27 is a great age!

I woke up this morning to go running. Its been a while since I've done a morning run, and I can't remember ever running 30 minutes straight in the AM.

I didn't quite make it. I was surprised at how icky I felt this morning. I woke up feeling super hungry so I had a piece of (whole wheat) bread with some (natural, no salt or sugar added) peanut butter. It sat like a lump at the top of my stomach. I did 2.75 miles instead, in about 35 minutes. I ran threw a spider's web (eww!). But, I saw a deer and wished that I had my camera with me. I felt OK about the workout though, and when I got home I did the first day of the 100 push-up challenge!

Last night, I went out with my friend, Heather, to celebrate her birthday which is on Sunday. That said:

Dedicated to Heather

I met Heather working at my last job. She's one of the nicest, coolest gals I know. She actually got me to start running. I don't know exactly how it happened though I have a feeling I wanted to have something in common with her because she is SO COOL and I wanted to be cool, too. The first 5k I ever ran I did with her back in October 2007 (she totally beat me but she was there - Joe caught a great picture of her!). She was doing really well with the whole running thing, but then injured her knee. Instead of giving up, she just picked up a new sport instead (cycling) and is training for a century ride in October. She has this great balance of life: working full time, going to school part time, making time for exercise, and making time for her friends. I've very lucky to have her in my life: She's got this amazing positive personality and anyone who's ever met her can tell you that. So when I'm feeling a little run down by this whole race thing, I can think of Heather and the smile on her beautiful face and be inspired by her perseverance. Happy Birthday, Girl!

This post brought to you by the letter Dave

I had a great run today. It normally takes me around 40 minutes to do my 5k. (5 minutes walking, 30 minutes jogging, 5 minutes walking) Today it took me 35 (just the 5 minute walk and the 30 minute run... don't worry, I still cooled down)

It think it had a lot to do with a few things.
1. My massage on Saturday. When she said she opened up a lot, she wasn't joking. My muscles didn't hurt like they normally do, my knee has been feeling way better, even my shoulders felt better when I was running.
2. I've been eating really well lately. I did a modified detox this weekend, ate lots of veggies and whole grains and not a lot of dairy or sugar. I feel like I'm back on track even if I'm not perfect.
3. Dave left me another quote on my Facebook: “Sure I am this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us.” - Winston Churchill
4. I was thinking about a lot of people. People who either inspire me or cheer me on, or I'm out to prove wrong. I decided I should make a post, or a series of posts, dedicated to these people. I think the first one is obvious.

Dedicated to Dave

So, I keep mentioning Dave. When I first met him I was sure he hated me. OK, maybe hate is a strong word. But he certainly didn't seem to automatically love me like the rest of Joe's friends. He's got this wicked sense of humor that, unless you know him well or don't take things personally, can be kind of... painful. And, as someone who didn't know him well and did take things personally... you can imagine. I like to think of Dave as the last test I had to pass before I was allowed to marry Joe, because since the wedding (its about to get sappy) I feel like he's a real brother-in-law. There is some saying that friends are the family that you choose. Joe has chosen amazing friends and I just love them. When it comes to this triathlon, I know that Dave says he just wants Joe to lose (see the to-do list he edited for us), but I believe that honestly, he wants to see me succeed- not just to beat Joe, but to really succeed- even if he'd never come right out and say it. I posted on Facebook today "not feeling very motivated" and he responded with the above quote. No "just relax" quote for Joe today, just one encouraging quote for me. And that's why this post is dedicated to Dave. Love you, bro.

Always carry quarters!

So, since my last post I have:

-Completed four 30 minute runs. This week I'm planning on running Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday.

- Went to two swimming classes on the 6th and 8th, and skipped two swimming classes on the 13th and 15th... Monday I just had a case of the Monday's, and Wednesday I got stuck at work late. This week I am going today but need to skip Wednesday because Joe's dad is in town and taking us out for dinner. I probably should go to the pool on Friday to make up for it.

-Rode my bike 9.5 miles to work on Sunday. Work is really only a little over 7 miles away, depending on which roads I take, but I had to turn around and go back home about a half mile in because I forgot my key, and then I got lost trying to find the back entrance through the woods (as opposed to the super traffic-y normal entrance) But it was a nice, do-able ride so this weekend I'm planning on hitting the WO&D and trying for 12-14 miles on Saturday. In total it took me one hour and 18 minutes to go 9.5 miles at a leisurely pace. This included a stop at a lemonade stand. 10 cents for a cup of lemonade? Heck Yeah! Actually, I gave them 25 cents and told them to keep the change: 4 little kids, it was really cute. And, you just can't pass them, ya know? So, that is why I need to make sure to always have some change on me.

-Got an awesome 90 minute Deep Tissue massage from Ingrid at Sesen Spa on the 18th. Joe's parents got me a gift certificate to use after the musical I costumed and I finally used it. Ingrid is awesome. I've seen her a couple of times. She asked how pilates was going so I filled her in that I stopped for a while to train for the triathlon. She was impressed! I wanted her to work on my legs and she asked how much pain I wanted (hahaha) And I asked her to go kind of middle of the road. I actually fell asleep when she was working on my glutes and calves, but when she got to the quads... man, that was sore. But, good sore. And she always does a great job loosening up my shoulders (I gather my stress between my shoulder blades... the bad posture doesn't help.) Afterwords she complemented me on my strong legs.


This weeks schedule looks like this:

Monday: Bike 3 miles (if the weather cooperates) and swimming class
Tuesday: Run 3 miles, 100 push up challenge (I'm going to start it again), biking in the afternoon if I run in the morning.
Wednesday: Off, dinner with Joe's dad.
Thursday: dinner with Heather for her birthday, 100 push up challenge
Friday: Run 3 miles (hopefully in the morning) Bike 3 miles and Swimming make-up
Saturday: Bike 12-14 miles
Sunday: Run 3 miles, 100 push up challenge

Also, walking 30 minutes outside at lunch on any days that aren't raining.

Actual Update

So, Friday, I ended up running in the morning, and did Couch to 5K week 9, Day 1, which was a straight 30 minute run. I tried to pace myself and it didn't go too bad. My abs were still hurting from that pilates video! I took the rest of the weekend off, though.

Today, I made it to my first ever Monday swimming class!! I didn't swim as far as last time, only 1300 meters. But I'm feeling off today anyway. Thats still .81 miles so I feel OK about it. And I feel like I'm learning a lot which is important. I forgot my water bottle again... it made it into the gym but I locked it in my locker. So next time, I'll remember it!

Dave posted new quotes for Joe and I....

Mine: "Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan." - Tom Landry

Joe's: "By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning." - Lao Tzu

And, a relatively new friend of ours complimented me and told me that I am "striking" which was a much needed boost to my ego. :-D

Tomorrow, I go running. One of the running magazines I get mentioned that athletes who sleep 10 hours a night perform better than those who get less. I'm not that hard core, but I really need to start getting 8, which would put me in bed at 10:30 if I'm waking up to run, and 11:00 if I'm not. So, I should go get ready for bed!!

I woke up this morning feeling in love with the world, and as the day went on I lost more and more energy. I got home from work and was laying on the couch, and basically had to drag myself to swimming class. I drove instead of riding my bike... but I feel much better having gone. I did get out for a walk on my lunch break which helped a little bit mid day.

Yoga decision, Feet, and tennis balls

So, I'm pretty sure I've decided not to take the class, to work on getting Yoga Today to work or just come up with my own practice. Then in the fall I can sign up through the county again if I want (since, I don't know if I'll stick with swimming after the triathlon, and if I do I'd likely drop to once a week anyway, which would free up some time in the week.

So, I have issues with my feet. One of them is that my feet are really big for a woman (I wear a size 12, which is a 10.5 mens) so finding shoes has always been an issue. Sneakers aren't so bad, i could always just wear men's sneakers if I had to but when buying running sneakers I haven't had any problems getting those. Really, its the cute, girly, can wear to work or out on a date shoes that I've struggled with. This lead me to many years of wearing cheap Old Navy men's flip flops or shoes from Payless which were sometimes cute but never really comfortable, or shoving my feet into shoes that were too small. When I moved to VA I was introduced to Nordstrom Rack by a shoe-ista friend of mine. Nice, cute shoes (heels even!!) up to a size 13. HEAVEN!

Now, I also have relatively high arches. Again, sneakers usually take care of this problem but casual shoes, even in the right size, still aren't all that supportive. And, I like to walk around bare footed. There is some research that walking around barefoot is the best for your feet, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason my foot problems only started developing now that I'm older is that as a kid I spent most of the summer not wearing shoes. But, I digress. I had seen a doctor about my feet cramping when I was in Rochester, and she told me I had Plantar Fasciitis so I knew about that anyway.

Last summer, we took our annual trip to Atlantic City. I'm not a gambler, so I tend to just wander around the boardwalk with whoever happens to be my baby-sitter for the evening. I made a huge mistake though, and wore a (really cute) pair of mary jane style maroon patent heels to walk around the boadrwalk. The shoe itself was pretty comfy, but the heel was too skinny, and kept getting stuck between the boards, on top of the fact that I was walking, A LOT. The next day I noticed my feet were hurting, but figured it just happened because the of the shoes and that it would go away. My right foot got better, my left one didn't. A month went by and there was still a spot on the ball of my foot under my big toe that was killing me. I had already switched to wearing only flats, got some over the counter inserts for them, tried walking around barefoot as much as possible (even on my walks on my lunch break), only wore my good teva flip flops instead of the cheap plastic ones. The only time I wore heels was during dance class (Joe and I were taking ballroom lessons and private lessons to prepare for the wedding). Eventually it got to the point where I knew I had to see a podiatrist, but I was afraid she was going to tell me I had to wear a cast or a boot or couldn't wear my wedding shoes, and so I put it off until after we got back from our honeymoon (middle of November). Actually, wearing sneakers around Mexico and doing yoga almost ever morning really seemed to help.

So, off to the podiatrist I go. She was great (Dr. Theresa Fahy in Vienna, VA). She understood that I wanted to wear cute shoes sometimes and that I didn't need to give them up completely. However, until my foot heeled I would. The x-ray showed nothing broken. She gave me some anti-inflamitories, a cortisone shot into my metatarsals , and told me to wear stiff soled shoes or sneakers (like cross trainers rather than running sneakers) all the time. So, I bought a pair of Danskos which my mom (a nurse) always swore by. Eventually, my foot did start feeling better, and I started wearing other shoes again. Whenever my feet start to hurt, I wear the Danskos for a day or two and that usually helps. Also, she showed me some feet stretches to work on the plantar fasciitis, and yoga tends to stretch it out as well.

One thing she told me to do was to keep a tennis ball at my desk at work and at home, and to roll my foot over it daily. I kinda kept forgetting to go out and get tennis balls to do this, but finally (a half a year later) I did! Let me tell you it just feels GREAT! It's like a do-it-yourself foot massage!

I found another great article on that goes over it a little bit, as well as some other uses for the tennis ball that I'm going to try out. Its very related to the Foam Roller concept that I learned about in pilates, as well as an old trick my mom always used on our calf muscles: a rolling pin. Its why massage works on releasing sore muscles, also.

Yoga class or solitary practice

So, I received a phone call from the rec center where my yoga class was: it was canceled due to low enrollment. So, now I have Thursday nights available and I'm mulling over my options:

-There is a class at a yoga studio not to far away from home, which costs $135 for 9 sessions and starts this Thursday. It's about as much as the rec center one cost (well, a little more but there are more classes) I already had the time blocked off for yoga, I do like practicing with other people, having an instructor there to correct me and guide me, and committing to a class makes it more likely that I'll show up. The down side is that I'm already not at home 2 nights a week, and am afraid of getting burned out, which has happened before.

-Have Thursday's off and practice on my own. This allows for my schedule to be a little flexible and gives me some time to do chores. And saves me $135 bucks. However, when I schedule time for myself its usually the first thing to go when its flexible enough to go, and when I'm tempted to do other things instead. Also, it means I need to find space in my condo to do yoga, and I'm a tall gal, and we don't have a lot of space. However, I'd like to test my abilities to commit to myself and treat yoga on Thursdays like a class. And if I can somehow set up my computer in a way that YogaToday would work... I might be able to do it.

I went to the YogaToday site, and it looks like they've changed a bit. They still have free class every week, but now you have the option to buy each hour long class (there are over 160 to choose from) for $3.99 or sign up for a monthly subscription ($9.99) and then classes cost $2.99 to download. Still a great deal in my opinion. I wonder if downloading the class would make it able to work on our TV somehow....

An off week, but a great run and an awesome compliment

So... I missed swimming again on Monday. Again, I got all the way there only to realize that I didn't have the key to lock my bike up. So, I went for an extended ride home and logged 9 miles, which isn't too bad.

Tuesday, I went for a run. This was week 8 day 3 of my Couch to 5k program. It felt great! For the first time I was able to think about things other than the typical "OMG my legs hurt/I can't breathe/why am I doing this?!" and felt like I finished the run with a clearer head. Its a big transition, where it stops being exercise and starts being almost meditative. I also managed to shave off 30 seconds from my total time from my front door, following the same path, back to the front door. it usually takes me 40something minutes (its 3.1 miles total, but I walk for 5 minutes, then run 28, then walk the rest). So i went from 40:38 to 40:10. And I felt it when I was running, I got just a little bit farther.

Wednesday: I purposfully skipped swimming. To be honest, I just didn't feel like going. Instead, we did some shopping and cleaning (which was much needed!!) and then I did a pilates mat work-out video. I already knew I didn't like mat as much as I love the reformer, but I need to make sure I'm getting in at least one core workout a week. I also need to add some resistance training as well, but one thing at a time! I can't miss any more swimming workouts though.

Today: Maybe I'll get out of work early and go for a run. We have a friend coming in from out of town, so I'm missing yoga. And there is the weekend ahead of me that will not be diet friendly! But thats OK: a holiday weekend is not going to ruin me.

Happy news: I connected, via facebook, with a guy I had a huge crush on in middle school. (I was embarassingly pathetic, but who wasn't back then!) Anyway, he complimented me on how athletic I am and how good I look, and said I should keep up the good work! Seriously, this is the best part of Facebook. He's right, I have come a long way from my days back in Bethlehem, and my passport photo shows it! The old one was taken in 1999 (my junior year of HS) and the new one was taken last summer. I'll have to find a full body picture at some point so you can REALLY see the difference. I'm very proud of myself! I am slowly considering myself to be athletic, which is a big shift for me.