18 in 3:48

18 miles done! No knee problems, but other issues came about... I was doing okay, going a little slower than usual, knowing that I need to fit in 18 miles, then around mile 12 or so I began to have asthma issues. What's up with that? I kept running and took a gel, but not my usual Powergel with caffeine, I decided to try "Honey Stinger" made with honey, cocoa and b vitamins. It was sort of grainy, thicker than Powergels and it did absolutely nothing for me... There's potassium in it, which is supposed to help with cramping, but really didn't help with that either. At around mile 15 I started having calf cramps, not too bad, but mixed with asthma it sort of became an issue. Then I had side stitches... The asthma really threw me off since I haven't had to deal with it in a long time, so it threw my breathing pattern off... I had to rethink breathing. GAH! It sounds so dumb but getting a grip on the breathing with an unnatural breathing pattern helped, plus a Powergel with caffeine sort of helped, too. I did a run walk pattern between miles 15 and 18, otherwise my time would have been a little better... The bees... Oh, did I mention the bees? Around miles 3, 9 and 15 there was a swarm of bees that I had to run through. On the up side, it was GORGEOUS at the lake, it wasn't crowded, there was a nice cool breeze, and the temperatures only became on the warm side for a short time, then the clouds sort of moved back in for a little while and cooled things off. During my run, I kept thinking about some of the runners I know on line through their blogs, that they probably would have run circles around me... For me it isn't about speed, really, it's about finishing -- although I would really like to go faster. The fact that I can get out and run, albeit slower than most, is good enough for me.

Peace

Friday!

I am back up daycare for my 2 & 1/2 year old grandson today, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to put in a workout. I love spending time with the little guy, but I sort of had my day planned out already when my daughter informed me that daycare would be closed today...

Last night Michael had 2 of his staff work late with him to get a couple of projects finished... I ususally don't sleep well when Michael works late, and his super late hours are very rare. The office book-keeper was complaining about the overtime, but it was only 3 hours over for one employee for the week, and he gave both his staff today off. I hope this means Michael will be home EARLY today... I'm pretty tired and it's safe to say that Michael is spent!

Tomorrow is my LSD run, an 18 miler.

Have a wonderful Friday!


Peace

Other Stuff...

Last night I attended a function with Michael, a lecture on community revitalization, then went for "drinks" with his colleagues, most of them went to the same college as Michael, one of which was his first college teacher and mentor in his field, who he hadn't seen in years. Michael had a great time rehashing the good ol' days... Only one other person (besides me) was not in their field... I spent a lot of time listening. Since this was supposed to be my "free meal" night I had my dinner while everyone else had drinks, but it was actually a really clean meal since I've cut out alcohol until after the marathon... I had grilled chicken strips on top of a spinach salad... Anywhoooo... I'm trying to think back if I've dragged Michael to any of my industry lectures about optometric stuff, retail, and whatnot, where they're all talking shop... but not really. I think the closest thing was one of my high school reunions, but it turned out that he worked (at one time) with one of my classmates and another classmate was his work partner's client... Oh well...

Reality check:
My brother is still trying to get me to run in the Bay to Breakers event with him in San Francisco at the end next month... I'm still thinking about it and if I decide to go, I can sign up the day of the event... He really wants me to go to this one, just because it's so "colorful." Teehee. People get crazy for this run with costumes or the lack thereof... It's a 12K.

Today is a non-workout, non-runing day.

Things that went right: (so far)
*Eating is extremely clean.
*Took my dog to the vet and she didn't hide behind me like a little kid...
*Coffee...

Things that need improvement:
*I still need to map out my 18 miler for this weekend. I think I know where I'm going, but I don't want to run more miles than I need to.
*Go shoe shopping... Shopping doesn't float my boat and I need a pair of foo-foo shoes that does not cost an arm and a leg.

Peace

Wednesday Update

I'm thinking about running two half marathnons in October. One is on October 8, the other is October 22. I'm giving this heavy considerations... I normally participate in a handfull of short distance events each year. We'll see how it all goes...

Reality Check:
I've gotta put on an "I am interested in everything your saying" face. I'm attending on of Michael's industry functions. *YAWN* It will be okay...

Things that went right:
*Today I had to run errands so I did 3 quick rounds of upper body circuits with resistance bands.
*Eating and water are on track, 100%.
*I officially signed up for the San Jose RNR half marathon for October 8. I even saved $10. with a coupon!

Things that need imrprovement:
*Today, nothing!

Peace

23:56

After yoga yesterday I had cravings for all the wrong things. I did give into my cravings a little, but that doesn't make it right.

Reality Check:
6 weeks until the marathon. I still need to sign up for the half marathon in October before the fees go up.

Things that went right:
*I did a 2.5 mile run in 23:56. It was an easy run, and I didn't punch it.
*Nutrition is on course today.

Things that need improvement:
*Stock up on brown rice.
*Pay close attention to nutrition. It was way off yesterday.
*my run today was supposed to be a 10K at the lake but things changed so I could only fit in the 2.5 instead.

Peace

Playing In The Dirt...

Yesterday was yet another "Yard Work Workout." Armed with just my trusty cultivation tool (AKA: "hoe"), I turned over 3/4ths of one of the large gardening areas at the "new" old house. Turning over the dry soil BY MYSELF took me a good 3 hours, THANKYOUVERYMUCH... Yeah, I know how to have fun... Ripping into the dirt was also very therapeutic -- as I could take out my aggressions on the soil. Michael showed up after about the third hour and re-worked and watered down the soil because it was dry. Yesterday was also "Earth Day," so I felt as if I did my part, prepping the "earth" for new plants. Today I am sore. I'm thinking that a tiller would be a really good idea, since we need to turn over the soil again, before planting. It's not that I don't like working the soil with just a cultivation tool, it takes a heckofa lot of time. Since I didn't do a formal workout or run on Saturday, this "Yardwork Workout" sure made up for two days of slacking...

Today I'm popping in a yoga DVD.

Peace

Orchids

Two weeks ago Costco had orchids for sale, for around $12.00, in ceramic containers. Most gardening shops and nurseries sell orchids for much more than $12.00, without ceramic pots, so this was a deal. I made sure I found plants that had buds, not full blooms. This week they are blooming. I am not sure the proper names of these orchids since their name sticks were missing...

This bloom is about 3&1/2 inches across.



This bloom is smaller, probably about 1&1/2 inches across.

My fascination with orchids manifested itself because I have yet to bring one back to bloom a second time. I think I may have the mystery solved, though... I do have one orchid from last year that has the signs of new flowers for this year... It's showing promise. Proper lighting has helped, but the only place in my house that has proper lighting is my tiny bathroom... I'm hoping the "new" old house will give me success with orchids, since there's a "green" or "sun" room perfect for plants.

Peace

Grab a shovel!

Today was a non-workout day, so I spent a few hours with my son at the "new" old house.

Here is what I'm up against...


The weeds and stray grasses were a lot more unruly. This is mid segment of the yard. The house is to the far right. My son is pulling weeds from a walk way. What the picture shows is two large gardening segments of the yard. I highly doubt we'll used those two large areas for vegetable gardening, as half of one of those segments would be plently big.

On a smaller scale, I am making progress...



In the weeds and tall grasses, I did uncover an unruly and neglected rose bush. I believe this is a rose bush my grandma had planted well over 25 years ago. After some water and a little fertilizer it exploded...




My hope is, with in a year and a lot of hard work, we'll have the house back to as it once was when my grandparents were alive. It was a beautiful property and it WILL be once again.

Peace

1:08

Michael and I had date night last night. Since he came home so late (after 9 PM) we went out to one of the only places still serving dinner after 9 PM on a weeknight. (There are only 3 in in my neighborhood, and Denny's doesn't count.) I'm not sure what he ate, but he had a good dose of food poisoning. He started to feel sick when we got home, then it was all over... I didn't have the same thing he ate, so I didn't get sick... He probably should have stayed home today but he had a big meeting to attend...

Reality Check:
Deciding to cut out alcohol (for the next month) is turning out to be a good decision.

Things that went right:
*I ran my 10K at the lake in 1:08 this morning.
*It's a gorgeous day!

Things that need improvement:
*My run was sluggish today. I never got in the groove of it, but I did it anyway. I was about 2 minutes off my last 10K time.

Peace

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

The "Yard Work Workout" today turned out to be pretty mild for me. I forgot the keys to the tool shed and there was only one set of purners... I let my son use the pruners and I took care of weeding and watering. I am regretting not taking my camera with me today because one of the rose bushes that my grandma had planted YEARS ago has come back full force. It's gorgeous. All's it needed was a trim, a little water and fertilizer. This bush is exploding. I also went out to Home Depot for more plants and bought veggie seeds. So far, we're going to attempt white corn, beefsteak tomatoes, cucumbers, bok choi, carrots, yellow squash and California Poppies, since the 6 packs were no longer on sale. I haven't planted the seeds yet. We still need to prep the garden area to do the veggies...

Reality Check:
It was a better choice to do a real workout when I got home instead of doing nothing, which would have been really easy.

Things that went right:
*UBW - High reps, low weights leg extensions and leg curls, and 300 crunches.
*I'm finishing up the last of my gallon of "special" water as I type this.
*I discovered MapMyRun.com -- My 16 miler was actually more like 17.5 miles.
*It was a beautiful day.
*I stopped to smell the roses...

Things that need improvement:
*Remember the keys.
*Get all of those seeds started in small containers.
*Find a new snack for when I get the case of the hungries that isn't going to throw my ratios out of whack.


Peace

Tuesday Cardio

My cell phone died... The tech at the store said I got it wet, but I couldn't recall when that could of happened... Then it occured to me that I wore my phone while running on Saturday and it rained.

Reality Check:
I like this guy. I also like this one

Things that went right:
*30 minutes of HIIT cardio on the recumbent bike at the gym. It was kick @$$!
*Eating and ACV water concoction is on track.
*Weight is back down to 126 from a high of 131 from the carb-load last week.

Things that need improvement:
*I need to reprogram ALL the phone numbers on my cell phone
*Find some new recipies for every day meals that everyone at home can handle, that will have the right ratios for my needs. Everyone here will eat what ever I make, and if they don't like it they can make their own food, but that is rare.

Peace

Monday Check In

Reality Check:
DOMS in the legs but no knee pain!

Things that went right:
*I did a really good UBW this morning - High reps, low weights Chest presses & flys, bicep curls & upright rows, plus 350 crunches.
*The galllon of ACV, green tea, lemon water intake is helping.
*DOMS in my legs from the 16 miler on Saturday, and still no knee pain. Yay!

Things that need improvement:
*I am sooooooo bloated. Nothing fits. I know I will be back to "normal" by Wednesday, but then the carb load starts again... It will be like this until the second week of June. then I can get back to regular weight training and less running, and back to a general BFL way of eating again.


Peace

Moving On...

About two years ago I very methodically cut my work hours back due to family issues and just trying to handle too much. My initial intentions were to flat out quit my job but my employer asked me to stay on to work one day a week or on call, until they could find a decent replacement. They finally found someone, even though it took a LONG time. For the past two years I have been, technically, a part of the office, and they included me in all of their outings, parties and social events. Since I haven't really been back to the office to work since last April, I'm sure most attachments to the job are pretty much over, including the social stuff. I guess that was to be expected. The realization that my working "relationship" with the office is pretty much over was when we did our taxes for the year. I realized that I hadn't really worked at the office in about a year. *Sigh* Time to move on.

16 Miles Down -- 10.2 To Go

We mustered our 16 miler this morning. I didn't keep a good accounting of time, we just needed to get in the miles. I feel pretty good about the run because there was no pain. In the back of my mind I kept waiting for those knee twinges that were so debilitating last year, but those never happened. I feel so good about that! I had a good Thai cuisine carb load yesterday and my gallon of ACV water, and had cereal, soy milk and coffee an hour prior to the run (I can't do dairy.) Michael had some arch issues and cut his run to about a 12 miler. The weather was also on the mild side, with some scattered sprinkles. Last year the rain and sporadic weather changes really did me in. I felt like a barometer. I swear, I could predict the rain with my knees. This time, I could enjoy the quick spritz of water from the sky. The only thing that's sore right now is my glutes and inner thigh muscles, and that's just peachy... No stabbing knee pain. I also carried my Platypus water back-pack, 2 Powergels and some beef jerkey. I feel great.

Happy Easter!

Plan Of Action

Yesterday I had intended to work in chest and back exercises on the Bowflex, but it never happened. The most I did was walk to the mail box and back, which is about a mile, but I really don't count that as a workout since I really should be working harder. I know this is probably just a lame excuse, but it warmed up yesterday and I do not have air conditioning... I know I could have worked out in the evening, I ended up cleaning the house... Bad, bad, bad me... Excuses. I will fit in chest and back after posting this entry... I will... Really...

Tomorrow we have a 16 mile run scheduled. There is no way out of this one. We HAVE to fit it in. The marathon is in about 7 weeks. Training this year has been off. I have been fitting in the mileage where I can but it hasn't been stellar. The 16 miler should have been actually last Saturday, but we only did half of that distance. Even if it rains we're getting out there, and we don't own rain gear. The only way we won't run is if there's lightning, and that's actually predicted for today, but it has yet to rain. We'll see.

PEACE

EDIT
I did get my chest and back work out in. I did supersets (on the Bowflex) of chest presses and flys on the incline, and upright rows. I used moderate weights with high reps. I also fit in 250 crunches.

1:06

Reality Check:
I decided to switch my 2.5 mile run to a 10K distance. With the marathon right around the bend I really need to have more weekly miles. I'm not following the "plan" I normally do, as life happens, so I need to ramp things up where I can, and run just a little faster. I did have one brief moment where my 10K was under an hour, but party week really threw me off. I'll get it back.

Things that went right:
*10K in 1:06. I'm good with that.
*FIL is doing better and is in a nursing home that specializes in rehab.
*SIL is hosting Easter Brunch at her house.

Things that need improvement:
*Drink more water.
*Get the car washed.


Peace

Tuesday!

Sleep. It's a good thing when it happens!

Reality Check:
I've decided to not have any alcohol whatsoever for the next month or so. I'm not sure why I'm breaking out with itchy, patchy lizard skin, and the only thing we had more of last week was alcohol... I had my usual free meal drink, but then Michael's birthday happened, then the barbecue the one night, then another night friends stopped by with a 6 pack of Coronas and lime... I'm way past my limit. I really didn't have much dairy, or not enough to make me break out, so I'm guessing it was the extra alcohol that kicked this break out into high gear. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy myself, because I did, but I wasn't paying attention...

Things that went right:
*Did biceps, back and tri's, circuits - 4 sets of 20, low weights
*Went out to lunch with a long time friend. I had Chinese stir fry veggies.
*Went out to the house to water the new plants, check the mail, and put fresh new sheets on the air bed

Things that need improvement:
*Get up earlier to fit in more of a workout. I should be doing more sets, but I start too late and need to scale it back because I run out of time...
*No alcohol for a month, not even on my free day.


Peace

WHEW!

Michael's father is doing well! He'll have to be in a nursing home for a while but he sure is anxious to get moving again, so that's a good sign!

Saturday I know, I already posted about Saturday, but there is one thing I did learn about the "new" neighborhood, is that Sea World has fireworks every weekend until Memorial Day, then it's every evening, all summer. Fireworks go off at 9:50 PM on the dot... At least we'll know how late it is...

Sunday, Michael has soccer, so I head out to the house to do more yard work. He calls me and says he want to have a couple of friends over and barbecue and he says he'll bring everything... I was thinking that we were just going to have four friends over. Ha! I should know better. Not only did he forget a bunch of things, like utensils, but he invited more people than I was prepared for. It was okay, and since the whole ordeal with his dad, it was sort of nice to do something different. We were there to see fireworks at 9:50. Michael also tried to master mind staying the night at the house, so he bought an air mattress. Nice idea but there were no sheets, a small blanket and only one pillow. He said "how bad can it be?"

Today: I'm so tired. I got in some sleep but not enough to feel rested... He tried, though, but we weren't ready to spend the night there YET. Once I pulled myself together I went to a Jack In The Box for something to eat and COFFEE... Once I felt normal, I trekked on out to Target for some plants and a change of clothes... Oh, that's another thing... Clothes. I just bought some simple, on clearance clothes, just because I was going back to the house. I grabbed a small pair of drawstring pants and a small top. When I looked at the pants at home, they looked ginormous. These are the largest smalls I've ever seen. Luckily, I could cinch the waist because I needed something clean to wear, but dang, these are huge! Talk about vanity sizing! Perhaps that's why they were on clearance -- they were miss-sized. I've gone on too long. I'm getting some sleep. I'll be good to do a real workout or run tomorrow.

Ciao!

Weekend Review

Yesterday Michael and I managed our 8 miles. I'm not sure on the exact time for the total 8 miles, but I did the 10K (6.4 miles) distance at the lake in 1:08. I started off with a good pace and was slated to finish that distance in an hour exactly, but I slowed down after Michael received a phone call that his father was going into surgery in a couple of hours. Since we began our run from home, we couldn't turn around and just go to the car, we had to complete the 8 miles to get home. Once we arrived home, we quickly showered, dressed, drove out to the hospital and made it there in time for Michael to talk to his dad in pre-op. Whew! The surgery went well and my FIL is doing fine. I'm not sure when he'll be up and walking again, as he's definitely needing physical therapy, but he's definitely anxious to get up and going again, which is a good thing.

THEN, after the hospital, Michael and I went to the house to meet with the electrician (Yay!) and do more work. The electrician figures he can be out in 2 weeks to start work. There were some gas powered yard tools left behind at the house like a weeder, tiller, and blower. After spending an hour trying to make these things work, Michael finally ended up trekking out to Home Depot for a new weeder. I spent more time pulling and digging weeds out of two more smaller planter areas. I used a "cultivation device" ("hoe" is no longer PC, according to our Iowa relatives with real farms...) and turned over what ever soil I could. The soil is nice. No rocks! The house we're currently living in feels like it was built on rocks... To dig a hole to plant anything requires moving many rocks... Michael revved up the weeder and took care of one of the larger gardening areas in little time. It looks better, but we still need a tiller to turn over the rest of the soil. It's just too big an area. In the midst of all the yard clean up, friends even stopped by to see our "new" old house.

Finally, per Tom's request, here's a picture of the "Bat Mobile" -- I know, it's not a big black vehicle, it just has that "Bat Mobile" feeling when you're in it. Oh, the guy in the picture is Michael. :)


Enjoy your Sunday!

Friday - Finally!

Michael's father is doing better since he's been in the hospital. Yesterday was scary. I haven't heard if they're going to operate, but I suppose I would have heard something if they had. Since Michael's car will not be ready until next week he is using his father's "Sunday" car, which is the Corvette, better known as the "Bat Mobile." I got my car back.




Reality Check:
I HAD to get out of the house today. I went directly to the gym. I was itchy to run but I promised Michael we'd run tomorrow since his marathon training has been next to nil. I did a good 30 minutes of HIIT on the recumbent bike, and walked around the track to cool down for a good 10 minutes afterwards, plus stretched for a long time. Today is also DH's birthday. I'm not sure what's in store for today, with everything going on. We'll see.

Things that went right:
*I have my car back!
*30 minutes HIIT on the recumbent bike.
*Michael's birthday.
*It's not raining.

Things that need improvement:
*Run all the errands I couldn't run the past few days.
*Visit my FIL at the hospital with my kids.
*Plan out tomorrow's run.
*The "check engine" light is on in my car...

Peace

*Grumble*

I thought I had it all figured out. Yesterday I knew I was going to be sans-car. I got up early with Michael so that I could drive to the Collision Repair Center to get his car fixed. (He was in a minor car accident about a week ago - no one was hurt, just his car) Michael took me back home and he was off to work. As soon as I got settled in my "plan" of the day, Michael calls and and wants me to check on his dad. His dad had a bad fall. Problem. I didn't have a car. Michael suggests that I drive our old, beat up '89 Honda. Problem. It's raining heavily and there's no windshield wipers. I decide to wait for the rain to subside then I go to get the keys. Next problem. Keys? Where are the keys? I spent a good part of my day looking for the keys. About 6 pm I found the keys. I then find out that my SIL went over to the house and took my FIL to the hospital earlier, pretty much after the fall happened. It turns out my FIL has a fractured femur and the only way for him to walk again is for the doctors to operate, but they can't operate because his heart is weak... I feel so bad because I had no way of getting over to my in-law's house. I need to go put my house back together... I practically ripped the house apart looking for keys.

Workout? What workout?

Peace

Back at the "new" old house

Yesterday I was over at the "new" house and took more pictures of the yard. This is a larger view of the orchid tree (Bauhinia). Next, is a shot of a rather large patch of aloe gone wild. I would venture to guess that this "patch" is about 15' X 15'... At some point we're going to consolidate this unruly patch of aloe. This is why I think a tractor would be a good idea. It's not just the large patch of aloe gone wild, it's all of the other untended plants and weeds as well. On the up side, there is plenty of aloe to comfort a few sunburns...


When I was a child, my grandparents had statice planted through out their garden. The only statice left was this bunch that happened to be thriving next to the aloe...


Finally, this former chicken coop looks like you could push it over with little effort, and we tried... However, my grandfather built it to last... We're planning to spruce it up and use it as a potting shed.


Now it's time to go workout.

Quick Workout

I fit in a quick circuit of upper body weights today - low weight high reps, just 3 rounds of each exercise, though. I only had a half hour to squeeze everything in.

Reality check:
It is better to do something (workout wise) instead of nothing...

Things that went right:
*Saw the chiropractor today
*UBW

Things that need improvement:
*Find Accel gels. The RRS and the little independent running shoe store in my neighborhood no longer carry them.


House stuff

I went by the house today to drop off some tools and to take a few pictures of the yard and a couple of old portraits. Everyone in the family wants the portraits but my dad is the custodian of these portraits. This first portrait is in an oval frame with concave glass over the top. It was extremely hard to take a picture of this, and we're all too cheap here to take it to a professional to have the photo reproduced correctly. One of my cousin's took the photo out of the frame and left it open so we could all get a chance to make some sort of copy of the photo. Here's my copy of Stanley and Florence in their wedding attire:



The funny thing about the portrait is how much shorter my grandfather looks. In reality, he was just about 6' tall. My grandma was only 5' tall or less. I'm not quite sure of the editing process in the 1920's, but I didn't notice the height discrepancy until I made copies of the photo. In addition, my grandma had dark brown hair and the portrait shows blond. Even though there are the minor discrepancies, I absolutely LOVE this portrait.

I also managed to take a photo of my great Aunt, Helen. She was a Catholic Nun. I never knew her. This black and white portrait is stunning.



I also took photos of some of the foliage in the yard, but I'll post those tomorrow.

Peace.

23:46

The good thing about carb loading is that I definitely have better performance while running. The down side is the major weight fluctuations. I went through the fluctuations last year and it's happening again. I guess that's just the way it's going to be for me. The tough part is that with in less than a week's span I can go up a size in clothing, then back down again. It's bizarre. I was up to 128 by Saturday morning. Today I'm 126. Tomorrow it will probably be around 124/125.

Reality Check:
Michael's father isn't doing so well. He's had heart problems for the past 20 years or so, had bypass surgery, a pacemaker, several meds, etc... It's hard to see a once dynamic person slow down so much. This is hard on Michael.

Things that went right:
*On the running scene, I took 11 seconds off my 2.5 mile run.
*Carb loading IS making the difference.

Things that need improvement:
*Mentally get over the weight fluctuation thing for now. I was hoping it wouldn't be so dramatic this year, but I guess it's just how my system works.
*Figure out what to get(or do for) Michael for his birthday on Friday.

Peace

Under an hour!

I ran at the lake today. It wasn't the high mileage that I needed to put in, due to timing (I woke up late ) but I did the 10K distance. I forgot a stop-watch so I used the clock on my cell phone. I ran my 10K in sub 60 minutes, probably in the high 58 range. I never "punched" it or sprinted. Well, I did go a little faster to get around some people, but never put in a full on, break-neck speed effort. I wasn't intending to go that much faster than my prior runs, but it was easy today. The weather was mild and on the cool side, I was more than carb loaded, and I didn't have any joint or muscle pain issues. I didn't really need the Powergel or lots of water... Perhaps being sidetracked this week sort of gave me some extra rest to do better today? What ever it is, I'm a happy camper! It feels good to feel good!!!!
Have a great weekend!