Wow, three-day weekends are so nice! Mine was completely awesome.
I ended up doing the 10k on Saturday morning, but it did not go well. Not even close to a PR. I mean, not even close. Like probably a minute per mile off. Fortunately one of my best running friends who is a million times faster than me (he's looking to qualify for Boston, which means about 35 minutes faster than the time I needed), happened to be hung over, so he said he'd run with me. He's agreed/planned to run with me before though and then proceeded to go out way too fast -- and I'd either try to keep up (which meant train wreck), or I wouldn't (which meant we didn't run together). Given our history, I wasn't counting on him being true to his word. But this time we actually ran together! Needless to say, that meant no age group award for either of us. It was just way too hot. Our last mile was about 30 seconds slower than the first, if that gives you an indication of how bad it was. The goal is usually to be steady (within 5-10 seconds for all miles), or to get progressively faster. Well, every single mile for us was slower than the one before it. But not big deal. Neither of us really cared, it was just fun to run together and get in some miles.
Then I ran errands. One of the local running stores is moving to a new location, so I stocked up on some stuff (including a couple things for hubby's birthday). The highlight of my errands though was going to see my dress for the next family wedding. I'm going to be in my brother's wedding in October, and so I wanted to try on the dress that she picked so I'd know what size to order. I'll have to look for a link to post.
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/donna-morgan-twist-detail-chiffon-dress/3207028?origin=category&resultback=1004
If that works you'll see it's also dark blue and strapless, just like the one for the wedding for my brother who's getting married in July. But still pretty different. Why did I ever think I was mostly done being a bridesmaid a few years ago? Two in one year this year!
Sunday started with a long run -- 14 miles, which felt more grueling than it should have. But good friends always help the miles tick by, so that was nice. Then I came home and made a quiche -- asparagus. Maybe the first quiche I've ever made, but I used pre-made crust, so I'm not sure it counts. It was crust, gruyere cheese, asparagus tips, then a mix of eggs, cream, nutmeg and pepper poured over the top. I really hate eggs or things that taste like eggs, but this was pretty good.
I went over to my friend's house to finally watch the former man of my dreams marry some other woman named Kate Middleton. I'd also made scones on Saturday, and we had all kinds of other fun foods to eat. My friend's daughter got bored with the wedding pretty early on (probably because we watched a lot of the pre-wedding coverage). I think I was about her age when I watched Diana and Charles get married very early in the morning one day with my mom.
After the wedding-watching party, I went to my husband's work. There is a huge fireworks show in the town where he works, ranks third in the country. Most years a bunch of the wives plan a big potluck meal, and it's always a lot of fun. Sometimes nearby coworkers show up and also chow down, and I think that has irritated some in the past (like we're bringing the food for ourselves and our husbands, and you're welcome to eat too but exercise some portion control and don't bring your whole family). Well, this year, one of the officing neighbors hosted and it was not quite the same. Still at my husband's work, but they (office neighbors) completely outnumbered us (hubby's co-workers and families). And of course there wasn't enough parking for my husband's co-workers' spouses, despite the fact that most of the neighboring spouses came on school buses. The food was not well planned. Burgers and hot dogs with ketchup, mustard, relish and buns, boxes of indiv bags of chips, boxed store-bought cookies, and a couple cakes and some watermelon. We usually make sure there are pasta salads, tons of homemade desserts, toppings for the burgers like lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles, etc. Just not the same. Maybe, maybe, maybe next year we can just do our own party and not invite neighboring offices. Let them do their own party. The problem is, all the guys work together a lot, so it's likely we're kind of stuck with them. Oh, and another complaint was the smoking -- we were outside, but still, it didn't seem like a smart idea with so many kids around. It smelled awful and it just set a bad example. Anyway, the fireworks were still great. I mostly watched with the wife of one of my husband's colleagues who I've barely seen since our US wedding reception about 2 years ago. It was nice to catch up. But oh, the drive home sucked. So much traffic! About 11 miles in 90 minutes. Sigh.
On the Fourth I took a day of freedom from working out. Got up early and went to a place called Fossil Rim with a friend, her husband, and their two kids, one of whom is my godson. It's about 90 miles away and is a drive-through safari thing. You get a bag of feed and you get to feed various kinds of deer, gazzelle, giraffes and zebras. We had a great time and my friend made an awesome picnic lunch too. Then I came home and tried to get organized for the week ahead. Lunches, outfits, straightening up.
Two short work-weeks coming up now: 4 days this week, 2 days next week for the wedding!! I'm going to post bachelorette party pictures tomorrow I hope.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
To Race or Not To Race?
I'm trying to decide whether I should "race" tomorrow. I think I have to use quotes around that phrase b/c obviously I'm not in racing shape. The only way I could set a PR right now would be to race a distance I've never done before, or to race a distance I haven't raced in several years.
Tomorrow our local running club has two options -- 5k or 10k. I need to decide if I'm going to do one, and if so which. Other options are sleeping in (but Monday is going to be a rest day, so that's really not a good idea), or doing the run with Back on My Feet (not sure if I wrote about that before, I've only done it a couple times, it's running with homeless people to help them get on track in life and it's awesome). But I should note that the homeless run would be at a fairly slow pace. Since I really want to push hard the next couple weeks until my baby bro's wedding (eliminating as much back fat and other bulges as possible), I think it's better to do a race.
And I think 10k is probably the best option. Because I'm closer to being in 10k PR shape than I am to being in 5k PR shape. But I'm wondering if I should try to run hard. The last time I tried to run a 10k with a lot of effort was in January (I'm sure I posted about it, but too lazy to try to find the link). I was fairly disappointed with my time, but I was also in the middle of a bad upper respiratory infection. But I'm not sure how that balances out -- [upper respiratory infection and coming off the holidays] v. [100 degrees and coming off a long vacation very very slowly].
In some ways maybe doing this 10k will be a great exercise for me -- practice at pushing hard, but not too hard. Not hard enough to PR. Not hard enough to die of heat stroke. But hard enough to have a time with which I'm satisfied. Hard enough to justify getting up early and getting out there. Hard enough to feel like it was a solid day's workout.
Tomorrow our local running club has two options -- 5k or 10k. I need to decide if I'm going to do one, and if so which. Other options are sleeping in (but Monday is going to be a rest day, so that's really not a good idea), or doing the run with Back on My Feet (not sure if I wrote about that before, I've only done it a couple times, it's running with homeless people to help them get on track in life and it's awesome). But I should note that the homeless run would be at a fairly slow pace. Since I really want to push hard the next couple weeks until my baby bro's wedding (eliminating as much back fat and other bulges as possible), I think it's better to do a race.
And I think 10k is probably the best option. Because I'm closer to being in 10k PR shape than I am to being in 5k PR shape. But I'm wondering if I should try to run hard. The last time I tried to run a 10k with a lot of effort was in January (I'm sure I posted about it, but too lazy to try to find the link). I was fairly disappointed with my time, but I was also in the middle of a bad upper respiratory infection. But I'm not sure how that balances out -- [upper respiratory infection and coming off the holidays] v. [100 degrees and coming off a long vacation very very slowly].
In some ways maybe doing this 10k will be a great exercise for me -- practice at pushing hard, but not too hard. Not hard enough to PR. Not hard enough to die of heat stroke. But hard enough to have a time with which I'm satisfied. Hard enough to justify getting up early and getting out there. Hard enough to feel like it was a solid day's workout.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The good things
Celebrating 60 or so hours of sobriety now. No more having a beer or mixed drink next to me that I sipped as I fell asleep, no more waking up to mimosas or bloody marys. Good grief, I know those kids don't live like that on a daily basis, but I just can't imagine that for more than a weekend. What craziness...
Anyway, I'm still waiting for enough time to get together a solid photo-heavy post about the bachelorette party, but there have been a few kind of cool body-related occurrences in the last day or two.
First, I had a good hair day on Monday and Tuesday. Of course those were days that I basically just went to work and no where else.
Second, the many extra pounds that seemed to have appeared on Monday morning are gone again. I'm a daily weigher and I usually stay in the same 5ish pound range. I'm at the very very top of that range, maybe even just outside of it, and I have been since post-marathon, post-Italy, post-2.5 weeks of no working out. I have been trying hard to work out a lot and eat fairly cleanly to get back to the middle of my usual weight range. Well, Monday morning, I was in for a huge shock. Probably the most I've seen on the scale in years. A weekend of candy, chips, popcorn, cheese and crackers, beer, mixed drinks, sugary mixed drinks, smores, and lots and lots of other food did not bode well for my already tight work wardrobe. And I got home (after having a very interesting conversation with a pilot who sat next to me on the plane ride home) Sunday night and just didn't have the energy or desire to make a decent late dinner -- so I walked down the block to Chipotle. Oh my. All in, I guess! But seriously, Monday morning was scary. No doubt lots of random sodium, whatever. But after two days of not eating garbage, I'm at least back to where I was before the weekend started.
Third, for the first time in months (since probably a week or two before the marathon), when I worked out this morning, I felt like I pretty much kicked @ss. At boot camp, I was of course tired when I started, but fairly early on, we were sent on our 1 mile run and I felt so strong. I finished way near the front. I was pushing myself very hard and sweating like crazy. Much faster than I usually run. At about the half-way mark, I felt like I couldn't sustain the pace, and I was a little embarrassed for just having passed two people and then suddenly wanting to slow down, but I told myself to keep pushing for as long as I could, it would only be a few more minutes. I was willing to crash and burn -- and surprise, it didn't happen. I finished strong. The rest of the main part workout was okay, I did fairly average, but I was grouped in with the other people who finished way up front, so I was comparing myself to a stronger bunch than the average boot camper. My heart rate was very high. Usually my heart rate is highest when I'm running -- in the heat and pushing hard (which is fairly rare). But during things like cherry pickers today, I was working hard enough that my heart rate was hitting running levels -- not common at boot camp. Then we ended the session with weights and abs and again, I finally felt strong. It was like the muscles were growing and fat may be burning off. I feel like finally, after 2 months of trying to push myself hard, I might be getting back to where I was about 3 months ago.
What a long road! No question it was worth it, but I'm glad I'll be ready to let myself start relaxing a little bit more. But suddenly for the first time, I'm feeling like I might be ready to bring it in San Antonio for the marathon in November.
So 3 good things, plus the sobriety, that are making me feel better lately!
Anyway, I'm still waiting for enough time to get together a solid photo-heavy post about the bachelorette party, but there have been a few kind of cool body-related occurrences in the last day or two.
First, I had a good hair day on Monday and Tuesday. Of course those were days that I basically just went to work and no where else.
Second, the many extra pounds that seemed to have appeared on Monday morning are gone again. I'm a daily weigher and I usually stay in the same 5ish pound range. I'm at the very very top of that range, maybe even just outside of it, and I have been since post-marathon, post-Italy, post-2.5 weeks of no working out. I have been trying hard to work out a lot and eat fairly cleanly to get back to the middle of my usual weight range. Well, Monday morning, I was in for a huge shock. Probably the most I've seen on the scale in years. A weekend of candy, chips, popcorn, cheese and crackers, beer, mixed drinks, sugary mixed drinks, smores, and lots and lots of other food did not bode well for my already tight work wardrobe. And I got home (after having a very interesting conversation with a pilot who sat next to me on the plane ride home) Sunday night and just didn't have the energy or desire to make a decent late dinner -- so I walked down the block to Chipotle. Oh my. All in, I guess! But seriously, Monday morning was scary. No doubt lots of random sodium, whatever. But after two days of not eating garbage, I'm at least back to where I was before the weekend started.
Third, for the first time in months (since probably a week or two before the marathon), when I worked out this morning, I felt like I pretty much kicked @ss. At boot camp, I was of course tired when I started, but fairly early on, we were sent on our 1 mile run and I felt so strong. I finished way near the front. I was pushing myself very hard and sweating like crazy. Much faster than I usually run. At about the half-way mark, I felt like I couldn't sustain the pace, and I was a little embarrassed for just having passed two people and then suddenly wanting to slow down, but I told myself to keep pushing for as long as I could, it would only be a few more minutes. I was willing to crash and burn -- and surprise, it didn't happen. I finished strong. The rest of the main part workout was okay, I did fairly average, but I was grouped in with the other people who finished way up front, so I was comparing myself to a stronger bunch than the average boot camper. My heart rate was very high. Usually my heart rate is highest when I'm running -- in the heat and pushing hard (which is fairly rare). But during things like cherry pickers today, I was working hard enough that my heart rate was hitting running levels -- not common at boot camp. Then we ended the session with weights and abs and again, I finally felt strong. It was like the muscles were growing and fat may be burning off. I feel like finally, after 2 months of trying to push myself hard, I might be getting back to where I was about 3 months ago.
What a long road! No question it was worth it, but I'm glad I'll be ready to let myself start relaxing a little bit more. But suddenly for the first time, I'm feeling like I might be ready to bring it in San Antonio for the marathon in November.
So 3 good things, plus the sobriety, that are making me feel better lately!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Alive, just not Kicking
I survived the bachelorette party weekend, though I am feeling every day of my age. Seriously, I know 35 isn't old, and I don't think 45 is either, but 35 is not the same as 25, particularly when it comes to alcohol consumption. I'll have to do a post with some fun pics later this week, right now just trying to make forward progress toward the office.
Highlights: On our beer pong team, I was the only one to sink shots. Some very considerate person had to yack when she was in bed and knew she wouldn't make it to the bathroom, so she went for her own suitcase so she'd make as little mess as possible -- and that wasn't me. A random guy showed up at the house looking to party (I think the house was lit up like a torch and the music was pretty loud), and while all of us bridesmaids are looking at each other to make sure none of us knew him, the bride-to-be was being a good sport, asking him if he was her surprise (he would not have been a hot stripper). I met about 14 girls who will all be at the wedding, plus a couple I already knew, so that will make the wedding tons more fun. I managed to get in 2 runs with the aforementioned yacker -- 10 miles one day, 9 the next (and needless to say a big 0 after the yacking) -- but it was so much fun to talk to her and she was fast, fast, fast, which was a fun challenge.
Highlights: On our beer pong team, I was the only one to sink shots. Some very considerate person had to yack when she was in bed and knew she wouldn't make it to the bathroom, so she went for her own suitcase so she'd make as little mess as possible -- and that wasn't me. A random guy showed up at the house looking to party (I think the house was lit up like a torch and the music was pretty loud), and while all of us bridesmaids are looking at each other to make sure none of us knew him, the bride-to-be was being a good sport, asking him if he was her surprise (he would not have been a hot stripper). I met about 14 girls who will all be at the wedding, plus a couple I already knew, so that will make the wedding tons more fun. I managed to get in 2 runs with the aforementioned yacker -- 10 miles one day, 9 the next (and needless to say a big 0 after the yacking) -- but it was so much fun to talk to her and she was fast, fast, fast, which was a fun challenge.
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