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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Weekly Running Update (10/21 -10/27/09)

Weekly running mileage: 52 miles (planned 48 miles)

Wednesday: 4 miles at 5.5mph (planned 0 miles). Remember last Monday when I started my planned run very late because I'd had dinner with a friend? And I then let a phone call interrupt and ultimately end my run 4 miles early? Well this was payback. Enjoyable payback, however, as I watched a very entertaining episode of "Top Chef".

Thursday: 6 miles at 5.5mph (planned 6 miles). I didn't have much selection at Blockbuster. I would have liked to immediately continue with season 3 of "The L Word" but the didn't have it. I decided I'd watch "Lost" instead. I'd watched the first season years ago on the treadmill, but thought it'd be best if I started over again now.

Friday: 9 miles at 6.7mph (planned 9 miles). Did this run while doing some major multi-tasking... baking chicken while running.

Saturday: miles (planned 6 miles). Was up north at Sure Game Resort, northwest of Grand Rapids. Instead of doing my planned run (which I was never really planning on doing) we did about 8 miles of hiking at Scenic State Park and around the Lost 40. I call this at least the equivalent of the planned/unplanned slow 6 miles.

Sunday: 9 miles at 6.7mph + 8x0.6mi repeats at 9mph (planned 9+ miles). This run felt great. I was starting to think that I couldn't/shouldn't expect myself to run comfortable at a 9min/mi pace until I got my running chops back, but this run went very well.

Monday: 6 miles at 5.5mph (planned 6 miles). I may have to pick up my "slow" pace because it's starting to feel painfully slow.

Tuesday: 12 miles at an average of 6.13mph while moving (planned 12 miles). This run kinda sucked as I was having stomach problems. I blame this on either a) new Omega-3 supplement sample I received and started yesterday, b) "fat burner" supplements I re-started today (had taken w/o problem in the past), or c) 6 rather-small chocolate chip cookies I received from my Grandma (after Boston Market for lunch). I finished the miles, but had to stop too often, dragging the run longer than planned.

Monday, October 26, 2009

I know I'm a real woman because...

... we had a flat tire on my truck up north on Sunday, luckily while still at the resort at which we were staying and not while on the drive home. Until we enlisted the help of the resort owner, I was definitely in charge of the tire-changing process, and I actually felt pretty confident in making it happen. But at no point did it ever occur to me to actually lie down on the wet, cold, pine-needled ground and scootch under the truck. Yes, I did kneel down while detaching the spare, but I put a towel down so I wasn't kneeling on the ground. However EVERY single man who is now helped with the tire immediately was down on the ground. Heck, at the gas station today the tire-man laid himself down on the parking lot asphalt.

(Aside: All this lying down didn't really seem to be necessary or accomplish much more than I could do while squatting. I wasn't going to argue with anyone's technique, however, as I don't need to do any more "man stuff" than I already do.)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Weekly Running Update (10/14 -10/20/09)

Weekly running mileage: 32 miles (planned 36 miles)

Wednesday: 6 miles at 5.5mph (planned 0 miles). Already skipping my rest days. Actually I just preemptively switched my planned Wednesday and Thursday runs as I was giving blood after work on Thursday and didn't want to commit to running after that. I have a history of fainting as I stand and eat my post-donation snack. And also a history of this.

Thursday: 0 miles (planned 6 miles). Successfully shared some of my O+ with the world. No fainting. Forced myself to sit at the recovery table for 10 minutes eating pretzels. My blood pressure prior to giving was 88/58. Does that seem awfully low?

Friday: 6 miles at 5.5mph (planned 6 miles)

Saturday: 0 miles (planned 0 miles). I scored some free tickets to the Home Improvement Expo at the Mpls Convention Center, so Eforce and I headed down there. I bought a book called "Whiteout" by a local author. I think the author is local; the publisher is.

Sunday: 8 miles at 6.7mph (planned 8+ miles). Also did a little speed work: 0.06mi x4 at 9mph (That's for you, Steve... I know you like to see me write in treadmill lingo). I planned on doing x8, but I noticed that although I'd feel fine running the fast speed I would feel pretty crappy for the time between repeats (0.06mi at 5mph... I'm not going to spend the time to convert that to minutes). My heart would feel like it was pounding out of my chest even the I could tell my pulse was racing. And then I started feeling a little faint. After the 4th repeat my world started swimming around me and I decided I really didn't want to risk passing out and flying off the back end of the treadmill. We were supposed to go golfing at Bunker Hills Golf Course in the afternoon. For X-mas about 2 years ago I gave RR a gift certificate for a round of golf that we keep putting off. And we did yet again. Maybe 2010?

Monday: 2 miles at 5.5mph (planned 6 miles). Got together with a friend for dinner (Potbelly's with a chocolate malt) and didn't get home until late.

Tuesday: 10 miles at 6.7mph (planned 10 miles). Finished the second season of "The L Word." Now I need to decide what I'm going to watch next; do I immediately jump to season 3 (which will involve renting it from Blockbuster) or do I watch "The World At War" (which I already have at my house)?

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Weekly Running Update (10/11-10/13/09)

Weekly running mileage: 15 miles

Sunday: Watched a "Numb3rs" marathon on TNT and then the Twins. No running.

Monday: 5 miles, rather slow.

Tuesday: 10 miles

Yes, this was quite the short "week" if you count the number of days, but I ran more miles than last week. I'm still plugging away at "The L Word" and I continue to have the same opinion: some of the story lines are SO contrived, but I really do enjoy it. I also have "The World at War" to watch next. My other television watching goals include "Lost". And maybe the last 4 seasons of "Curb Your Enthusiasm". I also think I'm behind on "The Shield" and "24". I had better get running.

Why would I do a mid-week report like this? Well, I'm starting a training plan tomorrow and it will just be more organized if I mirror my reporting week to a training week. Makes sense, right?

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Weekly Running Update (10/4-10/10/09)

Weekly running mileage: 10 miles

Sunday: 5 hours spent setting up deer stands up near Two Harbors.

Monday: 5 miles. And no, I didn't watch the Vikings as I ran.

Tuesday: Wild home opener with my dad! No time to run today.

Wednesday: Work meeting after work. Long day.

Thursday: Nope.

Friday: Dinner with a friend after work.

Saturday: Nope.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Weekly Running Update (9/27-10/3/09)

Weekly running mileage: 20 miles

Sunday: 10 miles. Finished in time to tune into the last 5 minutes of the Vikings game.

Monday: Didn't run.

Tuesday: Didn't run.

Wednesday: 5 miles

Thursday: 5 miles

Friday: Packing the camper to leave for the weekend. Meant to run on my afternoon off, but was called in to work.

Saturday: About 4 miles of hiking at Jay Cooke State Park. A little rainy most of the day and evening, but still had a good time. As we were multi-tasking this trip by bringing the camper loaded down with RR and V's deer stands we did not bring our bikes.

I blame my low weekly mileage directly on Ken Burns and his documentary on the National Parks. Or perhaps on PBS, who thought it would be a good idea to run the 6 part mini-series 6 days in a row. I felt tied to my t.v. for 4 days in a row before I finally had to say "enough" and resolve to watch the last 2 parts on DVD. A very good show, but I can't handle 2 hours of it every night all week. And why didn't I just run WHILE watching the show? Because it's "talk-heavy" and it's sometimes too hard to catch all the words while running. And I just didn't feel like it.