the elliptical

I ellipticalled while reading real simple magazine today. what a treat. I also programmed in the wrong cross-country route (I had switched machines quickly when one with the swinging handle bars became available, and hadn't noticed that they weren't the same routes) which kind of sucked, but I didn't really bother changing it. (probably because I noticed half-way through) and then at the very end of my workout the machine went on the fritz and all my info was lost. so I have no idea how far I went, how many calories burned. nothing. I'm devastated. okay, so not really devastated. I could not actually care less about my calories, and miles on the elliptical? what does that even mean to me? I'm just happy I worked out for forty-five minutes. that's all.

I exercised before work. I haven't been able to squelch my hunger since. and I've been eating good, healthy choices spread out throughout the whole day. I guess this is what happens when your metabolism gets going early on.

45 minutes; steiner; elliptical

finally, new shoes!

okay, I have logged my first three miles on my new shoes. I ended up with the same pair of mizuno's, I do believe. but I splurged and went for the insoles. we'll see if that helps with anything.

after one mile the sides of my feet started hurting. I remember that happening as I broke in my old pair last year. so I'm not too worried. actually, after stopping and stretching they didn't bug me for the remaining two miles.

3 miles; steiner

tempo

okay, okay. so tuesday the air quality was not so good. I had decided I couldn't run outside because it was so gross. but I couldn't really go up to steiner either because I didn't have the car that day. what is a girl to do?

well, I almost did some pilates and an upper body strength workout for runners (though I don't really have any hand weights anyway) on this great little thing called excercise tv. but you don't have any special channels, anna? how did you watch exercise tv? you're right, I don't and I didn't. but you can watch some of the workouts in full length for free on their website. and I hear you can download the other workouts for, like, a buck-ninety-nine. {thanks, becca, for the hot tip!} but you almost did these workouts? what's the deal? yes, you heard me right. I almost did them. even despite the fact that I came home from work and ate a cheesy quesadilla, I was going to work out anyway. but then some neighborhood girls came over and pretty much foiled all my plans. blast! so tuesday was taken as a rest day, I suppose. kind of a bummer, but what can ya do?

so on to my workout yesterday. the tempo run. again the air quality was bad. really bad. so bad I couldn't even see the mountains. (that's the test) of course I went up to steiner to do a little treadmill love. right as I got on the thing I thought to myself, hey I should do a little tempo run! really get a sweat going. so I did. I warmed up for a mile at a slow pace. stretched. then cranked up the speed and held it for two miles. then I did a half mile at a slower pace. then I stretched. it felt really good. I'm going to have to start adding more of those workouts in. plus hill workouts. plus strength training. plus plyo. let's get serious about this marathon training! I love it.

the greatest part about it was that my knees and hamstrings didn't really freak out on me. today I can kinda feel my right hamstring, but it's not too major.

anyway, I think I'm going to go buy me some running shoes today before work. I'll even get a nice easy run in them to start the break-in process. very exciting.

the monday run

it was a really nice day today. well, except for the bad air. I ran outside anyway. I mean, it was forty degrees. how could you not?!

my legs felt great for most of it. a little sluggish in the middle of the run for no apparent reason. and at one time I had a random shooting of pain in my upper thigh/hip area. that was weird. it kind of felt like someone had stuck a syringe in my leg. it was just a quick pain, though, and then went away completely. bizarre.

my hamstring and my knees felt fine, I'm happy to report.

right before my run I looked at the clock and noticed it was 4:30pm. hot yoga was starting. I thought of all the people doing the warm-up breathing exercise and got a little sad in my heart. hot yoga how I miss you already. . .

4 miles; 6th east to 4th south to 8th east

twelve

I woke up on saturday morning to find I had no gu's in the house. not a good thing with a twelve mile run ahead of me. so I did what any self respecting runner would do, create a route that involved the running store. it was a brilliant idea. not only did I get my gu's, but I had a change of scenery as well. I bought like eight even though I really only needed one. they were all bouncing around the pockets of my fleece vest. it was a little out of control, but I dumped the rest off once I got back to the baby pug tree to finish out the miles. it all worked out like a charm.

the weather was a little cold, and though I may have been slightly underdressed it wasn't intolerable. my legs did okay until the last few miles. they started to cramp up, but that wasn't intolerable either. and really I should've expected it--or worse--since again I had such a low mile running week due to all the fabulous hot yoga. all in all, it was a great run. I've really been enjoying the long runs lately.

12 miles; baby pug tree north, 17th to 11th/highland, baby pug tree south, baby pug tree west

the week in review

monday: ran 3 miles. outside. around the park. it was one of those perfect days for running outside. the air was just so clean and crisp.

tuesday: hot yoga.

wednesday: hot yoga.

thursday: ran 2 miles. treadmill. and hot yoga. I made a breakthrough. I was able to do a full back-bend from a kneeling position. I've never been able to to do that before. ever. and I was doing the pose the teacher said, "anna, you're so close. just reach back and try to touch your heels. good. now the other. you're there! now just push out your hips!" it was amazing. I felt like a yoga superstar.

friday: hot yoga. it was the last class of the yoga blitz. I am so, so sad about that. it turns out I really like hot yoga a lot. and it's the only yoga I've found that I don' t get totally bored with ten minutes into it. {maybe I need to give other types of yoga another chance. . .} but it also turns out that hot yoga is extremely expensive. so unless someone wants to sponsor my hot yoga, it looks like if I'm doing any yoga at all it will be free yoga (at my gym or through my yogi friend, athena or something). ahh, such is life. I do feel it has helped rehabilitate my legs a little bit. which was the purpose. so that's good.

the happy birthday ten miler

yesterday was my birthday, and I had the joy of running ten miles. (that's me holding up fingers for how many miles I ran. right by my pile of presents and right by my surprise birthday breakfast, the german pancake.) the weather was nice. my body held up pretty well. just the usual aches + pains. I should probably get new shoes sometime this week, though. I just tried to take it slowly since I had only logged 3 running miles during the week. I'm going to try and do hot yoga and get some smaller runs in next week. we'll see how I feel.

10 miles; baby pug tree: south, west, north, east, west

friday's hot yoga

I went to hot yoga after work on friday. this time around it was a little harder--I don't know if I was fully present. sometimes that heat is overwhelming. it's good though. all that sweat really does feel cleansing in a way. I didn't do any of the poses where I had to bend down on my knees. I think I might have a little residual problem from that kayaking accident a year ago. so I don't want to further the problem by squatting down all the time. but hot yoga was good. I'm taking a break from it yesterday and today, but plan to go full force again through next week. I have until friday.

yoga blitz

okay, okay. I haven't ran since monday. tuesday was an easy ride on the stationary bike. wednesday + thursday--the yoga blitz!

I've signed up for a ten day bikram yoga deal at a local studio. man oh man, I loves me the hot yoga.

I'm going to do as much yoga as I can over the next ten days in hopes of loosening up a bit. getting rid of some of the kinks. then afterward I am exploring some free yoga options, which unfortunately aren't as fun as hot yoga. but dang, yoga is pricey. I'll just do it at my gym or from my friend who teaches. because I should continue in the practice on a regular bases through my training. I can only imagine it doing good things for me.

so if you're in the slc area, you should join the hot yoga craze. at least for the ten days. you can't beat it for twenty bucks.

a quickie

I wanted to run at least four miles tonight, but I didn't really have time for that. so I ran a quick three miler.

I ran around liberty, and pushed it a little. then I took 8th east home.

3 miles; liberty loop

saturday's eight

okay, okay here is my long run report.

I was a little worried about saturday's run because ever since I ran on stie's treadmill, it seems like my right hip started hurting and feeling out of sorts. (I don't know if it was caused by stie's treadmill, I just noticed it right around this time) and my knees have been acting all wonky lately. I think it might be time for new shoes. . . that might help things. I should tally up how many miles I've actually run on them.

I don't really remember my hip bothering me. my knees randomly had their moments, each one taking her turn. but overall it wasn't bad. it didn't make me cut the run short or anything, so that was good.

overall I think I felt pretty strong. it was only eight miles. next week will be ten. the next twelve. and so on. I'm out of my base phase and getting into more serious training. my mileage will be pushing upward. it's kind of exciting. at the end of each run I like to think to myself, I could do more. but I won't. it's like I'm training myself mentally, but saving my body. it's a good mental game.

8 miles; baby pug tree south, west, north, east

the friday swim

I didn't feel like running yesterday, and the water was calling my name. I just did my own workout, but think I really need to get back to the early wednesday morning masters class. it would probably be good for me.

I did the usual 500 warmup. some kicking drills. I did some sets of 100 IM's. my fly did not feel as good as it did this day. oh well. I also did some longer sets before doing a couple quick no breather 25's to end the workout. okay, so the 25's weren't exactly no breathers. I usually took about one breath. it was a good hypoxic set to end the swim. then I cooled down. fantastic workout.

swim; 1 hour

trying to remember...

monday, januray 21: worked late. went on a hot date to cocoa caffe with the lewis'. no time for running.

tuesday, january 22: 3 miles treadmill.

wednesday, january 23: 3 miles treadmill. (I think I was going to do 4, but my knee started hurting so I cut it short.)

thursday, january 24: 3.5 miles treadmill.

friday, january 25: didn't run. sat on a plane all day. but I did play hot foot with three energetic kids + one bro-inlaw. it involves a lot of running around a basement throwing boxing gloves at each other. it was quite a workout to say the least!

saturday, january 26: 6 miles treadmill. level 2 incline. (stie's treadmill is stuck and won't go any lower)

monday, january 28: 4 miles treadmill. again, level 2 incline.

tuesday, january 29: ski day!

wednesday, january 30: 3 miles. around liberty and then back via 8th east.

thursday, january 31: 4+ miles. up 17th and over to sugarhouse park via 15th east. one loop then back the way I came.

the week went as follows:

monday | run | four miles | out on the streets. did a four mile loop from the casa. felt pretty good, if I recall. maybe until the end. don't really remember.

tuesday | run | three miles | ran the liberty park loop. oh, picked up my stick from salt lake running company. I think this is going to revolutionize my life. I will end this cycle of tight muscles once and for all--I'm determined.

wednesday | ummm. . . | zero anything | okay, so I was planning on going to yoga. but then I got talked into going to a party instead. what's a girl to do? so yeah, it turned into a good quality rest day.

thursday | run | four miles | treadmill. I think it went well. can't remember anything specific.

friday | run | three miles | treadmill. kinda "raced" the girl next to me. sometimes I hate my competitive tendencies. really, it was just because she is one of those really good fast swimmers at masters, and I wanted to at least be better at her at running. needless to say I did have my treadmill cranked up higher than hers, and I wasn't even pushing it too fast, so that made me feel good about myself. I guess. like it really matters in the end, though. right?

saturday | run | ten miles | ten miles and I'm feeling great! seriously, I did not have as much of the usual aches/pains/tightness I usually do. ten miles was nothing. mentally, I think I'm right on track. and my body is following close behind. hopefully I can get it to the point where I can really push myself so as to reach that certain goal. it's kind of exciting. and scary. and I know there will be a lot of hard work involved. but maybe, just maybe I can do it.

eight

I felt good when I woke up yesterday morning. {I should have, I slept for almost twelve hours.} I felt good on the first part of my run. it was still pretty icy so I had to be careful and slow the pace a little. there was one little slip that could've been bad, but fortunately it was just sliding without the falling or even the pulling of muscles. there were a few times during the run that I didn't feel as great. I felt tight, et cetera. but then I'd feel good again. and then tight again. and then good. as always, though, it was a great time for thinking. and the weather was nice, not so cold, so it wasn't a bad run at all.

when I got home I stretched. then I took an ice bath. yikes! those are pretty intense. I filled up my bathtub with the coldest water from the tap, then poured in all of the ice cubes that we have. the hardest part about the ice bath is the pain in your feet. but once they get a little numb, it's not so bad. {that generally takes about two minutes or so.} I like to try and keep my core body temp as high I can by wearing a beanie and wrapping a towel around my shoulders. and yesterday I held my little rice bag that I heat up in the microwave for added warmth. that seemed to work nicely. you know, it kept the convulsions down to a minimum.

8 miles; baby pug tree south, west, north, east

friday

I did the elliptical. for thirty minutes. did the cross country workout. went a relatively slow pace. jammed to the juno soundtrack the whole time. loved it.

eliptical; 30 mintues; 3 miles

thankfully I remembered the ipod

I ran an easy four miles on the treadmill today. I feel a cold on the verge so I didn't want to overdo anything. I'll probably just take tomorrow as a rest day {or just an extremely easy day} and then do my long run on saturday as planned.

4 miles; steiner

the potpourri swim

I have been dreaming lately of effortless gliding through water. each time I'm swimming the backstroke. my kick feels great and releases pent up energy. the rhythm of my rotation in my stroke is both relaxing + rejuvenating. maybe my mind was trying to tell me something: my body wants to swim. {though I'm still not sure why it was calling for the backstroke. that seems random}

[does anyone else do cross training on wednesdays? I don't know why, but I've always done it on wednesdays. maybe it's just a cross training sort of day, what with it being in the middle of the week and all. tuesdays are always scheduled as speed days. is my training too predictable?]

so what with it being wednesday and all, I knew I needed to do something other than run. I also knew that my body was craving the pool. and since I didn't wake up ridiculously early this morning for masters, I was left to do it on my own.

I had no plan going into it, so I just swam whatever I felt like at the moment. I did the 500 warm up, some kicking, a few sprint 25's, some longer sets, a splattering of laps other than freestyle, I did some build: descending + ascending. . . it was a little bit of everything.

what I am most excited about is ironically not my backstroke. I mean, that felt okay, but my butterfly--oh, my butterfly! I was able to swim it! I mean, really swim it! {okay, so I wasn't doing endless laps and laps of the fly or anything. actually I did some 100 IM sets. but I was able to make it all the way without resorting to a drill. I felt fantastic, though I'm sure I still looked like a flopping fish} there's something in the rhythm of this stroke. the kicks + arm movements. maybe I'm finally feeling how it's supposed to be. how that little extra kick right before you come out of the water to breathe helps propel you forward, not upward. I don't know what it was, but it felt good. just about as good as the backstroke felt in my dreams.

swimming; steiner; 1 hour

monday | tuesday

monday: short run around liberty park. the run around the park was completely icy. out of the park, while running home, I did a little fartlek, speed play. had to be careful, though, because there were some slushy-ice patches.

tuesday: ran on the treadmill up at steiner. forgot the ipod, but was miraculously okay without it. the miles didn't drag on. I guess I was just lost in my thoughts. lost among the whirring white noise of the treadmills. lost in the darkening sky as it snuck across the valley. it was a good four mile run. I felt pretty strong. cranked that baby up a bit.

the year {so far} in review

monday, december 31st: hiked over six miles in telemark ski boots on a snowy trail. oh yeah, in the dark. {this will hopefully be another story for another day for another blog}

tuesday, january 1st: hiked over six miles in telemark ski boots on a snowy trail. this time in the daylight. it must be hard to hike in telemark ski boots for so long, because my legs were sore in slightly random places the next day.

wednesday, january 2nd: ran on the treadmill due to poor air quality. did about a 3 mile "hill" workout. tried to push myself. first time running in just the skirt. felt a little exposed while stretching, note to self.

thursday, january 3rd: took a rest day because my body was a little tired and feeling out of sorts.

friday, january 4th: did my long run so I could ski with the husband on saturday. six miles. my legs felt tired + tight.

saturday, january 5th: didn't ski because the canyon was closed until the afternoon due to heavy snow and avalanche control.