was less taxed then on the big hills.
Weighed in at 183 today. Glad to be back on track!

Final Long Run Complete

Saturday Casey and I ran 12 miles. The first 6 or 7 was great... we were holding a 10 minute mile pace. I felt like that was very manageable and even easy. But soon after we turned around to head back, I started quickly running out of energy. And I became very tired of where we were running. It was just one of those mental things while running.

I so badly wanted to keep the pace and be able to say we ran a 10 pace the entire time! But I just couldn't. I tried to tell myself it was no big deal and get over it, but I was disappointed. Then it got worse and I could barely wog up the hills. And this slow, odd change in gait didn't help Casey's knee pains. Ug.

But we got through it. I'm pretty sure that my lack of energy was due to low iron. Stupid, take your pills. I was very sorry to not have a confidence boosting final long run. I know that Casey could have maintained the pace, so I really hope he at least feels well trained and ready to run on October 23rd! 

One thing I noticed about the 12 miles is how quickly it passed (well, until that last 3-those were rough). Having trained by myself for the marathon last year, I did that kind of distance (and more) solo. I'm thankful to not be doing these distances by myself this time and question if I could even train for a marathon by myself again - I'm spoiled now. It's been so much more enjoyable.

Chilly Wednesday Morning and My New Fluid Trainer Test

Casey and I ran a brisk 4 miles this morning... brisk in pace and in temperature as well. We had gloves on, which was needed and kept the hands from locking up!

The pace was 9:17 average. It was a great run for me. I felt good for the most part. My legs hurt a little bit. Either the dehydration thing (I really don't know what my problem is these days with not drinking enough) or maybe a little too many hills on the bike last night. I couldn't talk at the end during the final push. But really was surprised by how easy the rest of the run felt. Yay for speed progress!

Last night I finally got my bike set up in the basement (garage) ready to Spinflix and watch music videos, if MTVmusic.com ever works properly. For some reason it won't allow me to log in at home. I can at the studio. ???  It doesn't give me any kind of message (wrong password or user name)...but just goes back to the main page. :(  After a lot of frustration with my computer, not knowing how to hook it up, the wii trying to access our old wireless name, crappy speaker syndrome and smashing my finger, I finally was able to have a very enjoyable but short workout. I moved everything inside and hooked my 'puter up to the living room sound system (yay!) and watched videos while riding. I was able to access my Quicklist on mtvmusic. I would ideally like to make a few playlists and be able to save them, but I won't be able to do this if I can't ever log in. Listening to the music while riding was absolutely awesome. I was so pumped up and loving it. In fact, some of the time I don't think I was really even paying attention to the videos, which makes me think I could possibly stand to just play a playlist from iTunes. It reminded me of spinning. Here's what I listened to:
The Story (good warmup) - Brandi Carlile
Uprising - Muse
Hot and Cold - Katy Perry (the video cracks me up, but I think this one will be removed now)
All My Life - Foo Fighters
Knights of Cydonia - Muse
Panic Switch - Silversun Pickups

That's all I had time for, but have 5 other songs in this particular playlist. When listening to the music, I could envision doing all kinds of things with it - sprints, hills, whatever. It was awesome. And the fluid trainer allows for a lot more resistance so I can do hill work. I tried to take it easy since I was running in the morning, but I did play around with the settings on the trainer a bit.

I'm really excited about the fluid trainer. I think it will be awesome - decent speakers, big screen to watch Netflix or videos, a cool environment with a fan, and it's out of the house so I can crank music if I wish. It's my own little workout area I guess. I'm really looking forward to riding more throughout the winter.

6... We're Getting Close!

I ran 6 this morning, after spending an evening in a couple Kentucky bars full of smoke (I always forget about that!) and getting home around 1:30. Ok, so it wasn't early morning...more like 10:30. But I did it and felt surprisingly good.

I did the same 6 mile route Casey and I did the other cutback weekend a few weeks ago. I was distracted early on by a dog while still in the neighborhood. I passed a house and noticed a black pug looking dog and tan cute looking dog both barking at me at their fence. The tan dog had some spring loaded legs and was jumping Jack Russel Terrier style over and over, gripping the chicken wire fencing each time. I thought to myself that dog could easily get over the fence if he wanted to. 10 more steps and I heard the crunching of leaves by little doggy feet. I turned around and there he was. We stared at each other a little, as his tail wagged so fast it seemed blurry. Assessment: friendly dog. I walked up to him and grabbed his collar. Thanks to Harley and her behaviors on the other side of the fence, I always make the assumption that every dog's goal in life is to run away. So I wanted to grab him and get him safe. He let me pull him back to the fence. But I didn't want to open it and have the other dog escape. So I thought we'd better just go to the front door. But the little guy put the breaks on. He wasn't going to move anymore. I kneeled down, we looked into each other's eyes a little more and he turned his head away...so I picked him up. Oh geez...what a baby! He snuggled into me and licked my ear and neck repeatedly. I considered turning around and heading home with him! :)  (not really)  I rang the doorbell and we stood on the stoop, waiting, licking, snuggling. No one answered, so I tried the fence again. By this time, both dogs were calmer. I figured out the gate and shoved the little guy in there. We said our goodbyes and I told him to stay. They were much calmer by now, but I was still worried that he might leap over again. I've never seen these dogs before, so I think they are visiting. And I wanted to tell the owners that the fence was no match for the dog with the spring loaded legs!

Anyway, that was a nice start to my run. Furry creatures are the best.

The rest of the 6 was pretty uneventful. I stopped for some water at 3, in the little bathroom hut. I was at a 9:40 pace then. Coming back, the small hills were wearing me out. I knew I was slowing down, so I tried to make up time when I felt better on the flats and downhills. Good race practice.

I finished strong, but it was a rough strong. It was hard to push by myself. But 9:40 pace!!! Woohooo!!!! I seriously think I could have maintained this pace quite a bit longer...on the right day and with the right lack of hills, lol.

In the few remaining weeks of training, I'm going to hit the bike hard. I'm spending the afternoon getting the basement cleared up to make room for my bike and trainer. Biking helps my running so much...it's push time. Well, until taper time.