shake your derrière

i came across this article on monday and it was a little frightening. granted you have to take men's health magazine for what it's worth, but still - it definitely inspired me to get up and move more often throughout the day at work. i am pretty sure i have "caught" the chair-butt disease from my desk job (you know, where your butt starts to fill out the chair).

in further derrière news: tonight is the victoria's secret fashion show. yes, those women could afford to eat a hippopotamus or two, i won't deny it. i still love watching it though. i *used* to practice walking around in high heels like i, too, was prancing down the runway in my underpants with enormous wings on (except i had clothes on over my underpants and no wings of course). i'll see you there - 10/9 central on cbs; i'll bring the water, you bring the ex-lax?

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november 2010
total mileage: 128.08
time spent running: 18:11:25
days off: 12
abs/yoga: 11 ab workouts/4 yoga sessions
avg temp: 59.52*

november goals: A
30-min everyday: 29/30, A
bike: 64.55/90mi, C+
tempo runs: 4mi, 5mi, extra credit for 6mi, A+ (no extra credit)
speed work: 6x800, 3x1600, A+
long runs: 12mi, 13mi, A+
abs: 12/15, B+
yoga: 4/5, A
weights: 7/7, A+

i wish i had been better about getting out and biking this month, but i was wimpy about 50 degree weather on the bike. i squeezed in one last "ride" today on the trainer during the flash-flooding and tornado watch (not like i was gonna get out for a run). afterwards, i had some pretzels dipped in chocolate-mint gu. not quite the supermodel diet but it was actually pretty good.

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on the mend

thanks for all the nice comments on my "running-nose"! i pretty much slept all afternoon/evening with the exception of waking up at 9pm to watch "the event" - the one tv show i watch via rabbit ears. as any guy would - josh just looooves not having cable. he's been campaigning for a year or so now. i don't watch much tv (or care to) so i've never bothered to get it.

anyway, i still didn't feel great tuesday morning, but after taking a cat nap on my desk at work (and waking up with my shoes off?!?) i felt slightly better. good enough to not-skip another 30-minutes at least, and i went for a short, easy run in the evening.

tuesday (10/26) pm run: 4.10 miles, 37:28 (avg pace 9:08), 78*

and now for a slightly belated look at last week -- it was a good one with improvement all around.

week in review (10/18 - 10/24)
total miles: 30.90
time spent running: ~ 4 hrs 35 mins
avg pace: 8:55
off days: 3

• mon: early morning 9.5mi
• tue: early morning 6mi
• wed: yoga and abs
• thu: 800's after work
• fri: bike "speed work" - 10.75mi, 15.5mph
• sat: weights and abs
• sun: long run 10mi

monday and tuesday my old running partner was in town so i met up with her in the early mornings. i tried to keep the streak going the rest of the week, but failed at waking up with my 5am alarm. friday afternoon i decided to try a bike workout recommended by kevin. it was basically a bike-fartlek - 5min hard, 5min easy. when i got back i decided to re-read his email, turns out he had suggested 5x1min reps... no wonder it was so hard.

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another week

(one of those days where thinking of a title is too hard)

i've known for awhile that i didn't want to run boston in 2011, so i left my spot open for someone else. you can thank me later. i still think everyone is crazy for bum-rushing the website and filling up all the race slots in like 8 hours! cray-z. congrats to everyone who got a slot, your re-typing and re-submitting skills are amazing! (eta: don't take me too seriously, i'm not mocking anyone. just the ridiculousness that is marathon registration. i am, of course, very proud of all my marathoners)

i saw this post recently (from a local cycling team) about the power of our thoughts. i wanted to share it and remind all the boston-registrants, bq-hopefuls and everyone in between to believe in yourselves. it'll pay off with patience, just ask aron. :o)

last week i kept my 30-min streak going, and even slightly (finally) bumped up the mileage from 20 to 24. baby steps. i fulfilled one of my tempo runs, and got in a 2.5-hr ride on saturday afternoon through the countryside in between working on house projects - see photos below (pardon the crappy iphone quality). i got chased by three dogs at the vineyard but all the drivers were polite, or at least they didn't try to run me off the road this time.

vineyard to the right

vineyard to the left

bull in a field

stumbled upon a private airstrip

plane and hangar on said private runway

week in review (10/11 - 10/17)
total miles: 24.20
time spent running: ~ 3 hrs 38 mins
avg pace: 9:00
off days: 2

• mon: easy 5mi on the golf course
• tue: 2.5mi tempo
• wed: weights
• thu: easy-ish 7.25mi after work
• fri: easy 3.6mi in the afternoon
• sat: bike ride - 33.25mi at about 13.7mph
• sun: easy but 'off' 4mi in the afternoon

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bike bonk

sunday late-morning i dragged josh out the door for a bike ride. it's my birthday week, so i coerced him into a long ride. i imagine you're supposed to gradually move up with biking distance just like running because i bonked hard long before the ride was over.

recent bike rides:
7/11 - 27mi
8/29 - 10mi
9/5 - 21mi
9/12 - 46mi, totally normal progression right? i certainly don't do this with my running...

we rode a nice little 46-ish miler through the countryside with rolling hills. i did pretty well on the hills in the first half with dropping down the gears (like you all recommended) and pedaling steady, but eventually i just plain got tired and even the "granny gear" felt hard. i took a gu at mile 15ish, devoured a pack of gu chomps at mile 27ish, and took my only other gu at mile 29ish because i felt myself turning in spaghetti. unfortunately we were out in the middle of nowhere and there wasn't even a fruit stand, let alone a gas station, to grab a snack. we did ride through a vineyard and the smell of grapes was delicious. i was semi-tempted to stop, but warm grapes still aren't very appealing even in mid-bonk.

fellow biking friends, what do you fuel with and how often do you 'eat' on a ride?

sunday (9/12) ride: 46.5 miles, 3:36:25 (~12.9 mph), avg hr (151), 88*
initially i had thoughts of making this another brick, but i barely had energy to unlock the door. i did do yoga after i had something to eat, if bike+yoga counts as a brick. i might also count it as a lifting because there were so many chaturanga dandasanas that my arms are sore. i also feel like adding a disclaimer to make my avg speed not sound so bad - i just have basic platform pedals, not fancy clips or cleats. i'm telling myself that part of my slowness is from not being able to pull up on the upstroke.

week in review (9/6 - 9/12)
total miles: 38.35 (50 planned)
time spent running: ~ 6 hrs 14 mins
avg hr: 162.00
avg pace: 9:45/mile
off days: 2

running wasn't too exciting this week. technically i did a "speed" workout - 4 minutes hard/3 minutes easy for about 4 miles, but my 'hard' didn't seem very fast. once again i took an unscheduled lazy day early in the week and biked instead of ran on sunday so i was a little short on miles. i felt tired most of the week (not sure why) and my runs were sluggish.

september goals:

• lift 8 times (...erm. workin' on it. sorta)
• do core at least 12 times (2x)
• do yoga 4 times (1x)
• go for 3 bike rides (2x)
• do 5 speed workouts (1x)
• run 10+ miles 7 times (per training plan) (2x)
• run 150 miles (62.35)
• get my sleepy butt back in a morning-run routine with at least 6 early morning runs

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my first brick went a little like this

elevation from bike

my diaper shorts were calling to me again, as was the gorgeous weather so i went out for a bike ride sunday afternoon. i did a 10+ mile loop twice and negative split the laps (~43min for the first lap, ~41min for the second). i need some advice for hill-climbing though. i down shift (usually from 3/6 left/right to 2/3, i have a 21-speed commuter) and still feel like i'd be better off if i hopped off the bike and walked it up the hill. according to garmin the biggest hill is about 160ft climb, which just doesn't seem like it should whoop my butt?

i knew before i went out for the bike ride that i wanted to try and make it a brick. i wanted to see what the brick business was all about and i haven't exactly ran my miles this week. i'd be short on miles, but at least i'd get in a good workout.

i had a nice little headache going before i went out, so i made sure to drink a lot of water on the bike (a few gulps every 2 miles or so) and took a vanilla gingerbread gu after the first lap (~11 miles). when i got back to the house, i quickly changed out of my biking shorts and into some running ones, had a sip of gatorade and headed back out for a run. it had gotten a bit warmer (80-81) and i probably should have had another gu or something before going out for the run. my legs were spaghetti, but that was expected. i never found a rhythm and definitely bonked on the run. i could not wait to get home and make a smoothie.

sunday (9/5) bike: 21.25 miles, 1:24:43 (~15mph), avg hr 160, 76-80*
(finally a slight increase in average speed!)
sunday (9/5) run: 5 miles, 47:15 (9:27 avg pace), avg/max hr 165/179, 81*/36%humid

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august 2010

week in review (8/23 - 8/29)
total miles: 39.15 (40 planned)
time spent running: ~ 6 hrs 28 mins
avg hr: 165.20
avg pace: 9:42/mile
off days: 2

for the record, saturday's 17-miler put me at just shy of 40-miles and i didn't know it until later. i was not going to go out for a .85mile run on sunday just to round it up and i did not really need to push the mileage seeing as how i ran 29 miles last week and 15 miles the week before that. i'm already pushing the 10% rule.

i did, however, get out for a short bike ride on sunday with josh. i got a flat around mile 2.5 and my tire was finicky and didn't want to be repaired, but it cooperated eventually. i wore my recently-purchased pair of cycling shorts which just felt like a big cushion-y diaper. seriously that pad thingamajigger could not be any bigger.

sunday (8/29) bike ride: 10.70 miles, 44:45 (~14.2mph), avg hr 156, hot and sunny

overall, august was a slight improvement from july, but then again it didn't take much. i thought i'd done better with consistency but i guess i'll have to work a little harder in september.

august 2010
total mileage: 88.65
time spent running: 14:10:24
days off: 15 (a week less than july? guess that's semi-improvement)
abs/yoga: 10 ab workouts/1 yoga session
avg resting hr: dunno
avg max hr: 190.58
avg temp: 80.18*

august 2009
total mileage: 200.92 (aug '08 i ran ~145mi)
time spent running: 29:09:50
days off: 8
avg resting hr: 50.60
avg max hr: 176.57

oh how i've slipped and slided in a year...

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running on cake

cake topper (n.) - a cute decoration that goes on top of a cake. also known as a very tough decision that cannot be made months in advance, and must instead be shopped for at the last minute and rush delivered.

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bad apple

my beloved, four-month old macbook quit working last thursday-ish, taking my garmin connect and spreadsheets with it. i'm hoping since it was still so young it falls under some sort of warranty, but with the holiday weekend i haven't had a chance to take it to the apple doctor yet. luckily i was backing my things up on backblaze, so i can recoup most of my stuff. in the meantime i get to use my glamorous work laptop, but at least i have something.

i spent all last week at the beach - soaking up sun, playing in the waves, making piles of sand, reading books, golfing whacking balls wayyy off to the right and some running too. it was great to get away and of course the week flew by all too quickly. i know i have little room to complain though since i had the first week of june off too. really though, who wants to work?

week in review (6/28 - 7/4)
total miles: 36.91 (semi-victory -- upward motion, but not by much)
time spent running: ~ 5 hrs 18 mins
avg hr: unknown. didn't feel like wearing the strap.
avg run pace: 9:11/mile
off days: 1-ish (from running)

i was back home for july 4th and after being a dedicated little runner all week long, my mojo tanked and threw a temper tantrum about going for a run on sunday morning. i was, however, randomly in the mood for a bike ride and tagged along with josh for 27+ miles. i stuffed some chomps and gu's in my shirt pocket and josh pointed out "you know 27 miles is like the equivalent of 5-6 miles running". hey, like i need an excuse to eat chomps here.

wow was it tough. there was one particular loooong downhill that as i coasted my only thought was "this is going to suck on the way back" (turns it out it was only about 350ft climb over 2 miles, i'm such a wimp). i don't know how you cyclists/biathletes/triathletes do it. i'd like to blame my slowness on my bike, a trek 7000 hybrid. c'mon that's like 30 lbs heavier than all you carbon fiber riders! :)

mine is complete with a bell and kickstand! don't hate.

sunday (7/4) am bike ride: 27.40 miles, 1:53-ish, so about 14-14.5mph? yeah, totally blaming that on my heavy bike.

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