Ramblngs, rantings, etc...

Yesterday turned out to be a no run, no exercise day, but not intentionally. I played front desk person at work while the other staff memebers had a seminar in how to use a very high tech piece of optical equipment that takes retinal photos. Retinal photos used to be done with a special Poloriod type camera, which was adequate but it was a flat, 2 dimensional photo. This new, nifty (huge) piece of equiment shows several computerized layers into the eye, in which the doctors can check the health of the eye, and if the patient is having prolbems this can be a valuable tool in aiding a diagnosis. Without getting into a ton of optometric vocabulary or a long winded explanation, this high tech piece of equipment will be a time-saver for the doctors. Sorry, the name of this machine escapes my mind at the moment! Arrgh! After work, I took my 17 year old son, Erik, to get his hair cut. It's a miracle! He said he would get his hair cut, but not at my place, so I took him to a "hip" place in Hillcrest. Keep in mind that his hair resembled the rock and roll hair of the 1970's -- really long and bushy. Someone said he looked like a cross between Jim Morrison and Slash... His hair cut was somewhat of a dissapointment because the lady at the shop gave him a dutch boy 'fro... not a good look... It looked okay wet but when it dried out the volume of his hair took over... I guess she never cut super thick, wavy hair before. Today I'm taking him to my stylist to "fix" the unjustice... Other foibles? My daugher ran out of gas, the dog left an unpleasant surprise on the carpet, every other call at home was a soliciter, Erik forgot his cell phone -- and was at the "Star Wars" premier but waited in line with all the others that HAD to see it at the midnight show -- his friends kept calling his cell phone a few times to see where he was in line. Blah, blah, blah! The best thing about yesterday was the gorgeous weather and free lunch from the guy training the staff on the new equipment. Today I'm going out to the gym for a tempo run and, perhaps some abs exercises. Next, it's all about packing for Las Vegas for the AIA convention this week end. I actually do not want to partake in this trip because, as a non architect, I will be bored. The last time we went to Las Vegas for a business related function I was bored silly since there was no one to hang out with while everyone attended seminars, and I don't gamble. (I have this thing about loosing my money...) I couldn't hang out at the pool because it was February and rather cold. Maybe, this time, will be different. The weather is much warmer so, maybe the pool will be a good place to hang out with a good book, even by myself.

Taper week and other ideas

Yesterday I decided to do upper body super sets with resistance bands. I think that was a wise decision because, boy, I sure feel it today! I also threw in 3 sets of 100 regular abs crunches, just for fun... Since this week starts my taper I ran an easy 3 miles in 30 minutes on the gym treadmill No, not fast but it was comfortable. I took a good 20 minutes to cool down and stretch. I am now planning my next strategy for AFTER the marathon, which is more strength training. I purchased yet another work out book "Lean, Long & Strong -- The 6-week Strength Training, Fat-Burning Program For Woman" by Wini Linguvic. It was at Costco so you know it didn't set me back much. I have yet to really read it but the color photos which illustrate the exercises are nice, plus there are some stretches and stability ball exercise that I would be inclined to try. I've had the majority of my work out success on BFL, but it's good to see what else is out there. My boss swears by Billy Blanks Boot Camp, and says it's really hard -- she's a work horse, so it's gotta be a toughie! I know I said I would post what I'm eating but with the carb loading my eating does not follow the BFL guidelines , especially from Wednesday evening to Friday evening when I do my carb load. I suppose I should log the food intake anyway, just for my reference, but I've gotten really lazy about doing that. I know what I need to/not eat, and what is working and what isn't. Whole grains have been working great. My Friday dinner is Asian cuisine, usually from Pickup Stix with brown rice. Yummy! I know a lot of runners dine on pasta but it didn't work out for me. I felt like I was running with rocks in my stomach -- 'Twas not a good feeling...

Aches, pains and shoes

I was looking forward my long slow distance run yesterday, but the arthritis decided to make it's presence known. I thought warmer weather equaled happy knees, but around 7 miles into my 10 miler I started to have discomfort that caused me to stop and stretch. I did a walk/run for the next 2 miles, then walked the last mile. I still considered my 10 miler successful because 1) I made the effort to do it, and 2) I didn't have to send my husband to get the car -- I walked home on my own. On the up side, yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous, sunny spring day. I feel very blessed to live in Southern California. Once I arrived home, had my protein/fruit shake, showered and rested a little, we then made the trek out to Road Runner for shoes. Sometimes aches and pains means needing new shoes. I ended up with Nike Shox Oz. I was wearing Mizuno Wave Rider 7, but a leather detail at the toe caused some discomfort, and I felt that same discomfort with the Wave Rider 8. The Mizuno's had great support for my high arches, but the toe was going to give me grief if I didn't change the shoe style. Bummer. The Nike's felt comfortable, had decent arch support, (but enhanced with a shoe insert for high arches) and the toe wasn't hitting anything weird. I'll see how they do in the real world. The sales guy tried to sell me the most expensive shoes at the store, but those didn't fit correctly. Then I began to notice that he showed this particular brand/style to other customers. Having a sales background, I realize that you always present the customer with the "creme de la creme" item first, no matter what their budget is, however, it was funny to watch this guy bring out the same shoe over and over again. I must give kudos to the sales guy, though. He helped 4 of us at the same time and we never had to look for him. Shopping doesn't float my boat, so I felt good leaving the store with my purchase. Today is R&R. I plan on staying put and, perhaps, firing up the barbecue.

Yeee Haaaa! Warmth!

The weather forecast calls for sunny skies and temps in the mid to high 70's, maybe even 80's. I guess with the arthritis stuff I've turned into a warm weather person and now I have a tan. I don't purposely go out and get a tan, I wear at least a SPF 15 sunscreen every day, and a SPF 30 or higher on the days I run outside -- with all the out door running I do, especially on Saturdays, I've gone from rather naturally pale to having more warmth to my skin tone and everyone notices. I am looking forward to my LSD run this Saturday with the warm weather. My knees will be much happier. I did a full on UBW with resistance bands today and really tried to challenge myself, especially since I haven't used the Bowflex or weights in about a month or more. I could have probably pushed myself a little further with the bands since I'm not really "feeling it" yet. We'll see.