It has been gorgeous in Seattle for the past couple days, I finally got out my bike tonight.
I'd been daydreaming all day about getting down to the trail and cruising along in the sunshine so after work I spend a few minutes in the gym getting a quick weight workout and then I impatiently drove to downtown Bothell to start spinning my out of season legs.
I haven't bought a bike computer so I decided to throw on my Garmin and also keep track of my heart rate. The sun was incredible. Although, my bike definitely needs a tune up. I've finally put enough miles on it that the cables need to be checked.
Anyway, I decided a quick out and back would be good for today. Just after my turnaround point a guy pulled up next to me and then ahead so I decided to drop in and draft off him for a bit. I was in a pretty tough gear and keeping my cadence lower than his and keeping up without a problem. After a few miles I pulled ahead of him and he dropped in after me for a few miles. He finally pulled up next to me and said, "you're like drafting off a toothpick!" Probably the funniest thing I've heard while riding in a long time. So, we started talking, he asked me about Ironman and my Cervelo P2C- said it looked like a perfect fit for me. Which was awesome to hear since I had some trouble getting fitted since my legs are so long and my torso so short. Turns out Jeremy just moved here from MN and works not too far from me. We ended our ride and I headed home. Hopefully I'll run into him again down there. He was about my pace and could be a good riding buddy. Unfortunately, he also looks like 75% of the guys out there on the trail so hopefully I'll be able to recognize him. He's got one up on me on that, my bike is kind of obvious and he pointed out my M-dot on my leg.
Anyway, it wound up being 17 mile ride and my average heart rate was 136 for the 58 minutes I rode. I'm definitely not ready for my first sprint tri of the season this coming Saturday. Eek!!
4/5/09
taking days off
When I started training again this summer I told myself that I would always take at least one day off from training and be lazy. I figured Saturday would be the best day for that while I got things with my schedule all figured out. And now, I'm starting to think that's a bad idea. I took yesterday off (partly because I had a wedding to go to in the afternoon) and the entire day I kept asking myself why I didn't drag myself out. The weather was gorgeous!!
Well, I went from the wedding down into the city since a friend of mine was in town and I promised him I'd go out for drinks and dancing. It stayed pretty low-key but we were hanging out in Seattle until 4:30am!! So, I got home a little after 5- just in time to fall asleep and awake shortly after at sunrise and I was starving! Needless to say, I did nothing all day. I laid on the couch and watched terrible tv and movies. And now I'm really mad because I should be training much harder than I have been. Just looking at pictures, I can see how out of shape I still am. The 70.3 I did in 2007 and Ironman last summer got me into amazing shape.
To top it all off, it was 70 degrees in Seattle today! I didn't go for a bike ride, or a run. Ugh. Okay, I need to go turn off whatever Country music award show it is that I'm watching and get myself ready for weights in the AM
Well, I went from the wedding down into the city since a friend of mine was in town and I promised him I'd go out for drinks and dancing. It stayed pretty low-key but we were hanging out in Seattle until 4:30am!! So, I got home a little after 5- just in time to fall asleep and awake shortly after at sunrise and I was starving! Needless to say, I did nothing all day. I laid on the couch and watched terrible tv and movies. And now I'm really mad because I should be training much harder than I have been. Just looking at pictures, I can see how out of shape I still am. The 70.3 I did in 2007 and Ironman last summer got me into amazing shape.
To top it all off, it was 70 degrees in Seattle today! I didn't go for a bike ride, or a run. Ugh. Okay, I need to go turn off whatever Country music award show it is that I'm watching and get myself ready for weights in the AM
4/2/09
it's April???
Well, here it is the 2nd of April and typical to Seattle we had snow yesterday!!! And then a lot of rain today. Eek. My running buddies of recent days decided to stay inside where it was warmer and drier- but not I! I headed outside for a gentle six mile run amidst a complete downpour. Stretching in the rain waiting for my Garmin to sync up to the satellites I wondered if it was a good idea. It turned out to be a GREAT idea. Just over two miles in, I turned and was facing the rush hour traffic that was just sitting waiting for lights to change and I started laughing. Out loud. Very loudly. I couldn’t contain my giggles! Does this happen to anyone else ever? Random rain laughter? I hope it does, it’s one of the best feelings you could get during a run!
Anyway, I've been having pretty good runs lately. Or at least good company while running. Minor, Jacque, Chris and I have been together pretty regularly. A week or so ago I took them on a very wet and muddy four mile run and I thought they would kill me. Jacque is such a good sport that we dropped off the guys at work and she continued for a couple more miles with me. I feel like my friendships with Minor and Jacque are a bit different then they would be if we didn't get a chance to run together. Sometimes we all run in silence, each hurting and lost in our own thoughts. Other days we seem energized and are talking over eachother, joking and jumping in front of eachother. It's amazing how easy it is to talk though. The words just come out and they seem a lot more honest and heartfelt.
For someone who loves to run alone with her own thoughts, this is definitely a change of pace. But very welcomed.
On the other hand, I hurt. I hope it's just shin splints. That's a weird thing to hope for- shin splints, but it's better than the alternative. Stress fractures. I've dealt with both more than once. Tibial stress fractures is something that gives me nightmares and strikes fear into my core at the slightest uncomfortable twinge. I then start to worry- probably over nothing. But, in 2006 I was finally 'diagnosed' with a tibial stress on a Thursday. I was flying to CA the next day to run my first marathon. Except I didn't. I was crushed. It's a really hard to remember that week. But, I definitely use myself as an example for my buddies who are training too hard.
Anyway, I've been having pretty good runs lately. Or at least good company while running. Minor, Jacque, Chris and I have been together pretty regularly. A week or so ago I took them on a very wet and muddy four mile run and I thought they would kill me. Jacque is such a good sport that we dropped off the guys at work and she continued for a couple more miles with me. I feel like my friendships with Minor and Jacque are a bit different then they would be if we didn't get a chance to run together. Sometimes we all run in silence, each hurting and lost in our own thoughts. Other days we seem energized and are talking over eachother, joking and jumping in front of eachother. It's amazing how easy it is to talk though. The words just come out and they seem a lot more honest and heartfelt.
For someone who loves to run alone with her own thoughts, this is definitely a change of pace. But very welcomed.
On the other hand, I hurt. I hope it's just shin splints. That's a weird thing to hope for- shin splints, but it's better than the alternative. Stress fractures. I've dealt with both more than once. Tibial stress fractures is something that gives me nightmares and strikes fear into my core at the slightest uncomfortable twinge. I then start to worry- probably over nothing. But, in 2006 I was finally 'diagnosed' with a tibial stress on a Thursday. I was flying to CA the next day to run my first marathon. Except I didn't. I was crushed. It's a really hard to remember that week. But, I definitely use myself as an example for my buddies who are training too hard.
3/22/09
Isn't it supposed to be spring??
It's the end of March and I'm still waiting on some springlike weather. Last Sunday's St Paddy's Dash did a number on me. It was so cold and snowy and gross. All three of us had the same finish time- woohoo!!! Although, it was rather slow :(
Anyway, I spent the entire rest of the day on the couch alternating between freezing and overheating.
Had a couple good runs outside this week with the "running crew". Jacque, Minor and Chris from work, and I, have been doing 3 or 4 milers after work. They are all doing so well, I'm really excited for them to all run their first Half Marathon in June. I'm not so excited for me to run my fourth marathon.
I'm exhausted. Mentally and physically. I think I'm going to talk to my boss about changing my work schedule so I can come in later and get part of my workout done in the morning. Eating dinner at 8:30 isn't cutting it anymore.
Oh, and I got a new pair of running shoes. Under Armour released their first running shoe in January and I'm trying them out. A couple miles on the treadmill on Friday and 6.5 today outside. I'll have a better report on them in a couple days. So far, not too shabby though.
Anyway, I spent the entire rest of the day on the couch alternating between freezing and overheating.
Had a couple good runs outside this week with the "running crew". Jacque, Minor and Chris from work, and I, have been doing 3 or 4 milers after work. They are all doing so well, I'm really excited for them to all run their first Half Marathon in June. I'm not so excited for me to run my fourth marathon.
I'm exhausted. Mentally and physically. I think I'm going to talk to my boss about changing my work schedule so I can come in later and get part of my workout done in the morning. Eating dinner at 8:30 isn't cutting it anymore.
Oh, and I got a new pair of running shoes. Under Armour released their first running shoe in January and I'm trying them out. A couple miles on the treadmill on Friday and 6.5 today outside. I'll have a better report on them in a couple days. So far, not too shabby though.
3/14/09
St. Patty's Dash
Jacque and Major talked me into doing the St Patty's Dash tomorrow!! It's supposed to be rainy and cold in Seattle tomorrow. Yay! We've got our green gear and are ready to go.
3/8/09
*cough-cough*
I've got the cold that just will not go away! It's been about a month now and every time I think I'm getting better I either get a ridiculous cough or a runny nose, and lazy.
Friday I had decided that I would finally make my return appearance to spinning class. Eric let me know that it was at 8:30 Saturday morning, so I made sure to get to bed early on Friday (after seeing Watchmen). I got to the gym at 7:50 and the class was already full. I knew it was a popular class but that's just crazy. I guess they allow 8 slots to be filled up to a week early by pre-paying one dollar. I can kind of see how that might be a good thing during the week with traffic always so crazy- but really! On a Saturday morning??
My spinning buddies got there at 7:30 and were the last two on the list. I hit up the stair machine, saw a co-worker and chatted for a few minutes and then hopped on the treadmill hoping someone wouldn't show up for class. And Hooray!!! At 8:33 Eric came out and told me there was a free bike. Instructor Rick is pretty strict and insists on people being on time, so even if the tardy person had shown up, he may not have let them in. Well, it was pretty apparent that I hadn't been in awhile. But at the end it felt soooo great. Looks like I'm going to be getting myself up on Saturdays now for spinning. Woohoo!
Friday I had decided that I would finally make my return appearance to spinning class. Eric let me know that it was at 8:30 Saturday morning, so I made sure to get to bed early on Friday (after seeing Watchmen). I got to the gym at 7:50 and the class was already full. I knew it was a popular class but that's just crazy. I guess they allow 8 slots to be filled up to a week early by pre-paying one dollar. I can kind of see how that might be a good thing during the week with traffic always so crazy- but really! On a Saturday morning??
My spinning buddies got there at 7:30 and were the last two on the list. I hit up the stair machine, saw a co-worker and chatted for a few minutes and then hopped on the treadmill hoping someone wouldn't show up for class. And Hooray!!! At 8:33 Eric came out and told me there was a free bike. Instructor Rick is pretty strict and insists on people being on time, so even if the tardy person had shown up, he may not have let them in. Well, it was pretty apparent that I hadn't been in awhile. But at the end it felt soooo great. Looks like I'm going to be getting myself up on Saturdays now for spinning. Woohoo!
3/3/09
Is my Garmin lazy?
I've gotten sick again. I was feeling kinda crappy towards the end of last week, and then spent Saturday afternoon, evening and all of Sunday on the couch watching lame tv. Yesterday I went into work late because I just needed more sleep. Nighttime cold meds are the devil! They do not help you sleep, they just make you toss and turn and have horrible dreams!
So, tonight after work, I really needed a good workout. I decided to run outside. Jacque and Minor (two friends from work, who have become outside of work friends too) asked if they could come with me. I warned them that I'd be slow and probably coughing up phlegm, but I'd love to have them along! We wound up running 3.2 miles around the business park across the street. It was great to have people to run with! I've never really had that option. Jacque, Minor and I talked and joked the entire time and decided we need to do that at least once a week to change it up and stay motivated.
However, when I came home tonight, I tried to upload the data from my Garmin to my PC and I keep getting an error that it cannot communicate with my PC and to check the connections. Well, I double checked the cord, and it works fine. The Garmin itself is still logging data- it's just that connection between device and PC. Ugh!!! I don't want to lose my data! Luckily, I only have one run not uploaded, but still!
I was looking forward to another run tomorrow (supposed to have snow by the weekend?!??!) maybe I'll have to swim- everyone knows I could definitely work on that!
So, tonight after work, I really needed a good workout. I decided to run outside. Jacque and Minor (two friends from work, who have become outside of work friends too) asked if they could come with me. I warned them that I'd be slow and probably coughing up phlegm, but I'd love to have them along! We wound up running 3.2 miles around the business park across the street. It was great to have people to run with! I've never really had that option. Jacque, Minor and I talked and joked the entire time and decided we need to do that at least once a week to change it up and stay motivated.
However, when I came home tonight, I tried to upload the data from my Garmin to my PC and I keep getting an error that it cannot communicate with my PC and to check the connections. Well, I double checked the cord, and it works fine. The Garmin itself is still logging data- it's just that connection between device and PC. Ugh!!! I don't want to lose my data! Luckily, I only have one run not uploaded, but still!
I was looking forward to another run tomorrow (supposed to have snow by the weekend?!??!) maybe I'll have to swim- everyone knows I could definitely work on that!
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