Sniff sniff blow sniff...

I have a code...and my node is stopped up preddy good. ~sniiifff~

It started as a dry cough and then all of the sudden moved to my head. I feel ok, just a little worn out and quite achy, though the achyness may be left over from recently sleeping on an uncomfortable couch one night and laying on the same uncomfortable couch with a sick beagle the next night. Being off this week was good timing I suppose. My chapped lips and nose are more uncomfortable than anything else.

So I haven't worked out. Not that I've been working out consistently anyway. Sigh. It's getting old, me and my not working out.

I've decided I'm going to do the Heart Mini Marathon. It's March 20th. That should be enough to motivate me to train - it's 11 weeks away and an actual race. It's definitely time to start, especially since I haven't been running or biking consistently. I would like to start to get excited about it, but it's difficult given the current 'you better not run' situation with my folks. I know I am excited about it, but I can't be openly excited and happy about it. It's not like me to be quiet about things I'm looking forward to, especially with running. I suppose I should just go ahead and make my appointment with a doc and get that clear bill of health that I think I have. I don't want to get cocky about it. But I am really really hoping I get the "run whatever and however far you want to" from the docs. Then I can openly and confidently live the way I want to with running again. Well, mostly anyway.

And now to lift while Greg plays Forza. Might as well do something.

Cold Snowy Run on the Trail

I wanted to run 4 today, but I was a little under-dressed. A mile and half away from my warm studio where my warm dry clothes were waiting, I turned around and made it three.

I went down to the trail, where I had reports from Roman, who took a run on it earlier, that it was packed down and not ice. It was for the most part a nice crunchy run. However, if there was pavement it was black ice, I quickly learned. Because of the slipperiness, my eyes were pretty glued to the trail ahead of me. So I was startled to come upon this guy...

...a male Malamute, finishing up his business on the side of the trail. He only had one eye. I slowed to a walk and we looked at each other. I said "hey buddy" to which his response was a growl while looking away and puffing up his chest. I recognized the posture. He was like a mean, one-eyed version of my dog Lobo I had growing up. I love how Malamutes look yellow when it snows, like polar bears do.

I went on my way, checking to make sure I wasn't going to be a good catch a couple of times and then turned around. It was so quiet. I stopped a couple of times to just listen to the nothing. Here's what the trail looked like.

And this awesome house looks even more awesome with the snowfall. Looks better in person.

The wind picked up and I was really getting cold. When I got back, I went to the bathroom to grab a towel and noticed I had icicles attached to the ends of my hair in places. They were melting, Frosty the Snowman in the Greenhouse speed.

Overall it was a nice, brisk, crunchy run that would have been more enjoyable with warmer clothing.

Monday 12/20 - Bike 45 minutes

I'm tackling this week. I really am trying. Today is the winter solstice...which means tomorrow and each day going forward will have longer daylight! Woohoo!

Last night I spinned (spin span spun) while watching Morgan Spurlock spend 30 Days in jail. It was a pretty interesting yet depressing show. I have another season of 30 Days cued up, but I'm not sure there are anymore after that available. Or if the show even went on. It does make me wonder what he's doing these days...he has a lot of cool methods for bringing things to light. I also wonder if he married his whiny fiancée. I'm mean. But really, she annoys the crap out of me.

I was doing 2 minutes light spinning alternated with 2 minutes a few gears harder. It definitely got my heart rate up and made me sweat. After doing that for about 15 minutes, I just kept it a medium hard steady pace the remainder of the time. 

Today is going to be rough to get in a workout. I'm having lunch with someone, plus it's supposed to rain, plus I forgot my bag o' running stuff at home :(  Thought I might be able to squeeze something in this afternoon. I have a happy hour to go to for a printer after work. But after that, I could hop on the bike again...thought I have to finish a few drawings... eeek!

Spin Class. Instructed by...Me

Spinning to music today. It took all my strength to get out there. And by "out there," I guess I'm speaking of the cold garage. Which really is nice, because I don't even need the fan now. I'm in such an exercising funk. It was bright and sunny and there's snow on the ground. I really wanted to go for a run... until I went outside and felt the wind in my face. I am really really hating this and have lost motivation. If I could just get on the bike every day...if only for a half hour. That would be better than nothing, right? Ug, I feel so horrible about it all. It's completely effecting my mood. Which you would think would be enough motivation to get my ass out there. Stupid vicious circle thing. [Slaps face]

Anyway, enough whining. I had a good workout, though it was short. A little over 30 minutes.
The Story - warm up
Uprising - Heavy resistance
Stronger - Recovery with some light speed
Viva la Vida - Steady
Time is Running Out - Hill build. Killed me.
DOA - Recovery steady (this is the song that is my hill benchmark, but I forgot about that prior)
All My Life - Speed

So that's it. Next time (tomorrow morning? yes?) I am going to start with All My Life and then move on down the list. Maybe that will be a way to motivate me. Looking at my future songs I am pretty excited...hmmm...maybe I just need to hear some music initially and that will help get me out there.

Tomorrow my dad is having a heart cath procedure done. When he was having all the weird chest pains (and headaches I just recently learned) before thanksgiving, they found something abnormal on his chest x-ray. So my parents have to go in at like 6 a.m. for that fun. If they find something, they will put a stent in. If not, I guess they'll just release him. It's kind of weird and exploratory. I guess when he has as much going on with his heart as he does, his cardiologist doesn't take chances.

Spinflix: The Men Who Stare at Goats

Work is kind of slow right now, which has been nice. It allowed me to leave early yesterday. Oh but first, as you cans see, it also allowed me to make a new blog header. I was bored so I made a 'winter themed' blog header...trying to embrace this weather - ug.  I don't know about it, it definitely doesn't have to stay. It might look a little too feminine or like this is a children's blog? lol  Bored with pen and paper and computer and I'm dangerous.

Anyway, work is slow which allowed me to leave early yesterday and spin. I was going to run. It was sunny...cold, but sunny with a bright blue sky. But I am really hating the cold and decided I just wanted to plop myself in front of a movie for a while. Plus I didn't want to lock the dogs back up. They aren't doing so well with the kitchen remodeling project and I felt they'd appreciate some free time.

I decided that The Men Who Stare at Goats was a great lengh- 1 hour 32 minutes. It took me about a half hour to get into the movie to the point where I wasn't constantly fidgeting on the bike and wondering how far along the movie was. This is the mental battle on the trainer. Same kind of thing as what you go through on a treadmill, but a little different. I'm finding that quick entertainment is what I need for a longer ride.

I made it an hour and 5 minutes before I decided I'd had enough mentally. I finished the movie as I stretched. But I'm still happy with the increase from 45 minutes to an hour. I can see doing movie-long-rides on the weekend. A little bit painful yes, but I think I'll be happier when spring comes around and I can ride outside again and will hopefully be in a good starting shape.

45 minutes

Last night I rode for 45 minutes while watching an episode of 30 Days. I waded through all of the crap that is in the 'basement' right now due to the kitchen remodeling. Thankfully my bike is kind of in a clear island and I didn't have to climb over too much or move anything to get to it.

It was just a steady ride. My heart rate was up, probably in the fat burning zone since it wasn't very high. So I guess it was a good workout, but I need get these kind of rides up to 1 - 2 hours. Of course starting at 45 minutes is fine...bum acclimation. It is so cold outside that while I rode, our furnace ran the entire time. I think I must have been doing the ride at the same time the thermostat is programmed to raise the temp a few degrees from the low temps during the day. But still - 45 minutes? It was also cool enough in the garage that I didn't need the fan on me.

I should do some bike maintenance soon. My chain seems a little dry. I never got around to cleaning my bike at the end of the season. I need to learn how to do all the basic stuff, especially now that I'm planning on using my bike more. I also want to see if my computer can be moved to my back wheel so I can get a sense of my work load. I know 18 mph won't really be 18 mph, but I have nothing to gauge against now, and some kind of point of reference would be nice.

Today is another frigid day, a whopping 19º at the moment and it's almost noon. If it isn't windy later, I might throw on the balaclava face mask and do a run. I'm not too excited about it though. Maybe this week will just be biking. These are the days when I wish I had treadmill access.

Weekend in the Kitchen = Crosstraining?

The weekend wasn't exactly a lethargic, sit-on-my-ass type of weekend, but I didn't get in my planned workouts either. The remodeling project took over pretty hard. Saturday morning I did manage to get in a run. I wanted to do a long run, but once I started out at about 8 o'clock, I started worrying about how much time I was taking before my parents and other helpers were going to arrive. So I just did 3. The first 2.5 was at 10:07 pace, then I picked it up for the last half mile making my overall pace 9:53. So I am not sure what pace I was running that last half because I don't do math.

I am very much enjoying the kitchen remodeling project. I am super thankful for everyone who is helping, making it happen. I wish I knew how to do more/had more skills. I'm trying to do what I can, and without my dad around to point out what I am doing horribly wrong, felt better about myself on Sunday.

Today it is a whopping 18º.  F that. I'm not running in it. I'm scheduled to spin anyway. I was really tired this morning, so that means I have to spin this evening. Must must must, that's all I can do now is make myself do it. There's no motivation, it's just a matter of doing it because I have to.