the gloves in question

here is the text message conversation I had with my husband this afternoon after I frantically (okay, so not so frantically) looked all over the house for my favorite running mini gloves.

{me} do you have the mini gloves?

{peter} yes!

{me} oh man! I ned them to go running... plus I wiped snot all over them on my last run. sorry.

{peter} yes

so as you can see, my husband is very secure in his manhood (come on, red 'n pink striped mini gloves!) and is not afraid of a little snot. all good things.

needless to say, I went on the run sans gloves. I just pulled my little sleeves over my fists and went for it. it was a little chilly, but I eventually got over it.

I felt good. I felt pretty fast. (that's all relative, because who knows how fast I was actually going.) I stretched and iced when I got home. I was supposed to have another massage tonight, but my massage therapist is sickly. {get better, becky!} we'll give it a go next week for sure.

3 miles; liberty park perimeter loop

slow.

man, oh man, today was hard. I don't know what it was. for a split second, I thought about ditching swimteam and just staying in my cozy bed. maybe I should've. I rolled in to the pool a few minutes late. I only got a 200 warmup in. there were two other girls already in my lane. (and, just so you know, it wasn't the slowest lane) this is where things started to go downhill. with each length of the pool I saw myself slipping farther and farther behind. these girls didn't seem like they were that fast. was I just really that slow? at one point, while I was waiting at the wall to start my next set (the other girls had already left the wall before I got there), the coach came over and said, "you're doing great!" as if to say, hang in there, even if you're slow you're still swimming hard. yeah. it was a tough workout for me. maybe I was just tired. I don't know.

even though it sucked and I was trying so hard to catch/keep up (and failing) I know it was good for me. it was a tough workout and it kept me humble.


500 warmup

4 150's (50 kick, 50 drill, 50 swim)

400 moderate free

4 25's fast

2 200's build

4 50's fast

4 100's (1-4 descending)

4 75's fast

100 cool down

let it snow

I left my house this morning to the most beautiful sunrise. the temperature was unseasonably warm, and I thought to myself what a perfect moment this would be to be running. sadly, I hopped in my car and drove to work.

this afternoon the scene had changed drastically. the storm blew in. it was snowing. yes, that's right. it finally happened. my first run in the snow for the season. but despite the cold and the wet, it was still a perfect moment for a run.

you see, I love winter running. I get to put on my tights, pull on some layers on top, wear the beannie + mini gloves. while I was running up 17th I saw my reflection in a shop window. she looked so hardcore looking back at me, as if she was saying: you were born for this. man, oh man, what a feeling. the snowflakes fluttering into your eyes. the snot rockets. the cold air in the lungs. not to mention the world is transformed into something so quiet and beautiful when it's snowing.

it was a good run.

3 miles; 8th east (17th - 6th)

my own swimteam

there was no coach this morning. that means no one on the side of the pool telling me what to do. isn't that what I wake so freaking early for? oh well. I just made up my own workout, and it went a little something like this:

500 warm up (I actually got to do the whole 500 this time!)

4 50's kick

12 25's IM order without freestyle (I just want to say that I was able to do each of my butterfly's. like I got all the way to the other end of the pool without having to resort to a fly drill or the breast stroke! this is huge for me. I know I was slow, and that it wasn't pretty, but I did it.)

50, 75, 100 freestyle, descending (each one getting faster)

25 breast

500 free

100, 75, 50 free, ascending

25 breast

4 50's hypoxic (25 - breathe every 5 strokes, 25 - breathe every 7 strokes)

100 cool down

fairmont; one hour

right where I started

how come after four days of rest, I feel exactly the same? am I ever going to be one-hundred percent healthy? should I just start working out again, because obviously it doesn't matter? should I swim tomorrow morning? someone please help me--is there a light at the end of my nasal passages?

(fyi, I don't feel overwhelmingly sick or anything. just annoyingly sick since it won't ever completely go away. )

holiday

yesterday I swam. it was a good workout. I led the lane. (and surprisingly, I wasn't in the slow lane. those kids were just too slow for me, both the coach and I agreed.) I felt pretty tired from it the rest of the day.

I still feel sick. I have had this head congestion for two weeks now. am I ever going to feel better? how much crap can a person's nasal passages really hold?

I had planned to do a preemptive holiday strike. I'd run four miles today, pre feast. but since I've been feeling so crappy I've now decided that maybe what I really need is a rest. I'm always just go go go. it's time to slow it down a bit and just take it easy.

happy thanksgiving!


what I remember of the aforementioned workout:
500 warmup up

8 75's (50 drill, 25 dps)

4 50's (descending, do the 300 the same speed the last 50 was swam in)
300


2 100's (descending, do the 2oo the same speed the last 100 was swam in)
200

100 cool down

cold

man, was it cold today. I went this afternoon after work. it was 40 degrees. add in the little windchill and it felt like 20 degrees. I hated myself for not putting the beanie on. and I had no mini gloves! (I haven't even looked for my mini gloves yet, it's probably about time) thankfully I warmed up and the wind stopped blowing so much. the last half of the run wasn't too bad.

I think the cold made me run faster, though.

I could feel my hamstring off and on. and every once in a while I would get a random pain in my right knee.

so why is it that I can wake up in the five o'clock hour to go swimming? but I have a hard time waking up at all when it's a running day? do I need someone to run with to get me out of bed in the morning? do I need an appointment, as it were? I guess the other factor is that when I want to go it's still dark! there's always the treadmill up at steiner. . .

3 miles; liberty park perimeter loop

beautiful morning swim

when I got to the pool this morning there were only a handful of swimmers. we were trying to work out the lane situation, who would share with who. the coach {who must swim while coaching every monday it seems} was trying to figure out what lane I should be in. {as if I'm ever in any lane but the slow lane!} she asked me what I swim my 100's in. I told her I really didn't know; I just know I'm always in the slowest lane. it's slightly embarrassing to not know how fast I swim. I mean, that's something you should know and pay attention to, right? the thing is, this coach has asked me this before {the only time I went to early AM swimteam over the summer} and I had much the same reply. and to add to that, the one year I swam in high school I never ever paid attention to my times. maybe it just wasn't engrained in me. maybe I just didn't care. maybe I just don't have a high attention span or a good memory. after I would race, if I looked up at the clock at all, I'd soon forget what I swam it in. maybe I should work on this. if it even matters at this point.

when we finally did the get the lane situation all figured out {of course, I was in the slow lane} I hopped in to start my warm up. this chick got in the lane too and asked if we could split the lane until someone else came. I asked if she'd just rather circle swim. because let's be honest, circle swimming is just better. she just made some comment on how I was probably faster, yadda yadda. as I pushed off the wall I couldn't help but wonder if she was even doing masters. when we were ready to start the sets, she was back at the wall and seemed to be trying to listen to what the coach was saying. she asked me about it and I tried to explain the set. if she wasn't a regular swimmer, though, she would've had no idea what I was saying. then she was like, "oh, I'll just do my own thing, I don't even have my contacts in..." yeah. I don't think she was really there for masters. she just did her own thing and it was probably better that we split the lane. she was kinda crazy.

as usual, I had to cut some of the sets slightly short. I just don't have time to do it all since I have to get out of the pool around 7am to get to work on time. the coach and two other fast swimmers were in the lane next to me. yeah, they're fast. I wonder how people ever get that fast. could I get that fast? it doesn't seem like it.

anyway, below is the workout. my legs were more tired afterward today than last week. and my sinuses still seem to be congested, which I don't think swimming helps. oh well, I love it. I even love waking up in the five o'clock hour to go swim. who would've ever thought.

500 warm up

[25 kick, 25 drill]
150 (50 fly, 50 back, 50 breast)
150 free
150 (50 fly, 50 back, 50 breast)
150 free

4 100's IM
200 free

4 100's reverse IM
200 free

4 100's IM (no rest between 100's)
200 free

100 cool down

masters; fairmont

sugarhouse park

I've been slightly sick the past week. just a little head cold. it hasn't really affected my energy levels too much, so I've just been doing the things I would have done otherwise. (except for thursday. I took a rest day and then had an awesome massage) so when saturday rolled around, I knew I'd be doing a "long" run.

the weather has been so nice lately. too nice. it's november and we need snow. (is alta even going to be open for our biannual thanksgiving day tradition?!) but it does make for some good running weather. yesterday was no exception. I was out in shorts and a tee. it was beautiful.

I decided to run up 17th south to 15th east and just head over to sugarhouse park. I did the big loop around (not inside the park, the perimeter) to add some more distance. the run was great, but I didn't have any water. I think I was severely dehydrated which doesn't help my sickness any. oh well. I survived.

starting out I felt really, really slow. I wasn't warmed up and when you're running east in salt lake city, utah you better believe you'll probably be running up a hill. this was no exception. so it took me a while to get in the groove of it. but I finally warmed up and felt pretty good.

5.5 - 6 miles; 17th south, 15th east, sugarhouse park

first post-massage run

I have the nicest friend in the world. she's a massage therapist and has agreed to do some work on me. she came over last thursday and it was like a dream. friday morning I went running.

all I can say is the first couple steps out I felt no tightness whatsoever. it was a good feeling. about a half mile into it, I could feel my legs slipping back into the same old feelings. my hamstring bugged me slightly but nothing major.

I'm interested to see how sports massage will affect me. I'm sure there will be positive outcomes from this grande experiment.

the run was just the usual. nothing too exciting other than the fact that it made me late for work. sometimes after a week of waking up really early, a girl just likes to sleep in a little bit.

3 miles; liberty park loop/8th east

fairmont

I did it again. I woke up early and went swimming. you all should be so proud of me.

the workout was pretty good. I'm back in the slow lane and the sets get cut for us. I guess we're just not that fast. it's okay, though. I'm still getting an hour's worth of good ol' hard exercise. and that's all I really want.

so let me see. . . can I even remember the workout? this is more or less what my lane did:

500 warmup

8 100's (25 kick, 50 drill, 25 DPS aka distance per stroke)

200 freestyle
2 100's stroke (anything but free)
100 (25 fast, 75 easy)

200 free
4 50's stroke
100 (50 fast, 50 easy)

200 free
8 25's stroke
100 (75 fast, 25 easy)

cool down

I'm experiencing back pain when I turn at the wall. it comes on after I'm doing flip-turns for a while, and then I start doing open turns and it still hurts. I think I'm just really inflexible.

I've got an appointment scheduled with my sports massage therapist tomorrow. hopefully it will be the remedy I need to start getting my muscles back under control. I know I need it.

swimming; fairmont; one hour

joint run team

today I dragged peter out of bed to go running with me. we did the liberty park loop. it was a bit chilly, but our bodies warmed up. it's always fun to witness the day's beginning. I love the early morning colors of the sky.

before we headed out the door my right ankle started hurting for no reason at all. maybe it was just in protest. by about a half mile into it the pain went away. other than that I don't remember anything else too major. just the same old stuff.

I didn't have much time to stretch + eat + shower when we got back. icing was out of the question. we should've gotten out the door earlier, but then it would have been so much darker. you take what you can get, I guess.

day two of early morning exerciser complete. it feels good.

3 miles; liberty park loop

the early AM swim

well, it's official. I have become that early morning exerciser. phase one is in full effect.

today I dragged my butt out of bed at 5:45 AM to go hit the pool. I've decided that I need to swim master's again, but I didn't really want to do it in the evenings anymore. so perfect solution. swim at six in the morning.

now if you know me in the morning, you'll remember I'm probably not the funnest person to be around. my only word of advise: if I'm not willingly talking to you, don't ask me any questions or try to talk to me. it will be certain death. and unpleasant feelings for both of us. trust me. but a curious thing has been happening as of late. I'm able to wake up early. (maybe it's because I go to bed at ten?) It's really not so hard. so I'm taking full advantage. let's hope this trend continues, because if I work out in the early AM, I won't have to do it after work when I'd rather just focus on getting something healthy and yummy on the table.

so the workout. I haven't swam in almost six months. it was good to be back in the water, but my body could feel it. my arms were tired after the first fifty! (though I was surprised how effortlessly I was breathing on my left side. usually I only breath on the right--a bad habit I'm trying to break!--and when I do try and breath on the left my whole body is thrown outta whack. today it was so much better. I just did it. without even thinking. it was like it was natural or something!) we did a lot of stroke. my butterfly is in a sad state. as if it was ever in anything but. when I did the set of breaststroke, I started to feel it in my right hamstring. I still cheat on the backstroke. my lower back started hurting, with all the flip-turns. I'm so glad to be back in the pool!

masters; fairmont; 1 hour

saturday AM run

I wanted to go running, pete wanted to go swimming. we both wanted to end up at the hot tub. so what do you do?

since running six miles on the treadmill didn't sound too incredibly appealing, I opted for taking a route out on the streets. I planned it out in such a way that I would end back up at steiner where I would reconnect with pete in the pool.

I threw in a baby pug tree at the beginning of the run--north, through the park and back. then headed back over to 17th south (instead of running back on 6th east, I chose 7th east so I could hit up the drinking fountain. it was my only chance for water out on the run, so I thought I'd take advantage.) I ran up 17th to 15th, which btw is one of my favorite streets to run on in slc. I did a loop in sugarhouse park (does anyone know the interior road distance of that park?) and then back out to 15th. it was pretty much a straight shot to steiner after that. well, after getting up to gaurdsman, at least.

it was such a pretty morning for a run. it had rained a little, so the gunk in the air was all cleared out. the morning sun + mountain views were amazing yesterday. the valley was beautiful. the temp perfect.

my legs felt overall good. I was surprised at how well they held up. near the end they did start to feel a little tight. my left knee was hurting at random times. that's not good. but my right hamstring held up.

when I got to steiner pete was still in the pool. I left him to go stretch. now usually I like to ice after a run, we all know that. but yesterday I did the complete opposite--heat. the hot tub felt good, though. nice and warm (hot) + cozy. after about ten minutes of that we got out. we had a whole fun day ahead of us, which included going up to alta to get our ski passes and getting guitar hero! hurrah!!

~6 miles; baby pug tree north, up 17th to 15th, sugarhouse loop, over to steiner

thoughts on my running on a random wednesday afternoon

the plan
phase I
phase II
Phase III

switch up AM workouts w/ spin class sometimes

adapt

throw in elliptical or anything else as I see fit

listen to my body

balance

commitment

support

work on core everyday

hydrate

rest
adequate sleep + easy days

eat well
healthy on-the-go breakfasts
raw veggies
proteins
complex carbs
variety
fish
juicing (wheat grass?)

periodization
train smart
research training plans

find out what sports drink fargo will have, train with it!

visualization

inspiration

why I run. . .

stay movtivated

stay focused

give back to the running community

back for a second time this week

I went back to steiner for some more elliptical. I figured I'd be over that way anyway, and the air wasn't that great, so working out inside wasn't a bad idea.

it was a good workout. I had forgot my ipod + a few other key items so I just grabbed a fitness mag and ellipticalled my little heart out in front of the figure skaters. time flew by. I was sweating up a storm. it felt great. my legs are now all the better for it.

elliptical; steiner; 35 minutes, 4.30 distance, 403 calories burned

a good day for a run

I'm sitting here eating milk + cookies (just one, don't worry) as I ice and type. man, this is multi-tasking to the extreme! it's a peanut butter cookie, does that count for my post run carb + protein? {I used this cookie as a reward for going running today--not that I didn't want to run and needed an incentive, rather the cookie has been staring me in the face for a whole day now and I needed a good excuse to eat it. food as reward, is that bad? maybe next time I'll just give myself the excuse to go shopping.}

I've had a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head about running today. I find it's the best time to think about other things while at work. and running usually pops up a lot in those thoughts. but today was an especially good day. more to come on that later, I'm sure.

the first few steps out on my run today I could feel my hamstring. it lessened as I ran and loosened up. by the end of the run it wasn't really bugging me and I felt good. it was just a beautiful time of day (and year) to be out there on the streets. I ran around liberty. the leaves are falling in abundance. the perimeter dirt path was mostly covered. the air was cool, but not so much so that I needed more than shorts and a tee. the afternoon light was slanting. I was caught up in the moment. it was just me out there. I didn't think of the other runners. I didn't try to race anyone. it was just me. my body. step for step. this is why I love running.

3.25 miles; liberty park perimeter loop, 8th east

tuesday: elliptical

since my legs are so crazy lately, I decided to head up to steiner yesterday after work to do something a little more low-impact. I took on the elliptical. I love the elliptical. it's by far my favorite peice of gym equipment.

I did a cross country route. my legs felt pretty good. my hamstring didn't bug me too much. I stretched afterwards, and then when I got home I iced.

my legs have felt pretty good today (I only kinda feel the hamstring) and I feel like I had a lot of energy last night instead of feeling beat. I think it was a good switch.

elliptical; steiner; 35 minutes, 4.2 distance, 400'ish calories burned

et cetera

I'm trying to juggle my working self with my training self with my housewife self. since I go to work so stinkin' early these days I'm off by 3:30, so I can come home and get a run in before making dinner. I think it's all going to work out okay. my sweetest husband even said I didn't have to work as much when my training kicks into full gear. I'm going to take him up on that. I'm envisioning two-a-days, both am and pm workouts of sorts on select days. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to fit everything in.

actually, I'm still trying to figure out my training plan in general. I thought I had it figured out, but I think it depends on my level of fitness and general health (you know, if my hamstring, IT bands, ankles are cooperating). I did decide today that I need to get back in the pool. I think swimming really helps your endurance. and since pete renewed our passes to steiner, I should really take advantage of the master's swim class. I miss it.

so the weather is still really nice. I ran today in shorts and a long sleeved tee. I really could've gotten away with short sleeves. my hamstring was bugging me a little. especially when I had to bust past the scooter gang of kids (okay, two kids on a scooter and one kid on a bike). I think they were speeding up too, just to piss me off. my left knee really started hurting too. IT band? I'm not exactly sure. and my ankles have been feeling a little weird lately. very reminiscent of my spring 2006 training. my ankles got so messed up I couldn't run the famous idaho potato marathon in boise (don't worry, I got to run it this year). I haven't really had a problem with them this year, so I'm hoping things won't get out of control. I'm sure it will be okay. maybe I just need new shoes. when did I get my last pair? how many miles have I run in them?

3.5 miles; baby pug tree run: west and north (to 13th east and up to 8th east and over to 17th south, home)

situation: rectified.

friday: went running. the usual liberty park loop. I know, I know. the same old thing again? yes. it's quick and easy and I know (basically) how far I'm running. I did go up to 8th east on my way home to make the run slightly more exciting. even that's getting a little old. oh well. I don't quite remember how I felt, but I know I didn't ice. probably should've iced.

3 miles; liberty park


saturday: since I only ran two other days this week I decided to go easy on the saturday run. I went through the park to 4th south, up to 8th east and home. I remember feeling really good the first few miles. like incredibly good. it was just a perfect day to be out there. I could've gotten away with shorts and a tee, but my yoga capris and long sleeves (pulled up, of course) weren't too bad either. the autumn leaves are really pretty. anyway, I started feeling my right hamstring near the end of the run. I should've iced after I stretched when I got home, but didn't. I'll be better next week, I swear.

4 miles; 6th east - 4th south - 8th east - 17th south

rectifying the situation

I hadn't gone running since last saturday until about 30 minutes ago. I really hate it when my life gets overly busy and my running is the thing I have to sacrifice. I guess I could try harder to make the time, but I'm not into running at ten pm as much anymore. in my non-running defense, though, I did go on three different hikes (they were kinda baby hikes, but hikes nonetheless) over monday and tuesday, and yesterday I took a walk. (okay, so that was only about a mile. it was nice to be in the sunshine, though. yesterday was a fantastic day.)

I should be able to get a run in tomorrow. (it is another strangely busy day--in fact, it's been a strangely busy week, and it continues right on through the weekend.)

and saturday I'm hoping to get a short (shorter than last week's?!) long run in.

wish me luck.