Brant and Hanako's Marathon Training

high altitude training

2008-03-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

First off, on Saturday the 15th, I had one of the best runs I've had in a long time. Did 8 miles and ran the second half faster than the first half - which was my goal. I did it in 1:20:18 - just 18 seconds off a flat ten minute mile pace. So I was pretty happy. Especially since 3 of my last 4 miles were actually about 9.5 minute miles. So that was good.

Then I went to New Mexico and took a few days off. Also, was not eating as well as I have been. Ate a bunch of ice cream. Thursday evening I ran for 4.5 miles, which was partially deliberate and partially because I got lost. :) I had wanted to go 4. I ended up calling my sister to have her come pick me up, and a good place to stop was at 4.5.

Anyway, then I decided I really should do my long run the next morning - because Los Alamos is so hilly and at even higher elevation. So, the day before my long run, I had salad and a milkshake for lunch, and more salad for dinner. And went for a run. Not exactly the best way to prep for a long run! So I did 7.5 miles, but I was very tired and felt drained. But I was happy that at least I went!

Last night I went running even though I really didn't feel like it. I was glad I went once I got back though! Unfortunately, my watch battery ran out on the run, so I don't really know how I did. Though apparently my first mile was under 9 minutes, so that explains why I was so tired in the third mile. I went about 4 miles, but have no idea how long it took me. I was happy that I was able to sprint in the end. So all in all, things are getting a little better with the training.

wow I'm bad about training these days

2008-03-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

So here we are - mid March, and I am so proud of myself because I actually worked out three times this week. Monday it was raining, so I exercised here - lunges, squats and whatnot. Tuesday went and ran and Wednesday too. However, why am I proud of this? That should be every week! Anyway, I am getting back into the swing of the working out thing. Next week I go to New Mexico, but I am planning on running there too! Afterall, May just keeps getting closer! The fundraising is coming along, though not quite as quickly as we had hoped.

Two days in a Row!

2008-02-20T14:15:00.000-08:00

It's been way too long since I've actually gone running two days in a row. The second day was pretty tough. Today it's raining (and lighting and thunder) so it looks like I'm out of luck for today. Monday I ran 40 minutes - pretty much 4 miles. It felt good, but I was tired by the end. Then last night, just 30 minutes, and I walked a little of it and didn't even get 3 miles. I felt kind of pathetic. But I'm happy that at least I'm getting back out there!

Also - we are doing another push for fundraising, so if you haven't donated please do! Also, for those of you in Houston, we're doing a fun event with a silent auction at a brewery. Check out our website www.brantandhanako.com for more details!

Training

2008-02-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

Good grief - I cannot believe it's been since November since I posted. We haven't been training nearly as much as we should have been either. But since my last post - we did a turkey trot in Dublin Ohio, which was a lot of fun. We got a bottle of wine for participating, in addition to a huge medal and technical shirts. It was a four miler - and I was happy to be pretty much around 10 minute miles - just under, in fact.

December we went home - and though Brant went on a couple runs - I did not. So January I think I got in about 1-2 runs a week, not nearly what I need to be getting for marathon training. Brant has been doing a little better - he's at least doing the right distance on Saturdays. I've been doing my own version of training - which in theory would have been good - if I'd actually stuck to the plan. Instead, here we are - mid February - and my longest run has been 4 miles. Thankfully, I'm training for the half, so I think I still have time to pull this out.

Fundraising has been going okay - though we're always looking for more donations! If you know anyone - send them our way! Last I heard, my uncle is doing well - though the chemo has been making him pretty weak. They changed his regimen and he was starting to feel a bit better.

My plan is that starting today - I'll get back into good running habits....wish me luck!

Yet Another Reason to do Team In Training

2007-11-18T16:12:00.000-08:00

Recently, we found out that my uncle, Gary Brown was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He has a slow-progressing form, and it's in stage one, so he has been given a good prognosis. He has started chemotherapy and will hopefully only have to have a few treatments, which is good. However, we would have been perfectly happy to never have a family member connection to this cause!

We will be running in his honor in Vancouver, and it has given us new motivation for the fundraising side of this adventure. It is a new reminder of what patients and their families are going through every day. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society not only helps to fund research, but also helps families directly with financial grants and a copay assistance program. We are glad to be able to do this, our small part in the larger fight against cancer, generally, and to support my uncle, more specifically.

Vancouver Here We Come!

2007-11-05T14:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, so after the whole injuring my hip incident - I got into a big car accident and broke my pelvis in three places (among other things that were broken). After five weeks in a wheelchair where I could put no weight on my legs at all, and another month of slowly walking around - I have been cleared to start running.

I have gone on maybe a total of 8 runs since then and have been doing intervals - 2 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking. I have no endurance left and no muscle strength! But I am really glad to be back out there and running again.

Brant and I decided to sign up with Team In Training again - we're fundraising for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to help find a cure for blood cancers. We're also training for the BMO Vancouver International Marathon. Brant's thinking he'll do the full, and I'm thinking I'll do the half. Afterall - I just got cleared to run! We are hoping to raise about $8000 and every little bit helps! So please - help us out! And I will do my best to keep this thing updated!

A Series of Bad Decisions

2007-06-08T18:19:00.000-07:00

Well - I'm on crutches. Which - long story short - is the result of a series of bad decisions. But first, to get you caught up - since I haven't written since the end of March!

My ankle had me out of commission for about two weeks. And then it started feeling fine - so I jumped back into training. Things were going pretty well - though Robert (Team In Training Coach) and good friend told me that I really should run with Pete and Susan because they're faster than I am. I fought and fought - despite the fact that I don't think I've ever been able to go more than 10 miles with them before petering out.

Anyway, so sometimes I would still run the beginning of my runs with them. April passed without too much of note in my running life - except that around this time Brant decided that he would run San Diego too - so he started his training. Also - had really bad allergies so I had to run in glasses instead of contacts - which went better than expected, actually.

Oh yeah - and right after getting back from Atlanta I started working for Team In Training - which has been awesome!

Anyway, we had the 21 miler on May 12. I started with Pete and Susan - and then let them go on ahead - after about 9 miles. Then I started to notice that I was getting a blister. I went past a water stop - got to the next one - was really starting to feel tired - stopped to chat for a bit while getting water, then back to the first water stop - and I finally gave up and admitted I had a blister. Stopped and got it bandaged - but it still hurt. And I was really tired by this point.

Ran a bit more - though I had started walking up all the "hills." Then I started interspersing a lot more walking. Like half miles of walking. I finally made it to the end - taking much longer than I had intended. Maybe I started too hard, maybe it was too hot, maybe I was just tired.

Anyway, on that run, Pete's knee started hurting. So they decided they were going to run intervals. The next week I decided I could join them if they were doing intervals...so the next week I did the 14 miles with them.

We were doing a 7:1, which was kind of a weird interval for me - and I think we were running faster and actually potentially walking slower than I normally would. I felt okay though - until about two hours after the run.

And then it hurt. In my left hip. Especially to lift my knee up from sitting, but also just to walk, though it would get better the more I moved it.

So I decided I should rest it a bit. Tried stretching and whatnot. On Tuesday I went out for a half hour run - and was pretty miserable. I could tell I was limping, and so eventually I gave up to walk. On Thursday I went for a walk with Brant. That still hurt. So on Friday I went to see Caroline, my chiropractor.

She said I strained a muscle. They did ultrasound on it and told me to heat, stretch, massage and ice it.

Here comes one of the first bad decisions. I didn't really heat. Or massage that much. I did stretch and ice, but even that I didn't do as much as I probably should have.

I did take the week off of running.

And then I went to San Diego and started a marathon.

Which apparently was another of my bad decisions.

According to Dave, Tyson, Brant, Marisa and her sister Crystal (we all started together) I was limping from the start. I kept up with the boys for a while though. I ended up letting them go ahead when they were running 9:45s instead of 10s like they said they were going to run. At the 10K I was doing really well. I was pretty much on a 10 min mile pace and was pretty thrilled with that.

I felt tired - but the good kind. My hip hurt a little, but I thought I could push through it and finish out the race. I was so excited when I passed the 5:00 pace group. I thought I had a good chance of even catching up to the 4:30 pace group. I was in good spirits.

Somewhere around 8 miles we went onto 163 and hit roads with the worst cant I have ever run on. I swear it must have been 30 degrees. (I want to say 45, but I know it couldn't have really been *that* bad, I mean, people do drive on this road...but it was really really slanted!!)

I ran for a little bit while holding onto my hip because it helped me limp a little less. I finally realized that maybe that wasn't actually super healthy. Though I think three people had already asked me if I was okay by that point. I was really disappointed when the 5 hour pace group passed me again.

Eventually I decided I really needed to walk - the road was going on forever - and not getting any flatter. So I walked. And more people asked me if I was okay. I said yeah - I just strained a muscle a couple of weeks ago. I got a lot of sympathetic looks and words as everyone passed me by. One coach tried to tell me how to stretch my IT band, but I told him that really wouldn't help.

The further I went the more it hurt on each step. I started to look for friendly faces. I saw Mirna - one of the girls from the West Houston team go by and I cheered her on. Finally I saw a Team In Training coach from Houston - she was from The Woodlands, so we'd never met officially, but I told her who I was and that I worked at the office. (I was not wearing a purple singlet - so she didn't immediately recognize me as being associated with TNT.)

Thankfully - she walked with me for quite a while. I was walking at 20 min miles for a while, then it got closer to 24 min miles. There was no way I could get to the finish at that pace - they would have to pick me up. So I decided to stop at the half.

Saw Art - who is a fellow mentor from West Houston and will be a coach for the winter season. He walked with us for a bit until Leah - another West Houston teammate came by and he ran with her. Eventually Linda left too.

Brant's cousin Wendy and her husband Brian (and their dogs Spike and Pharaoh) caught up with me and walked with me for a bit too - which was nice. They had walked from where they saw Dave and Brant and Tyson. Brant and Tyson were together and Dave was out ahead of them. It was a good thing they'd walked or I wouldn't have seen them at all!

I was in a fair amount of pain - but I figured it was only a few more miles. (Another bad decision.) I went by two medical tents and didn't stop. I thought about it - but again - it seemed so close to the half...

By the time I got there even more coaches were asking if I was okay - I said I was fine and just asked where the cutoff was. Finally I passed the half marathon mark (it took me a bit over 3 hours) and veered off the course to the TNT half marathon finish. Met up with Wendy and Brian and then went over to get my half medal. Saw Crystal (her foot was hurting her - was possibly fractured, so she was doing the half too) and she said they could give me a ride to the finish.

I said bye to Wendy and Brian and went to walk over with Crystal. And discovered that I couldn't walk. At all. I could put no weight at all on my left leg. Not even to limp. Marisa and Crystal's parents were there, along with a few of Crystal's friends and another family friend. They started devising a plan for how to get me to the full finish line.

The friend ended up carrying me. Eventually - we even introduced ourselves. :) His name was Dan and had lived in Tucson and been friend's with Tyson, Dave and Josh Allen. He carried me over to a bus, and we all got on and rode back over to the finish. By this time, one of Crystal's friends had also gotten her long board from the car and brought it. So when we got to the finish I got to sit on the skateboard and get pushed to the medical tent. This was much easier for Dan. :)

At the medical tent I was given a bag of ice. Then one of the medics/doctors/volunteers came over to see how I was doing and tried to help me stand. That still wasn't happening. He told me that they couldn't really do anything for me there - so they could take me to the hospital, or I could have friends take me home. I opted for friends. Then he asked for the chair back. Ha ha. Since they could help others it did make sense. So we moved me over to a tree.

Dave had found us by this point in time - he'd finished in 4:21. I was impressed. His training wasn't much better than Brant's had been.

Brant and Tyson finished in 4:51. Marisa finished in 6:11. It was her first marathon! (If you want to read about her training and also more about Josh - who she was running in memory of, visit her blog at http://www.teamgiant.org/)

Anyway, eventually we skateboarded me over to the car - and went to buy some crutches. Looking back - I realize I probably shouldn't have been running. And I should have stopped any number of times. I don't know - I guess I figured that since I was still walking - I was okay. Apparently - my will is stronger than I give it credit for. I trained and went all that way - I was going to get a medal darn it!

So I've been on crutches since then. On Tuesday I could at least put a little bit of weight on my leg. By Wednesday it was enough that I could stand on two feet - just not one - so I still couldn't walk. And that's pretty much where I am today.

Yesterday I went to my orthopedist, who thinks I pulled a muscle. I start physical therapy on Monday. If I'm not doing a lot better by Friday I'll get an MRI to see if anything is torn. So keep your fingers crossed. A pull is much better than a tear! And I have the Nike Women's Marathon in October to prepare for - so I'd like to get better quickly! :)

(Okay, I swear - I really did learn something from this - I'm really not going to start running again until I get the all clear. And then I'm going to take it easy - and not push myself to breaking this time!)

Atlanta

2007-04-02T15:00:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh I never knew that Atlanta was so hilly. The whole 13.1 miles felt uphill. Though I do remember a few downhills (that I am now thinking I took a bit too fast...my ankle has been hurting me) it seemed like they were way outnumbered by the ups. According to my gps the uphills did outnumber the downs - but not by nearly as much as it felt like.

Anyway, I got my best time!! Which was great. Especially considering how hard the race felt, the fact that I stopped three times to stretch, and that it was pretty disorganized. There were no corrals - so at the start you had 15000 full and half marathoners just cramming to get forward. So the first few miles were passing walkers and other people who shouldn't have really been ahead of me to start. And then I think I got a bit over-ambitious and passed a few too many.

I definitely did my first few miles a bit fast - especially considering the hills. I ended up walking a few hills towards the end, and yeah, it was just pretty miserable. It was hot and a couple times I was almost in tears thinking "Why am I doing this?" and "I can't believe I'm already signed up for Nike! What was I thinking!?"

And there were no mile markers for the half marathon. So, yeah. Definitely not the best race I've ever been to. I bet next year is much improved though! And we did get a cool medal, so all is good. :)

However, that ankle hurting me is not so good. I ran twice last week still in my old shoes - and I think it was a big mistake. I havent been able to run since last Thursday. I have been icing my ankle, and it seems to be getting better. Yesterday I went and got new shoes and even just the small bit running in the store was enough to make it painful to stand again. So that's no good.

I am really excited about my new shoes though - they feel much lighter than other shoes I've worn. They fit a little bit differently though, so we'll see if I like it once I'm back on the trail. Which will hopefully be soon!!!

Two Days Til the Race

2007-03-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I leave for Atlanta. And on Sunday I will run the half marathon. It will be my first race where I am by myself. I'm a bit nervous. Partially because I haven't been having great runs this week. I am blaming nerves though. Even though that is not good logic. :)

In the past few weeks I've had some great runs. I've been doing my long runs with some people from training, and while I can't seem to make it all the way to the finish with them (I start lagging behind right at the end) they have been helping me push my times.

I've also figured out how to run faster. Now, this is pretty silly - but here it is: You move your legs faster. So I've been picturing Fred Flintstone in my head and that seems to work as a mental picture. I've also been concentrating on lifting my knees more. When I do both I can run fairly easily at below a 9 min mile pace - now I just need to build up those muscles more so that I can do it for longer periods of time. The mix I end up doing in my long runs has me up just under 10 minute miles - which is still loads better than I've ever done in a race.

So I have high hopes for this race. Of being able to run the whole thing and run it well - without my body deciding to give out. I really like the energy in a race and I am counting on that pulling me through.

Keep me in mind on Sunday!

Atlanta here I come!

2007-03-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

Another month gone by - another half marathon coming up. :) I signed up for the ING Half Marathon in Atlanta on March 25. Should be fun - though it won't be the race I was hoping for, since I haven't really been training as much as I should have been. I've run a total of 8 times since my last post. Not so good.

I did get sick in that time, and I went skiing in Colorado with Brant and his family, which was good fun, but will not help in my race preparations! Thankfully I have gotten back on track. This weekend I ran a good 5.5 miles at a reasonable pace, so I think I can at least build up my legs enough to run in three weeks without killing myself. It just might not be the PR I was hoping for.

Nevertheless, I will continue to train and run. Oh, and I did sign up for the Nike Women's Marathon in October - crazily enough - the half marathon is already sold out. It pretty much sold out during preregistration. So, maybe all the friends I was trying to talk into going won't be able to go now. Though Team in Training will still have spots of course!

Anyway, so things are still going, I am back into the running. Again. :)

Just Running

2007-02-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

This week I've mostly just been running. On Monday I ran about three miles and concentrated on my stride. I've started imagining guidelines coming out of my body. One from the top of my head that goes all through my spine - that's to help me keep good posture throughout the run. Then I have wires coming out of my shoulders and hips - those help pull me forward - but keep my body square. Then I imagine pulling those lines in - like they're on a pulley - so every time my arms swing forward I pull in a bit more line. It really seems to help, especially when I'm getting tired.

The weather has been really nice - not cold, but not too hot yet. On Tuesday I ran another three miles. I meant to go out and run each one at about 10:30, but I headed out much faster than that - I finished the first mile in 9:48. So the next two were slower. I ended up averaging under 10:30, but it still wasn't the run I was aiming for. I had wanted just a nice, easy, steady run. So I need to work on controlling the run at the beginning, not heading out too fast, 'cause that wears me out quickly.

Yesterday I did a strange interval workout. It is one of the preset ones that came with my Garmin. So, I ran 2 minutes each in heart rate zone 1, 2 and 3. Then half a mile in zone 4 followed by 4 and a half minutes in zone two. The half mile and 4.5 minutes repeated for a total of 4 times, and then I finished with 2 minutes in zone 2 and 2 in zone 1.

It felt pretty good, but I ran into some of the same issues I had with the base running. If I go up anything that even resembles an incline - I have to drastically cut my speed to stay in the same zone and once I'm above the zone, it is very hard to drop back down. And then sometimes when I do drop back down - I let it drop too far.

It was also amazing to me that by the end - I had been out for about 51 minutes, but had barely run 4 miles!! Now, I was walking a fair bit. like those 4.5 minutes in zone 2, because there was no other way to get my heart rate into the right zone. But it still felt crazy. So I wondered again if the zones aren't quite correct for me. It just seems like it was supposed to feel much harder.

Anyway, today I'll go out and do an easy run, 'cause my legs have been feeling a bit tired and tight. Though I also haven't been stretching. I think the bigger issue though is that this is more running than I've done in a long time. I really want to be running 4-6 times a week though. And I really want to get better times in my races this year!

Base Miles

2007-02-02T14:16:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this whole base mile project has been a little crazy. After my last post I did a couple more base mile runs - they seemed to be better with the new heart rate zones, but I still felt like maybe I was doing something wrong. Then last Saturday I went out and did just a regular run. It felt so good to be running again! Actually stretching out my legs instead of keeping my stride small and tight.

However, I may have overextended myself a bit. I only ran three miles - and was pretty dead at the end. I did the whole run in just about 29 minutes. And maybe I'm not quite that fast again yet. I did sprint out the last little bit - to see if I could get it to change my max heart rate.

Then this week, I tried again with the base miles. On Monday I had an awesome run. I discovered through ITunes these mixes called Podrunner by dj steveboy. They are all about an hour long - and set to be a certain number of beats per minute. It's not the kind of music I would normally listen to, but since I am very beat driven - I thought I would try it out.

I used crazy logic that first day and decided that since I wanted my heart rate to be at a certain place - I'd pick a song with the same bpm. Only on my way back from the run did I realize that the beats per minute in the song were not referring to heartbeats - but would instead be how many steps per minute I took.

Nevertheless - it worked out. I had a great run - it was a lot of fun and I was able to handle things like inclines better. On other days - as soon as I hit anything resembling an incline - my heart rate would jump. I found I could keep my feet moving at the same pace and still wildly vary the amount of effort I was putting in. It was one of the best runs I've had. I actually felt like I was running - and my watch wasn't beeping at me constantly telling me that my heart rate was too slow or fast.

So then on Tuesday - my monitor reset its zones. So I was excited. Until I checked - it had just reverted them back to what they were before I reset them manually. Ugh. I decided to give it a shot. And the thing was going wonky. I had barely started and it was telling me I was above zone 5. So I said forget it - and just ran. Felt pretty good, and had fun with the podrunner.

Thursday I decided to work on speed a bit. I'd read in Runner's World that I am supposed to be aiming for about 180 foot falls per minute. So - I found a Podrunner that was at 172 (I think). Since I had been doing 154 - it would be a big jump. I also decided to run 4 miles instead of just three - or just for time. Maybe I shouldn't have done both on the same day.

It started out well - but got really hard. I ended up running 3 miles, walking half a mile, and then running in the last half mile to a 180 bpm mix. My legs were definitely more sore - so I think this is a good thing for me.

Today I think I was back to a 160something, but I don't really remember. I was going to do a base miles workout - but it seemed to slow - so I just ran again. I was really pretty tired. So I'm thinking I really do need to throw in recovery days where I can take it easy!!

Anyway, just under two weeks to finish fundraising for the Houston Half. Please donate!!

Looking forward to the new season - so far I have 7 mentees.

Houston Half Marathon

2007-01-23T13:35:00.000-08:00

Woohoo!! That's what I have to say about the Houston Half Marathon. My sister Suzuko came out and we ran together. I had so much fun. We finished right about where I thought we would - 2:33. It was a little slower than I think I could have done on my own - but then I wouldn't have gotten to run with my sister! Also - it is actually my best race time as of yet. So I'm thrilled.

We did intervals for most of the race, though sometimes we did a light jog instead of a walk. Basically we went with whatever Suzuko felt she should be doing. The last couple miles she decided she just needed to run - so we did that. A little after mile 12, Brant and my friend Jennifer were waiting with Samantha, and Suzuko did stop to give her daughter a hug. It was so cute. And for some reason my camera didn't take the picture. I got one of her running over there, but not one of the actual hug.

The weather was pretty much perfect too. It was in the 50s, and a bit misty, but never really raining, not too cold, and not too hot. Which was much better than the freezing rain they were predicting for a while.

The main thing that I learned from this race was that I love racing! It was like the miles just slipped by. Except for one point in time when I thought someone said that we were at mile 10, and then i looked at my watch and figured we were only at 9 and a half.

Other than that - I loved it. It makes the training worth it. So I've decided to do more races! I want to get semi-serious about this running thing - but not so much that it is no longer fun!

I am hoping to do the half ING Georgia which is in Atlanta at the end of March. Then I want to run the full Rock 'N' Roll in San Diego in June. Then I will run the full Nike Women's Marathon in San Fransisco in October. That's the plan so far for the year. I think it'll be a great year.

So I've started my new training this week. I decided to work on developing my base miles. This is because of an article in Runner's World that says base miles help. The way you get them is to run at 60-75% of your max heart rate.

Yesterday I took a guess - decided that meant I needed to run mostly in zone 3. So I did 5 minutes warm up and cool down in zone 2 and 20 minutes at zone 3. It was my first run since the race. It felt okay - a little slow. I came back here, and checked some things on my Garmin, and set it so that zone 3 really was supposed to be 60-75% of my max. I thought this would go much better.

I was wrong.

Today I had to go much slower! I'm pretty sure I could have walked faster than I was running. I don't think that was really the point of these base miles. As soon as I got back, I went to an online calculator and calculated out the zones again. I will try again tomorrow! Hopefully I'll actually get to run!

In other news - my friend here, Sarah, has signed up for the San Diego Rock 'N' Roll half marathon (only available to TNT participants). And in Tucson, Marisa and her sister signed up for the full. I'm so excited. It's going to be a great race! The summer season starts on February 10th. I'm excited to meet my new mentees!

New Year - New Results

2007-01-09T09:28:00.000-08:00

Okay, it's been such a long time since I've updated this - I'm not even going to bother with all the stats. I can tell you briefly that I went on a run on November 18th, December 2, 7, 9, 27, and 31st. On December 29th I went snowshoeing for the first time. That was fun. And much harder than I was expecting.

Anyway, I also did the mileage this past Saturday (Jan 6) but I walked most of it. I did run about a mile and a quarter with a girl on our team who runs pretty fast. It pretty much kicked my butt.

You may notice that that's not a lot of running over the past two months for someone who's doing a half marathon this Sunday. You would be right. One of the runs I did with my sister, so we sort of got an idea for each other's pace and for doing the intervals together. Except that we were running on snow and ice and dodging puddles and jumping over snow banks. So I'm glad that she gets here tomorrow. We're hoping to do two easy runs before Sunday. It should give us a better idea what we're actually going to be like in the race. Her knee was bugging her on Sunday - so there's always a chance we'll be walking a lot of the race, which is fine. We're just hoping to have fun!

Anyway, this year - I have bigger goals. I want to run two full marathons. And I want to run them faster than I ran my first one. Ideally, the second one this year will be faster than the first one, but I think the first one will be in San Diego and the second will be in San Fransisco - so those hills might have different ideas for me...Regardless, I am looking forward to this year. I am making running a priority. I am excited about it. And who knows - maybe I'll even keep this thing updated. I think I'll post a little less numbers here, 'cause I can keep track of all that nicely on my computer without having to bore anyone who might be attempting to struggle through this.

I'll keep this (hopefully) more interesting than just statistics.

Who Knew Buying a House took so much time?

2006-11-17T08:58:00.000-08:00

Well, that's my excuse anyway. We bought a house, moved, went to a wedding, I went to California to train for a new job. So yeah. Been busy. Not a lot of running. However - I am getting back into the swing of things. The new house is great - I can see the park from my front door. So it is a lot more convenient to go running. I even went twice this week. So - expect more postings. Or at least more running. Here's what I've done since the last update:

October 21:
6.82 miles in 1:25:26 I don't even really remember this run at all....
1. 11:52
2. 11:36
3. 12:09
4. 11:36
5. 11:48
6. 12:59
7. 13:23

The next week was the Saturday we moved. I actually did go to practice - but I was running it - so I didn't get a chance to actually run. I was making sure everyone else did their miles. Anyway, then we moved and then went to Tucson for Tyson and Marisa's wedding - which was wonderful. Then I went out to California. I did go to the gym once at least. Treadmilled for not very long at all - and then went and rowed. Was sore for days.

November 11:
9.02 miles in 1:37:09 - ran with Julie, one of the participants. I actually felt great, despite the lack of running recently. It was a really good run.
1. 10:23
2. 10:46
3. 11:02
4. 10:36
5. 11:09
6. 10:12
7. 10:45
8. 11:15
9. 10:57

November 14:
30:46 got in 2.80 miles. Not the best run. I had eaten ramen the night before, went to bed feeling dehydrated, didn't take water with me and didn't eat before I ran. Basically felt weak the whole time. However, it was my first morning run from the house - and that part was good.
The first mile I actually went out really fast - maybe too fast: 10:07
My second mile definitely caught up with that tired feeling: 11:31
and the last .8 miles took 9:06 which is an 11:20/mile pace.

November 16:
4.01 miles in 41:53. I was pretty happy with this run. Had salmon and wild rice and a salad that Brant made with cucumbers, tomatoes and red onion (no lettuce) for dinner the night before. Made sure I drank a lot more water, also had two bottle on my fuel belt. Ate half a Power Bar before leaving on the run. Felt much much much better.
1. 9:51
2. 10:34
3. 10:42
4. 10:41

I guess I still went out too fast. Though after that I was pretty consistent. Tomorrow we have ten miles on the agenda. Hopefully it'll be another good run. I'll make sure to drink lots of water and eat well today. It sure does make a difference!

Not so much running....

2006-10-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

Okay - so one reason I haven't written in a month is, of course - I'm a horrible blogger. The other reason though - is that I really haven't been doing that much running. Here's a brief recap. (Or, the plan is for it to be brief anyway.)

September 23: Ran with my Mentee Casey - the one who is 16. We started out just running, and went about .69 miles in 6:51. Then we switched to 5:1 intervals. We ran another 5.58 miles in 1:29:10 and then I bailed on him. Maybe I actually bailed somewhere in the middle there, and walked the rest. I kept the timer going so that we'd know how long it took him to do the whole course. Anyway, I hadn't gotten much sleep that night - I'd stayed up until 1 reading a book. :)

September 26: Ran at the track, by myself. Did what my GPS claims is 1.09 miles - 4 times around the track - in 10:38 for my warmup. Then I did a mile where I was sprinting the straights and going easy on the corners. Here's what I got:
1. 35 sec (this was actually just the rest part - my sprint got added to that first warmup bit)
2. 25 sec (43 sec rest)
3. 25 sec (48 sec rest)
4. 25 sec (50 sec rest)
5. 24 sec (52 sec rest)
6. 26 sec (1:19 sec rest - I think that's the one I had to retie my shoe)
7. 24 sec (57 sec rest)
8. 26 sec (55 sec rest)

Then I jogged another 1.05 miles (4 times around - not sure why the GPS is off for this - or if the track is really that much off!) in 12:04 for a cool down. I was really pretty happy that my sprints stayed pretty consistent. It would have been good if the rest times were a bit more consistent, but still, I was pretty happy with it.

September 30: Another long run. This trail is supposed to be 7 miles, though my watch tells me that I went 6.36 miles in 1:20:45. On this day - there was no water at the halfway point like there was supposed to be. I stopped and shared some of my water with people. I also walked a fair bit on the way back. Not one of my best runs.

October 2: Went 2.92 miles in 30:13. Did my first mile in 10:31, second mile in 10:21 and my last almost mile in 9:21. My goal that day had been to run for 30 minutes, so I accomplished that at least.

October 4: Brant and I went to a different park - and we even saw a deer!! We ran 2.18 miles in 21:04. I was feeling very tired that night. Even so, our first mile was in 9:59, our second mile was in 9:36 and the last .18 we sprinted at an 8:19/mile pace. I had wanted to go farther, but I was just exhausted. It was fun though - we actually ran together.

Then we went out of town to New York for Erin and Scott's wedding. Had a lot of fun and got to see my friend Sarah, who I taught English with in Japan. But definitely did no running. Even once I got home, I was having a hard time finding motivation. So my next run was this past Saturday.

October 14: Ran 6.59 miles in 1:20:07. Again, this bit is supposed to be 7 miles. I didn't do the entire run exactly, but it still seems like maybe the GPS is losing me in the trees. Anyway, ran with Allana and we had a good chat the whole way. We stopped for water both directions but didn't walk very much. All in all it was a pretty good run, except that on the way back my hip started to hurt - now, not the joint, but the muscles right above the hip socket. Not quite my butt, but my hip. It was really strange, and only on my right leg. It hurt most going up hills. Anyway, so I think it made me run funny, and by the end of 7 miles my other knee was feeling really stiff. So I stopped, even though we were supposed to run 8 miles.

Anyway, here's how we did on the miles.
1. 11:33
2. 11:55
3. 12:30
4. 12:33
5. 11:32
6. 12:29
7. 7:32 (that was the .59 miles)

And I have yet to run this week. Maybe tonight!

Too Many Numbers

2006-09-18T08:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe toys aren't good for me - because I just love all these numbers!! The good news is - the second run my new toy seemed all better. It told me I ran miles right where I thought it should. It seems to have a bit of a lag as far as knowing my pace and whether or not I'm moving - so when I turn around it seems to lose me for a little bit. Anyway, so here are my last few runs:

On Thursday Sept 7:
I did my first mile in 9:24 with a heartrate of 154bpm.
My second mile was 9:23 and 175bpm
Then I did a half mile (.51 to be exact) in 4:53 and 172bpm
So, I ran 2.51 miles is 23:41 with an average heartrate of 166bpm and a p:27/mile pace. I was pretty happy. It was a good run.

On Saturday September 9:
I ran 6.46 miles in 1:10:04 with an average of 167bpm and a 10:51/mile. I did walk a bit though!
So here's the breakdown. To start, I was running with this guy Logan from the Memorial training group. He wanted someone who ran around 10 minute miles, so that he didn't get lost. I said I was around there. He was definitely faster than I was! So we ran the first four miles together, but then he went on ahead - we had already turned around by then so he didn't need a guide anymore.
Anyway, so we did the first mile in 9:47 at 166bpm
mile 2: 9:34 at 173bpm
mile 3: 10:22 at 170bpm
mile 4: 10:40 at 167bpm
mile 5: 11:03 at 170 bpm
mile 6: 11:23 at 167bpm
then I started walking for the last .46 miles - I thought 6 was great for me that day. So the last bit I did in 7:14 (or a 15:51/mile pace) and my heart rate went back down to 155bpm.
Overall, I started out too fast, but I was happy to get in a good six miles.

On Tuesday the 12th I was holding track practice - but no one showed up. So I ran two laps for warmup and then I stretched. Then I decided that I would run hard on the straightaways and ease up on the curves. For some reason, once I started, I decided that actually I would sprint on the straights and then jog slower than I walk on the curves. I didn't remember to actually stop my watch, so I only know that I did the whole mile in 9:30 with an average heartrate of 170bpm. Then I walked two laps to cool down. It was a good workout.

On Thursday the 14th I ran 3.01 miles in 31:29 with an average of 165 bpm. I walked part of that though. And now that I'm doing this and looking at the calendar I realize - I had had my blood drawn that morning at 10:30. Maybe that had something to do with not feeling great? That and it was really hot and humid. Anyway:
mile 1: 9:20 at 156bpm
mile 2: 10:10 at 173bpm
mile 3: 11:48 at 167bpm (that's the mile I walked during)
Overall it felt really hard. I was tired and hot and yeah, just not feeling great.

On Saturday the 16th it was ridiculously hot and humid. By the end of the run my shorts were dripping, literally. It was pretty darn disgusting. So it was really hard. According to my watch I did 6.48 miles. According to the maps I supposedly did closer to 7. Who knows. I feel like my watch lost me for a bit on the trail, but maybe it didn't. I'm sure I'll be on that path again sometime! So I did the whole distance in 1:27:40 and 163bpm - but I walked the last two miles.
My goal for the long run was to run somewhere around 11/mile. They say you're supposed to train 1 to 1.5 minutes per mile slower than you would like to run the marathon. I'd love to run it at 9:30, but will be super happy with 10/miles too. So that puts my long run pace somewhere around 10:30-11:30/mile.
Anyway, here's the run:
mile 1: 10:48 at 165bpm
mile 2: 11:17 at 171bpm
mile 3: 11:50 at 168bpm
mile 4: 14:20 at 164bpm
mile 5: 15:31 at 159bpm
mile 6: 15:39 at 163bpm
.48 mile: 8:14 (17:10 pace) at 157bpm

I did also slow and talk to participants, so I wasn't unhappy with my first three or so miles. Then I just felt so tired and drained. I'm blaming it on the heat - and letting myself know that I'll do better next time!

New Toy!!

2006-09-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, so on Saturday I ran somewhere around 6 miles. The full marathon training was 6 miles and the half was four miles. Since I'm thinking of doing Disney the first weekend in January and the Houston the second week of January, I've been thinking maybe I should train closer to what the full marathon people are training. So I ran with them.

I did a little bit like I did last Saturday - running and walking with different people - but not as much. Mostly I ran at my pace. When the whole group is there - there are definitely people faster - though a few who are right around my pace - either a little ahead or behind, but no one right at my pace. Which is okay with me, though I like to be able to offer support as a mentor.

Anyway, I did run a fair bit with my youngest mentee - his name is Casey and he's 16. I know I sure didn't have crazy ideas like running a marathon when I was 16! Anyway, he's doing pretty well so far, though was definitely tired by the end and had slowed down a lot. We finished out the run together though.

I did walk a bit on Saturday, but overall, it was a good run.

But this had nothing to do with my new toy.

On Monday, Brant and I went to REI, and with the help of some duplicate items and a gift card - we got me a Garmin Forerunner 301. Now, I know the 305 is out now, but it's $150 more! And this one is fun enough. Monday I didn't run - but I did read my instruction manual. :)

On Tuesday, I held track practice for those of us on this side of town - and had one participant show up. So we went for our 20 minute run after a quick warm up and stretching. Since it was just the two of us, I ran with her. It was a slow, comfortable jog. I took my new toy with me, but I couldn't get it to find the satellites! So I just used it for time and heart rate.

We ran for 20 minutes and I had an average heart rate of 129 beats per minute.

So tonight I went out and tried again. It still couldn't find the satellites! So I was pretty bummed. But then I turned it off and tried again - this time answering one of the questions differently. First it says it's having trouble and asks if I'm indoors. Then it asks if I've moved hundreds of miles since the last time I used it, and then it asks if today is really September 6. So this time I answered that second question differently. I had been saying no - but then I realized - it probably had moved that far since they turned it on to check it at the factory!

And it found the satellites. No problem at all. However, I think it had a bit of trouble with the trail. I'm pretty darn positive that I only ran a little over 2 miles. I'll agree that I ran for 21:16, but I seriously disagree with it saying that I ran 2.59 miles!! There is just no way.

It's still kind of cool though. I had an average heartrate of 165 and a max of 192. (It will apparently learn my heartrate so that it knows what my max rate is and what my range is for the various zones - but to do that you have to get your heart rate way up - so I sprinted at the end.) It says that I burned 202 calories.

It also says that my first mile took me 7:44, which is just laughable, because I wasn't going very hard at the beginning at all. It says I burned 75 calories in that mile and had a heart rate of 151 bpm. It says my best pace was 8:59/mile. (Does that even make sense?? If that was my best pace - how did I ever do a mile in *less* time than that??)

My second mile got my total time up to 14:53 - so another 7 minutes, basically. Again, laughable. 63 calories this time, 173 bpm and a best pace of 8:27/mile.

The third little bit (which it claims was .59 miles) got my total time to 21:16 and burned me another 64 calories. I was at 175 bpm with a best pace of 6:21/mile and an average pace of 10:45. Or maybe that's when it predicted I'd complete the mile? Not really sure - still learning this thing!!

Anyway, I'm still really happy with it, and am hoping that it will get a bit better about the whole distance thing. Maybe on stretches where it's not quite so tree-lined it will do a better job.

In any case - I'm really excited to have the heart rate monitor part, so that I can be more specific in my training. So, I'm very excited about my new toy. I'll try not to get too number happy!

Best Run Ever

2006-09-06T17:16:00.000-07:00

So last week I had my best run ever. Well, my best timed mile run ever anyway.

First a quick recap of last week: This time around - our schedule has us running four days a week. So I ran my 20 minute runs on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Each run got progressively better. On Monday I ran 20 minutes - and made it back to my starting location, but was under 2 miles by a little bit. Wednesday I made it back to the start - and was just over 2 miles. Thursday I was just over 2 miles - and made it past my starting point. That's cool 'cause it means I'm finally getting better at pacing. Instead of heading out too fast and burning out - I'm easing into it and finishing stronger than I start. So I like that.

Tuesday we had our track night - and did a timed mile. So we went, warmed up and then stretched, and then we ran a mile. And timed it. First the excuses. I decided to eat dinner on the way to the track. So I had the Chicken Sandwich Combo at Chick-fil-A. This was not the smartest idea I've ever had. The last two laps of my run my stomach was not happy with me at all. Also it was hot.

Okay, so now onto the good part. If you've been reading this from the beginning - you know that the fastest mile I've ever done is around a 9 minute mile. And I normally run my miles more in the 10-12 minute mile range. So, I was super thrilled to run my mile in 8:21!!

I've pretty much felt cool ever since. :)

Disney Here I Come!

2006-08-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

First thing's first:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntnmep/tntnmepSGrow
http://www.active.com/donate/tnttxgc/hana_chan

Suzuko and I are both fundraising for Team in Training for the Disney World Half Marathon. If you can - please help us out!

I missed the deadline to sign up for the Disney half, so, I'm going with Team in Training.

Anyway, pretty much I didn't run at all near the wedding. I may have gone once since I last posted. And then I went home on August 3, and didn't work out at all. The wedding went great - you can go to www.brantandhanako.com for pictures and more info.

Then we went to Kauai. We had a blast, went deep sea fishing, scuba diving, on a helicopter tour - and we did kayak 17 miles along the Na Pali coast. So I did a little bit of exercising that day! Though it was a double kayak - and I think I let Brant do more of the work than I did....

Anyway, we got back on August 20th. On Tuesday the 22nd I went to my first practice with this season's participants. It was a track night, so we did a warm up, some stretching, and then just ran for 20 minutes. I started out at my pace and realized two things - one - no one was anywhere near my pace, and two - I could potentially catch up with and run with the fastest guy there - George, who happens to be my mentee.

So I sprinted and caught up with him. We ran together for maybe about a lap. And then I was done with that pace! So then I shuffled along with some other participants and did some intervals too. Mostly just trying to get to know people. It was nice to be out running again though. Then on Thursday I went out and did 20 minutes - not quite making it two miles. I pushed much harder on the first mile than the second - and didn't even make it back to my starting place. I'll blame it on the heat and humidity.

Saturday I have no idea how far I went. I did some intervals with a participant (Patty) for the first mile. We ran a total of four minutes and walked the rest. Then we kept walking for a bit over half a mile. By this time, George was on his way back - so I turned and ran with him for probably about a quarter of a mile. Maybe almost a half. Turned around with some walkers. Turned around with a runner. Turned around with some intervalers. Turned around with a runner. Turned around with some walkers and finally turned around with a runner. Her pace was right at the top of my walking pace - so I walked back with her. Anyway, each time I was with the people for somewhere between a quarter and a half mile. But I was walking big chunks of that. Again, it felt good to be back outside again, moving. Even though it was pretty hot.

Then we had a team breakfast, where everyone got to meet Donna Pitlik - the honored teammate of all my mentees. She's a great woman - I met her in my first season of TNT. What's neat about her is that she was diagnosed some 12+ years ago. And given 3 years to live. She's gone on various experimental drugs that all helped - but she grew resistant to them. Towards the end of my first season, she went on a new research drug. And finally started seeing chromasomal changes. She went from having 0 good chromasomes (out of the 20 they test) to having all 20 be good. She really is a testament to why we're doing this. Without the money that we raise for research and the research drugs - Donna would not be here. No question about it. So that was really neat and inspiring.

Back to running - I went out yesterday for 20 minutes. It was really hot and humid. However, I did much better with my pacing - and even though I was just shy of 2 full miles - I did at least manage to get back to my starting point - so at least I didn't lag that second ten minutes! Tonight I'll go again. They changed the training schedule from 3 days during the week to 4. So I'll aim for that!

In other news, Brant and I are starting to look for a house. We're hoping to get one even closer to the park. Ah to roll out of bed and be able to go running....

Treadmill...

2006-07-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, so another month has gone by. And I really couldn't tell you how I've done each week. I can tell you that I did not get out running as much as planned. And I switched to running on the treadmill in the mornings - which for some reason I find ridiculously more difficult than running outside. I did do the following runs:

on June 21. It was approximately 2.5 miles - though I was estimating part of it. Here are my half mile splits:
1. 5.37.58
2. 6.00.10
3. 6.17.02
4. 6.34.97
5. 6.12.99

on June 29
1. 5.32.52
2. 5.17.13
3. 5.37.28
4. 5.39.51
5. 5.51.66
6. 5.48.68

on July 14
1. 4.42.95
2. 4.19.35
3. 4.46.63
4. 5.09.34
5. 5.16.52
6. 4.54.28

Okay - and now that I'm looking at my splits I think I know why the treadmill is wearing me out so much - I'm running faster on it. You can tell that my July workout is much better than the other two in June. Well - on the treadmill I've been making myself run a 6mile/hour pace - or flat 5 minutes per half mile. Well - apparently, I wasn't actually at that fitness level yet....it has been helping me though! So that's good news. Now I just need to keep it up more consistently. Last week I think I only went 1 or maybe 2 times.

I did go this morning - and actually ran some of my run at 6.2 miles/hour because I was feeling pretty good - but I didn't run a full three miles - so maybe I was pushing myself a bit too hard.

Anyway, since the last time I posted - we did go camping over the Fourth of July weekend - that was fun. We went tubing down the Guadalupe river - though this year the water's kind of low - so it took us about 5 hours - and that was paddling a good chunk of the way. My arms were sore after that, but it was fun.

Other than that - we've been getting ready for the wedding and working and whatnot. In a week and a half I head off to NM and in just under three weeks we get married. Kind of crazy - but I'm excited.

Oh, and I'm going to mentor again - for the winter season. First practice is actually the day of my wedding - so I'm going to miss that one and the next one. The mentees will be training for either the Houston marathon or half, PF Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon or half in Phoenix, or the full or half at Disney. The current plan is for me to do the Disney half with Suzuko (and whoever else I can draft into coming with us - so far at least Kathryn and Mead) and then I am thinking I might do the Houston half the next weekend.

So that's what's up here these days...

Running Again!!

2006-06-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, so let's see - to recap: All of the TNT people have now completed their marathons. Woohoo!! We're having a get together next weekend to see how everyone did. The weekend we went to Colorado - on Saturday we started a 10 mile hike. 1.7 miles from the end (there was a sign there) we had already been walking through knee deep snow for a bit. We decided to turn around - Brant was in shorts and besides - we wanted to meet up with some friends. But that was fun. Sunday was the wedding which was fun - got to see a lot of friends from high school.
The next week I still had my sore throat - and pretty much no voice. I didn't work out all week - I wanted to be healthy to go to Minnesota!! So on June 3rd we left for Minnesota. On Sunday we drove to the Boundary Waters, and Monday we started our trip. We would paddle, then portage, then paddle then portage. Apparently we had a pretty rough route - long portages and whatnot, but it was good fun. Though carrying a really heavy bag on those portages pretty much made me feel like I'd been doing squats all day...
Anyway, so Monday we paddled, Tuesday we paddled and met up with Brant's uncles, cousin, and some family friends. We stayed at that camp site the next day - so Wednesday I mostly hung out - though we did paddle over to their campsite and back for dinner. They made wonderful fish! (Walleye mostly, though a little Bass.) On Thursday we all headed over to another lake and to a couple more campsites. I was really tired by that day - and the paddling made me a bit grumpy. I was really happy when we got to the campsite. More great fish for dinner.
Friday we paddled a short distance over to a couple other lakes (plus two small portages) and went fishing. I caught 2 Bass and 3 Walleye. It was pretty fun. We only kept two of my Walleye. That night we had so much fish because everyone was catching a ton. Then on Saturday we paddled back towards where we had been on Tuesday and Wednesday night and were picked up. We took a motor boat and then a float plane to get back to our cars.
All in all it was a great trip - it was really beautiful up there. The bugs weren't too terrible, and the weather was pretty much perfect. It did rain one night - and we briefly got hit another day - but mostly it was just great. I was really tired by the end of the week though!!
So then we were back here and for a week I did nothing.
Last week I started going to the gym again. I got in three workouts - all on the elliptical machine. Yesterday morning I did the elliptical and did some lifting for my upper body. Then last night I actually went running!
It was really hot, and it's been forever, so I only ran two miles. My first .5 miles was 5.21.35, my second was 5.34.95, my third 5.58.15 and my last one says 7.31.28 - but that's misleading - I was stopped on the trail and was answering some girl's questions about the park and how far it was on the trail and whatnot. But I was definitely getting slower as the run went on. It really was hot though!!
This morning I got up and did the bike for 30 minutes. Today my hamstrings are ridiculously sore. Today it's not very humid - so I'm hoping that my run tonight goes better! My plan is to run three times a week. And still do 3-5 workouts in the morning. I am feeling pretty good so far! We'll see how I feel by the end of the week....

Busy Busy

2006-05-26T12:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, so that week and the next I didn't run. I did go to the gym at least 4 times each week. This week, however, I only went yesterday. Over the weekend I was in New Mexico for a friend's wedding, a bridal shower for me, and a lot of wedding details. Then when I got back on Monday I got to see Brant for the first time in a month. So, I went to the gym yesterday morning, and then I felt sick during the day - so today I didn't go since I still seem to have a sore throatand a bit of a headache.

Today we go to Colorado for another friend's wedding this Sunday. The plan is to go to Rocky Mountain National Park tomorrow - so hopefully I'll at least get some walking/hiking in! Sunday we're going to the wedding, and Monday we're heading back here. Then I plan to go to the gym next week.

On June 3, we leave for Minnesota. We're going canoeing in the Boundary Waters. So then I'll definitely get some exercise!

I feel bad though - the 21 miler was the last run I was at. The San Deigo runners still had two practices left before their marathon next Sunday (June 4th). The Alaska marathoners have their 21 mile run this week, and then two weeks after that - and we won't make any of those practices! So I feel like we totally fell off the mentoring wagon here at the end.

Lazy

2006-05-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I didn't run on Wednesday. Thursday I went to the gym, but Friday I skipped. And I went out to dinner Thursday night and Friday night and went out to lunch on Friday! And then on Saturday I went to practice - and didn't run, not even a little bit. We were planning the 21 mile run, which takes place next Saturday. I probably won't run that week either.

So, I am hoping that this week I am less lazy. That's the plan anyway. I plan to do my workouts - and to get in at least two runs! It really has been hot though, which sucks motivation like nothing else does. I figure though, if ever, any year I want to do the Nike half or full in October I will have to get used to training in the summer.

Plus, surely it's good for me. I mean, maybe I don't train as long or as hard, but the heat and humidity add a degree of difficulty all on their own. Surely it has some advantages - kind of like training at altitude or something.

Who knows.

Another Week

2006-05-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

I did get in a run last Monday - I did 30 minutes and almost 3 miles. I would have been happier if I'd actually done the full three, but considering how hot it was, and how much I haven't been running, I was happy. I meant to get out a few more times that week, but it didn't happen. I did do the eliptical on Tuesday and Thursday, and the bike on Wednesday. Friday I slept in about half an hour and so I didn't do anything.

Then I went to Dallas for the weekend. I didn't exercise at all. Got home Monday night. So yesterday I woke up and went to work out. For the first time there were people there before me! But it seems to have been a fluke - I was the first one in again today. In fact, today I was the only one there the whole time. Did the bike yesterday and eliptical today. I was going to run tonight, but I don't know if that will really happen. It's been so hot! So maybe I will add treadmill into my morning routines instead. Though I think it'll be much harder to read a book...