Howdy.
Here I am, delinquent again. Things have been insane around here this fall. Since the marathon I've worked a lot, begun my reconstruction, traveled a lot, and hardly run at all.
The first step of my reconstructive surgery was on 10/25. Briefly, the doctor placed tissue expanders under the pectoralis major muscle on each side, which also required "releasing" part of the muscle from its attachment to my chest wall. This was not an overly pleasant process. Those expanders had 50cc of saline in them, and I've been going back approximately weekly to have 30cc more injected. Those injections involve finding the metal port in each expander with a magnet, inserting a needle (which I'm sure is scary, but have thus far managed to avoid looking at), and slowly injecting the fluid. I feel sore for a few days after each fill, kind of like I've done too many pushups, but since about 2 weeks after the initial surgery it hasn't felt bad. At this point I don't even need Advil after the fills, though I did need vicodin and valium quite regularly after the initial surgery. Once my expanders are full and my muscles have had time to adapt, I'll have a second surgery to swap out the expanders for permanent implants. Then it'll be a few more weeks of recovery and I should be back to normal.
Travel has involved trips to NC and PA which left me feeling like I'd been traveling continuously for 2 weeks, and if I have to travel more I might consider setting up a campsite in Chicago O'Hare. After all, I seem to be delayed for several hours every time I fly through there.
Running has been low by necessity. After my surgery I was expecting to be off running for about 6 weeks. Two weeks in, the doctor told me I was healing very well and could try running if I wanted to. I didn't feel right about it so I waited, but the following weekend stress was taking its toll and I just had to try. It didn't feel so great...really, you don't realize how much you use a muscle until it's sore. I waited a bit longer, and then tried again on Thanksgiving day. This time the only thing that hurt was my stomach from all the food I'd eaten earlier that day. The next day I ran again....and then there was another week of travel during which I didn't run at all.
So, I'm back to the blog in an attempt to hold myself accountable to something. Running will still be hit and miss, I think, until I get through this process and start to feel more like myself again. I'll do it some, though. Really I just need to be more consistent with getting in any exercise at all, so I'm making it a goal to get out for a real walk, not just a stroll, 4 times this week. I'm also going to try yoga, but to be quite honest I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it yet. For this week, I'll just make it a goal to try once and see how it goes.
So there we go. This week, 4 walks and 1 attempt at yoga, plus hopefully some running. And more travel, this time to see Doug's family in Illinois.
Happy running.
Showing posts with label Random Thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Random Thoughts. Show all posts
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Saturday, April 09, 2011
Absolute Torture
Howdy.
A hazard inherent in my work is that I know far too much about my body, have been tested far too many times in far too many ways, and am never happy with the results.
A few weeks ago I underwent yet another treadmill VO2max test - I think this was probably my 10th. The last time I did this, I fell above the 95th percentile for age and sex and was (mostly) happy with those results. More than the max, I was happy with the fact that my ventilatory threshold occurred at more than 80% of my VO2max. It's important to remember that the last time I was tested was two years ago, before the cancer diagnosis and beating my body into the ground with chemo. Even so...I was hugely disappointed to see that my max had dropped about 6 points compared to last time and with it, my ventilatory threshold.
None of this REALLY matters, mind you, because I'm running faster over long distances than I was back before chemo. Whether my short distance speed is still around remains to be seen (possibly next weekend), but at least in some ways I'm performing better than I used to. And apparently I'm quite the economical runner, which helps in putting more of that oxygen to good use.
Exhibit B is in progress right now. The current project for the (one!) class I'm taking this semester concerns measurement of physical activity. Easy - we're all wearing pedometers for about a week and completing 24-hour physical activity recalls every morning, for the previous day.
Now, I knew I spent a lot of time sitting. I mean, I'm a PhD student. My fingers may as well be glued to my keyboard and my rear to my desk chair. I work a full day on campus, followed often by an equivalent number of hours at home in the evening. But to actually quantify it - ugh. The torture. A sampling (the numbers in columns B-G are daily totals of time spent in each intensity, in hours):
Interesting how all the step counts end in 504, huh?
All I can say is, thank heavens I run. Friday I didn't, clearly. Today I ran 10 miles and I'm sitting around 20,000 steps right now. If you estimate 2,000 steps per mile, well....you can see how much I did the rest of the day.
There's a new area of research that has been getting a lot of attention lately - sedentary time. Turns out that it looks like sedentary time is an independent risk factor for all the diseases we usually associate with physical activity - cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, etc. Previously it was thought that if we could just increase the amount of time people spend being active in the moderate- to vigorous- intensity ranges, we'd reduce the prevalence of those diseases. That does work. However, now it looks like it's not enough to meet physical activity recommendations - we also need to sit less. So even though I meet the recommendations for weekly physical activity (far exceed, in fact), I may still be at relatively high risk of a whole host of chronic diseases precisely because I spend upwards of 10 hours a day, sitting at a desk, studying the development of these diseases.
Oh the cruel, cruel irony.
A hazard inherent in my work is that I know far too much about my body, have been tested far too many times in far too many ways, and am never happy with the results.
A few weeks ago I underwent yet another treadmill VO2max test - I think this was probably my 10th. The last time I did this, I fell above the 95th percentile for age and sex and was (mostly) happy with those results. More than the max, I was happy with the fact that my ventilatory threshold occurred at more than 80% of my VO2max. It's important to remember that the last time I was tested was two years ago, before the cancer diagnosis and beating my body into the ground with chemo. Even so...I was hugely disappointed to see that my max had dropped about 6 points compared to last time and with it, my ventilatory threshold.
None of this REALLY matters, mind you, because I'm running faster over long distances than I was back before chemo. Whether my short distance speed is still around remains to be seen (possibly next weekend), but at least in some ways I'm performing better than I used to. And apparently I'm quite the economical runner, which helps in putting more of that oxygen to good use.
Exhibit B is in progress right now. The current project for the (one!) class I'm taking this semester concerns measurement of physical activity. Easy - we're all wearing pedometers for about a week and completing 24-hour physical activity recalls every morning, for the previous day.
Now, I knew I spent a lot of time sitting. I mean, I'm a PhD student. My fingers may as well be glued to my keyboard and my rear to my desk chair. I work a full day on campus, followed often by an equivalent number of hours at home in the evening. But to actually quantify it - ugh. The torture. A sampling (the numbers in columns B-G are daily totals of time spent in each intensity, in hours):
All I can say is, thank heavens I run. Friday I didn't, clearly. Today I ran 10 miles and I'm sitting around 20,000 steps right now. If you estimate 2,000 steps per mile, well....you can see how much I did the rest of the day.
There's a new area of research that has been getting a lot of attention lately - sedentary time. Turns out that it looks like sedentary time is an independent risk factor for all the diseases we usually associate with physical activity - cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, etc. Previously it was thought that if we could just increase the amount of time people spend being active in the moderate- to vigorous- intensity ranges, we'd reduce the prevalence of those diseases. That does work. However, now it looks like it's not enough to meet physical activity recommendations - we also need to sit less. So even though I meet the recommendations for weekly physical activity (far exceed, in fact), I may still be at relatively high risk of a whole host of chronic diseases precisely because I spend upwards of 10 hours a day, sitting at a desk, studying the development of these diseases.
Oh the cruel, cruel irony.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Old Habits
Howdy.
Last week was spring break - a much needed break from my crazy daily routine and a chance to get out of dodge and visit my parents for a week. Not the glamorous beach vacation so many of my students had planned, but man was I looking forward to it. You see, I had felt that I couldn't take a trip for break because there was just too much work I needed to get done, but a couple weeks before break my mom called and suggested that I head home. It was perfect - my parents would still have to work, so I could just work during the day as if I had not, in fact, taken a vacation, but then I could relax with them in the evenings. Mom planned to take a couple days off at the end of the week, and I planned to take those days off as well.
And so, I packed my suitcase with clothes (which were far too warm), 70 exams, 70 homework assignments, and dissertation materials, and headed off on my grand spring break adventure.
Rather than sit at the house and work while my parents were at their offices (because let's face it, I would have snoozed and watched TV all day, since we don't have cable at our house), I went to work with my mom that Monday. I spent a few hours in her office that morning, and in the afternoon I headed up to my dad's office to have a grading party. It took no time at all to notice I'd fallen back into my old habits.
I did an internship in my mom's building when I was finishing my BS. This seems like a weird thing to remember, but bear with me - I had a favorite bathroom stall when I worked there. You all probably do too. I bet 9 times out of 10, if you walk into a bathroom you use regularly, you go to the same stall. Well..that Monday morning, I realized I had chosen the same stall all over again.
When I walked up to Dad's office, I went to cross the quad in the same spot I always used to...except the sidewalk wasn't there anymore! I went around but I swear to you, it made me twitchy. The next day, I walked across the grass where the sidewalk should have been.
The first time I walked into Dad's building, I walked in the same door I always used to, up the stairs to the second floor...and when I opened that door, I smelled the same old smell. I marched myself right to his office, knocked on the door, and expected the squeak of his old desk chair. Turns out he has a new chair, and I was a little sad not to hear the squeak. Anyway - I walked into his office and told him the smell was still the same. Of course he asked what the smell is and I honestly haven't the slightest idea. Books maybe? No other floor in that building has that smell, it's only his floor.
When we walked home from campus that day it wasn't my habits I noticed, but my dad's. He walks the same route (don't we all?), crosses the street in the same spot every time. It made me think of the neighborhood I used to live in, during Grad School - Part I. I always got off the bus and headed home, crossing the street in the same spot (and not at an intersection) each time. Once, when D and I hadn't been together long, I tried explaining to him why I do it. He laughed at me then...but he does it now too.
The last one isn't related to spring break stuff, but I thought of it while thinking about the rest of this stuff. My hair is now officially long enough for a pony tail. Upon coming to that realization, it took me about half a second to fall into the old habit of wearing hair bands on my wrist and pulling my hair back most of the time.
We're all slaves to all those old habits...
Stay tuned for another post soon. No time to write it now (sleeping would really be smart), but I had some wonderful therapy time in the forest yesterday. Coming soon!
Last week was spring break - a much needed break from my crazy daily routine and a chance to get out of dodge and visit my parents for a week. Not the glamorous beach vacation so many of my students had planned, but man was I looking forward to it. You see, I had felt that I couldn't take a trip for break because there was just too much work I needed to get done, but a couple weeks before break my mom called and suggested that I head home. It was perfect - my parents would still have to work, so I could just work during the day as if I had not, in fact, taken a vacation, but then I could relax with them in the evenings. Mom planned to take a couple days off at the end of the week, and I planned to take those days off as well.
And so, I packed my suitcase with clothes (which were far too warm), 70 exams, 70 homework assignments, and dissertation materials, and headed off on my grand spring break adventure.
Rather than sit at the house and work while my parents were at their offices (because let's face it, I would have snoozed and watched TV all day, since we don't have cable at our house), I went to work with my mom that Monday. I spent a few hours in her office that morning, and in the afternoon I headed up to my dad's office to have a grading party. It took no time at all to notice I'd fallen back into my old habits.
I did an internship in my mom's building when I was finishing my BS. This seems like a weird thing to remember, but bear with me - I had a favorite bathroom stall when I worked there. You all probably do too. I bet 9 times out of 10, if you walk into a bathroom you use regularly, you go to the same stall. Well..that Monday morning, I realized I had chosen the same stall all over again.
When I walked up to Dad's office, I went to cross the quad in the same spot I always used to...except the sidewalk wasn't there anymore! I went around but I swear to you, it made me twitchy. The next day, I walked across the grass where the sidewalk should have been.
The first time I walked into Dad's building, I walked in the same door I always used to, up the stairs to the second floor...and when I opened that door, I smelled the same old smell. I marched myself right to his office, knocked on the door, and expected the squeak of his old desk chair. Turns out he has a new chair, and I was a little sad not to hear the squeak. Anyway - I walked into his office and told him the smell was still the same. Of course he asked what the smell is and I honestly haven't the slightest idea. Books maybe? No other floor in that building has that smell, it's only his floor.
When we walked home from campus that day it wasn't my habits I noticed, but my dad's. He walks the same route (don't we all?), crosses the street in the same spot every time. It made me think of the neighborhood I used to live in, during Grad School - Part I. I always got off the bus and headed home, crossing the street in the same spot (and not at an intersection) each time. Once, when D and I hadn't been together long, I tried explaining to him why I do it. He laughed at me then...but he does it now too.
The last one isn't related to spring break stuff, but I thought of it while thinking about the rest of this stuff. My hair is now officially long enough for a pony tail. Upon coming to that realization, it took me about half a second to fall into the old habit of wearing hair bands on my wrist and pulling my hair back most of the time.
We're all slaves to all those old habits...
Stay tuned for another post soon. No time to write it now (sleeping would really be smart), but I had some wonderful therapy time in the forest yesterday. Coming soon!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
ABC's
I came across Lisa's blog today, thanks to a new connection on The Daily Mile. Since I just finished grading 70 exams I thought I'd take a little break from work, and what better way to procrastinate than filling out random, useless surveys?
That's what I thought. So:
A) Age: 30 (gah!)
B) Bed Size: Queen, but the dog gets at least 2/3 of it.
C) Chore You Really Dislike: Cleaning the bathroom. There's nothing I hate more..especially such a small bathroom. You'd think it would be nice because there's less to clean but NO! It's harder.
D) Dogs? Kona. She's my best buddy and gets most of the credit for my fitness level - border collies and pointers make for high-energy puppers.
E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Coffee. Is there anything else?
F) Favorite color: You can't ask me to choose....green or purple. I won't choose between them.
G) Gold or silver? Silver
H) Height: 5’10"
I) Instruments you play: Used to play: flute, mallets, oboe, trumpet, alto sax, random percussion, and I fumbled around with guitar and piano. Now I play guitar, or will if I can ever find the time to sit down with it again.
J) Job title: Officially I think it's Graduate Teaching Assistant. There are many other unofficial words for it.
K) Kids: Eventually.
L) Live: In a cute old (built 1920) bungalow that I love....in a neighborhood that's declining fast. We're moving again in August...sigh.
M) Mom’s Name: We'll skip this one...
N) Nicknames: None I'm willing to share...
O) Overnight hospital stays: One. My blood pressure and heart rate were really low and the alarm kept waking me up. The nurse finally turned it off somewhere around 3 in the morning.
P) Pet peeve: Since I'm teaching, people who make lecture slides with improper notation (that "2" on "O2" is supposed to be a subscript!), too many words, or mixed up fonts.
Q) Quote from a movie: Uh....
R) Right or left handed? Left. The cooler one.
S) Siblings? Two younger brothers.
T) Time you wake up? Too effing early.
U) Underwear: How can this be a question? Yes, always...except running in the summer.
V) Vegetable you dislike: Mushrooms. What disgusting texture.
W) What makes you run late? The darn snooze button.
X) X-rays: I'm practically a professional.
Y) Yummy food you make: Black bean and corn enchiladas, lentil tacos, and chocolate chess pie!
Z) Zoo, favorite animal: Oryx. You should hear the sound they make.
And now off to enjoy more spring break!
That's what I thought. So:
A) Age: 30 (gah!)
B) Bed Size: Queen, but the dog gets at least 2/3 of it.
C) Chore You Really Dislike: Cleaning the bathroom. There's nothing I hate more..especially such a small bathroom. You'd think it would be nice because there's less to clean but NO! It's harder.
D) Dogs? Kona. She's my best buddy and gets most of the credit for my fitness level - border collies and pointers make for high-energy puppers.
E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Coffee. Is there anything else?
F) Favorite color: You can't ask me to choose....green or purple. I won't choose between them.
G) Gold or silver? Silver
H) Height: 5’10"
I) Instruments you play: Used to play: flute, mallets, oboe, trumpet, alto sax, random percussion, and I fumbled around with guitar and piano. Now I play guitar, or will if I can ever find the time to sit down with it again.
J) Job title: Officially I think it's Graduate Teaching Assistant. There are many other unofficial words for it.
K) Kids: Eventually.
L) Live: In a cute old (built 1920) bungalow that I love....in a neighborhood that's declining fast. We're moving again in August...sigh.
M) Mom’s Name: We'll skip this one...
N) Nicknames: None I'm willing to share...
O) Overnight hospital stays: One. My blood pressure and heart rate were really low and the alarm kept waking me up. The nurse finally turned it off somewhere around 3 in the morning.
P) Pet peeve: Since I'm teaching, people who make lecture slides with improper notation (that "2" on "O2" is supposed to be a subscript!), too many words, or mixed up fonts.
Q) Quote from a movie: Uh....
R) Right or left handed? Left. The cooler one.
S) Siblings? Two younger brothers.
T) Time you wake up? Too effing early.
U) Underwear: How can this be a question? Yes, always...except running in the summer.
V) Vegetable you dislike: Mushrooms. What disgusting texture.
W) What makes you run late? The darn snooze button.
X) X-rays: I'm practically a professional.
Y) Yummy food you make: Black bean and corn enchiladas, lentil tacos, and chocolate chess pie!
Z) Zoo, favorite animal: Oryx. You should hear the sound they make.
And now off to enjoy more spring break!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Struggle Bus
Friends just recently introduced me to this term, and I heard a few students use it yesterday also. Right now, there's nothing that better describes where I am so I've adopted it for my own use.
Being sick the past week has really knocked me down a notch or two. Everything's a struggle this week - I'm sure part of that is left-over fatigue but I think a lot of it is just that I'm ready for a break. So very ready for a break. Fortunately spring break is coming, but it's still a week and a half away.
(Not that I'm counting, oh no. And certainly I haven't considered making a paper chain.)
If anyone happens to find my mojo - running, work, or otherwise - would you please send it back home?
Being sick the past week has really knocked me down a notch or two. Everything's a struggle this week - I'm sure part of that is left-over fatigue but I think a lot of it is just that I'm ready for a break. So very ready for a break. Fortunately spring break is coming, but it's still a week and a half away.
(Not that I'm counting, oh no. And certainly I haven't considered making a paper chain.)
If anyone happens to find my mojo - running, work, or otherwise - would you please send it back home?
Monday, February 21, 2011
At Least I'm Consistent
Looks like it was about this time last year that I came down with the chest cold from hell. Or at least, I thought that was the chest cold from hell.
Let me tell you, it had NOTHING on this year's version. Goodness.
Backing up, I'm still struggling with my running mojo but things have gone reasonably well the last couple weeks, considering. Two Fridays ago I got in a fast 7 miles (as in 58 minutes fast!) with some other PhD students, followed by two GREAT days of skiing in almost spring-like weather. Monday and Tuesday were busy as usual (and my legs were fried Monday, anyway) but I was looking forward to getting in some running during our February thaw. Ha! Wednesday I went out with 2 of the 3 fast PhD students for 3.5 miles in under 30 minutes and then Thursday, it happened.
The disease hit.
It started innocently enough. I woke with a cough on Thursday morning and knew I was in for a long day. It was forecast to be in the 50s but I knew I'd better dress a little warmer since I was clearly coming down with something. I sent a whiny "I'm sick" text to my mom that morning, but expected to make it through the day.
On my way into campus, I stopped for a cup of coffee. I couldn't stop coughing in the coffeehouse - don't you just hate that? I always feel like everyone around me thinks I have the Plague and I always want to explain that it's the transition from the outside to inside air that makes me do that. Anyway. Got my coffee, arrived at my office, sat down to work...and didn't even want to drink that coffee.
That's bad news, I'm telling you. I finally poured the cup out this morning - I don't think I even drank 1/4 of it.
By 10 AM I was freezing, shivering uncontrollably, and knew I wouldn't make it through the day. I found someone to teach my evening class, finished my grading, canceled office hours, and tried to last until my scheduled noon meeting. The second that meeting was over I headed home and hit the couch.
I stayed on the couch until about 10 PM, at which time I moved to the bed. Stayed there until, oh....Saturday. Basically. Friday morning I did get up to go to the doctor. My hips, glutes, and legs were hurting so badly you would have thought I ran 100 miles the day before. Clearly, however, I did not. I was sure this was the flu. The doctor, on the other hand, was not. She sent me home saying it was "justavirus" of the upper respiratory variety, and I just needed to rest and drink fluids.
And so I did, all weekend long.
Today I can finally stand for extended periods of time. I've stopped drinking Gatorade, actually eaten a couple meals, and coffee is (mostly) appealing this morning. I think I'll probably be able to stand for 80 minutes to teach my class..but I'm not entirely convinced yet. I know I'll have to go straight to bed when I finally get home.
But you know what? I missed some of the grossest conditions of the year so far. I mean yeah it was warm and that would have been nice, but everything was so soggy and ugly. That first thaw of the year there's litter everywhere (that had been hidden under the snow) and the only snow left is the piles along the road that are crusted in nasty black road disgustingness. Yesterday we got a fresh blanket a new snow - about 10" worth! Today we're forecast to get up to 3 more inches.
And so I'd like to thank the Justavirus of Death for choosing a weekend of no skiing and ask it to please leave me healthy enough to enjoy this new, fresh snow.
Let me tell you, it had NOTHING on this year's version. Goodness.
Backing up, I'm still struggling with my running mojo but things have gone reasonably well the last couple weeks, considering. Two Fridays ago I got in a fast 7 miles (as in 58 minutes fast!) with some other PhD students, followed by two GREAT days of skiing in almost spring-like weather. Monday and Tuesday were busy as usual (and my legs were fried Monday, anyway) but I was looking forward to getting in some running during our February thaw. Ha! Wednesday I went out with 2 of the 3 fast PhD students for 3.5 miles in under 30 minutes and then Thursday, it happened.
The disease hit.
It started innocently enough. I woke with a cough on Thursday morning and knew I was in for a long day. It was forecast to be in the 50s but I knew I'd better dress a little warmer since I was clearly coming down with something. I sent a whiny "I'm sick" text to my mom that morning, but expected to make it through the day.
On my way into campus, I stopped for a cup of coffee. I couldn't stop coughing in the coffeehouse - don't you just hate that? I always feel like everyone around me thinks I have the Plague and I always want to explain that it's the transition from the outside to inside air that makes me do that. Anyway. Got my coffee, arrived at my office, sat down to work...and didn't even want to drink that coffee.
That's bad news, I'm telling you. I finally poured the cup out this morning - I don't think I even drank 1/4 of it.
By 10 AM I was freezing, shivering uncontrollably, and knew I wouldn't make it through the day. I found someone to teach my evening class, finished my grading, canceled office hours, and tried to last until my scheduled noon meeting. The second that meeting was over I headed home and hit the couch.
I stayed on the couch until about 10 PM, at which time I moved to the bed. Stayed there until, oh....Saturday. Basically. Friday morning I did get up to go to the doctor. My hips, glutes, and legs were hurting so badly you would have thought I ran 100 miles the day before. Clearly, however, I did not. I was sure this was the flu. The doctor, on the other hand, was not. She sent me home saying it was "justavirus" of the upper respiratory variety, and I just needed to rest and drink fluids.
And so I did, all weekend long.
Today I can finally stand for extended periods of time. I've stopped drinking Gatorade, actually eaten a couple meals, and coffee is (mostly) appealing this morning. I think I'll probably be able to stand for 80 minutes to teach my class..but I'm not entirely convinced yet. I know I'll have to go straight to bed when I finally get home.
But you know what? I missed some of the grossest conditions of the year so far. I mean yeah it was warm and that would have been nice, but everything was so soggy and ugly. That first thaw of the year there's litter everywhere (that had been hidden under the snow) and the only snow left is the piles along the road that are crusted in nasty black road disgustingness. Yesterday we got a fresh blanket a new snow - about 10" worth! Today we're forecast to get up to 3 more inches.
And so I'd like to thank the Justavirus of Death for choosing a weekend of no skiing and ask it to please leave me healthy enough to enjoy this new, fresh snow.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Did I Say I was a Runner?
Heh.
Lately I haven't been interested in running at all. I thought it was a rut brought on by school stress that would just pass. Well...it hasn't. Not that the school stress has passed either, but I thought I just needed to get into a routine or something.
The thing is, even when I have an opportunity to run (now, for instance), I don't really want to. Now I believe the windchill is still well under zero and that's a good part of the reason I'm not interested but....just blah. This is NOT GOOD seeing as how I am actually registered for both a half marathon and a marathon and talking about running at least one additional half.
Good thing I've been skiing...sort of.
I just don't want to push the running now, when I'm not interested, knowing that before long I'm going to HAVE to do it if I want to get through those races. I'm already thinking of blowing off any time goal for the May half and have proclaimed that I'm not even allowed to have a goal time for the marathon in October.
Sigh. If I keep going on like this it's going to be hard to run a 5k, even.
Lately I haven't been interested in running at all. I thought it was a rut brought on by school stress that would just pass. Well...it hasn't. Not that the school stress has passed either, but I thought I just needed to get into a routine or something.
The thing is, even when I have an opportunity to run (now, for instance), I don't really want to. Now I believe the windchill is still well under zero and that's a good part of the reason I'm not interested but....just blah. This is NOT GOOD seeing as how I am actually registered for both a half marathon and a marathon and talking about running at least one additional half.
Good thing I've been skiing...sort of.
I just don't want to push the running now, when I'm not interested, knowing that before long I'm going to HAVE to do it if I want to get through those races. I'm already thinking of blowing off any time goal for the May half and have proclaimed that I'm not even allowed to have a goal time for the marathon in October.
Sigh. If I keep going on like this it's going to be hard to run a 5k, even.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Cautiously Optimistic
Howdy.
I was feeling restless yesterday evening and decided to try running again before my yoga class. Got Kona all hooked up and headed out for just over 3 pain-free miles! Yoga also went well, not a twinge from my foot, so I'm cautiously optimistic about getting back to normal training.
Also, I'm really enjoying the mystery plants in our front yard so I thought I'd share a couple pictures. We moved in August so while I knew there were things planted out front, they were well beyond blooming by the time we moved in. The flowering plants have now been identified as purple irises and fairy lilies. I also planted some purple glads that should come up later in the season. I bought those before I knew the irises would be purple - what a nice coincidence!
I've also got to call our landlord and ask if we can borrow his tiller. I'm already feeling behind on my garden, even though the average last frost date was just a couple days ago. I'd love to get started this weekend.
I was feeling restless yesterday evening and decided to try running again before my yoga class. Got Kona all hooked up and headed out for just over 3 pain-free miles! Yoga also went well, not a twinge from my foot, so I'm cautiously optimistic about getting back to normal training.
Also, I'm really enjoying the mystery plants in our front yard so I thought I'd share a couple pictures. We moved in August so while I knew there were things planted out front, they were well beyond blooming by the time we moved in. The flowering plants have now been identified as purple irises and fairy lilies. I also planted some purple glads that should come up later in the season. I bought those before I knew the irises would be purple - what a nice coincidence!
I've also got to call our landlord and ask if we can borrow his tiller. I'm already feeling behind on my garden, even though the average last frost date was just a couple days ago. I'd love to get started this weekend.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Dear Weather Gods:
If it must rain tomorrow, I'll understand. But if you could, would you please make sure it doesn't absolutely pour, and that it isn't completely frigid? I'd really appreciate it!
Smooches <3
Em
Smooches <3
Em
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Looking Back and Daydreaming
Howdy.
I promised I would report back with my March summary and an update of how April has been going. It's nearly time for my April summary, it seems, but we'll go with it.
There's something else I need to do first, though. Tuesday, April 20th will mark one year since I was diagnosed with cancer. My surgeon tells me that they count years of survival from the date of diagnosis, so there we go. I'm two days shy of being one year out, and 5 days shy of being 6 months out from chemo. The Race for the Cure is one week from today, and I guess I've decided to wear the pink shirt. I wasn't sure I would want the attention and recognition...I'm still not sure I want to walk in the "survivor parade"and maybe I won't, but I'm going to run in the pink shirt. Maybe it will have a positive effect on someone. Heck, maybe it will have a positive effect on me.
I've got a couple goals in mind for the race, but I'm going to keep them to myself for right now.
So, March:
Week 1:
Run - 15.6 miles (4 runs)
Yoga - zippo (I think?)
I ran a new route from the house over to the bike path that includes a couple good hills. Important training for the races I have planned, but not something my legs were used to. That left me sore for quite a bit longer than I expected. If I remember correctly, this was also the week it started warming up a little and I finally got to wear my new capri tights. They're every bit as wonderful as I thought they would be ;)
Week 2:
Run - 16.2 miles (4 runs)
Yoga - 1 hr
The snow melt and a good bit of rain finally flooded the river and low-lying areas, meaning that the trails along the river were also flooded and we were re-routed for our group long run. Two hilly loops through the cemetery meant I ran just 6.2 miles but felt good about it with the added intensity. Also an hour of power yoga at home, after the time change gave me a good excuse to sleep in on Sunday morning.
Week 3:
Run - 18.1 (4 runs)
Yoga - 1 hr
The week of the perfect 10 mile run. Ahhh, it was heavenly. See the post about the run if you really wanna know ;)
Week 4:
Run - 22.8 miles (5 runs)
Yoga - 1 hr
What a difference 5 runs makes. This week I slept through my long run - woke up at 7:58 and knew I wouldn't make it to the shop by 8, so I went back to sleep. It was a rough week, or a rough month really, at school and I think my body was just wiped out. Without running with the group I couldn't wrap my head around a 10-12 mile run alone, so I broke it up into 8.3 on Saturday and 6.0 with Mike on Sunday. Worked out well.
Week 4.5: (pesky when months don't work out to be just 4 weeks)
Run - 3.2 miles (1 run on the 31st)
Total:
Run - 76 miles (18 runs)
Yoga - 3 hours
A good month!
The Daydreaming:
The semester is coming to an end and while there's a ton of work ahead of me between now and then, and while I'll be spending the summer studying for comps, there are several things I'm looking forward to. In no particular order:
Sun
Sundresses
Gardening
Sleeping
Camping trips
Pete & Carrie's wedding
Seeing some NC friends
Growing my hair
Dying my hair
Swimming
Biking
Dinners outside
Walks with Kona
ACSM in Baltimore
NOT HAVING CLASS
Come on, Summer!
I promised I would report back with my March summary and an update of how April has been going. It's nearly time for my April summary, it seems, but we'll go with it.
There's something else I need to do first, though. Tuesday, April 20th will mark one year since I was diagnosed with cancer. My surgeon tells me that they count years of survival from the date of diagnosis, so there we go. I'm two days shy of being one year out, and 5 days shy of being 6 months out from chemo. The Race for the Cure is one week from today, and I guess I've decided to wear the pink shirt. I wasn't sure I would want the attention and recognition...I'm still not sure I want to walk in the "survivor parade"and maybe I won't, but I'm going to run in the pink shirt. Maybe it will have a positive effect on someone. Heck, maybe it will have a positive effect on me.
I've got a couple goals in mind for the race, but I'm going to keep them to myself for right now.
So, March:
Week 1:
Run - 15.6 miles (4 runs)
Yoga - zippo (I think?)
I ran a new route from the house over to the bike path that includes a couple good hills. Important training for the races I have planned, but not something my legs were used to. That left me sore for quite a bit longer than I expected. If I remember correctly, this was also the week it started warming up a little and I finally got to wear my new capri tights. They're every bit as wonderful as I thought they would be ;)
Week 2:
Run - 16.2 miles (4 runs)
Yoga - 1 hr
The snow melt and a good bit of rain finally flooded the river and low-lying areas, meaning that the trails along the river were also flooded and we were re-routed for our group long run. Two hilly loops through the cemetery meant I ran just 6.2 miles but felt good about it with the added intensity. Also an hour of power yoga at home, after the time change gave me a good excuse to sleep in on Sunday morning.
Week 3:
Run - 18.1 (4 runs)
Yoga - 1 hr
The week of the perfect 10 mile run. Ahhh, it was heavenly. See the post about the run if you really wanna know ;)
Week 4:
Run - 22.8 miles (5 runs)
Yoga - 1 hr
What a difference 5 runs makes. This week I slept through my long run - woke up at 7:58 and knew I wouldn't make it to the shop by 8, so I went back to sleep. It was a rough week, or a rough month really, at school and I think my body was just wiped out. Without running with the group I couldn't wrap my head around a 10-12 mile run alone, so I broke it up into 8.3 on Saturday and 6.0 with Mike on Sunday. Worked out well.
Week 4.5: (pesky when months don't work out to be just 4 weeks)
Run - 3.2 miles (1 run on the 31st)
Total:
Run - 76 miles (18 runs)
Yoga - 3 hours
A good month!
The Daydreaming:
The semester is coming to an end and while there's a ton of work ahead of me between now and then, and while I'll be spending the summer studying for comps, there are several things I'm looking forward to. In no particular order:
Sun
Sundresses
Gardening
Sleeping
Camping trips
Pete & Carrie's wedding
Seeing some NC friends
Growing my hair
Dying my hair
Swimming
Biking
Dinners outside
Walks with Kona
ACSM in Baltimore
NOT HAVING CLASS
Come on, Summer!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
They Can't Be Serious
It was 80 degrees today. 80! Come on, weather gods...don't do this:
Friday Night
Friday Night
Partly cloudy with a slight chance of light rain showers...then mostly cloudy with a slight chance of light rain and snow showers overnight. Lows in the mid 30s. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph becoming west 10 to 15 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.
Back this weekend with an update on the running, I promise. Still have to do my March wrap-up and tell you about how I lost my mind. But school is wearing me down, so it'll have to wait a few more days.
Back this weekend with an update on the running, I promise. Still have to do my March wrap-up and tell you about how I lost my mind. But school is wearing me down, so it'll have to wait a few more days.
Saturday, February 06, 2010
On to February!
Well, so far it doesn't look like my updates will be too frequent, but I'll try to get on more than every couple weeks.
January turned out to be a pretty good month, running-wise. As I mentioned in my last post, I've joined a half marathon/marathon training group organized by the local running store. Today was the 4th group run, but I missed last week's since we went to Chicago to celebrate my birthday (last one in my 20s!). So far I'm really enjoying it and I like the weekly accountability and companionship. They also offer yoga classes on Sunday mornings - tomorrow will be my second. The first was great, so I'm really looking forward to it.
Looking back on the month, the thing that sticks out at me the most is how much my pace has dropped - it's quite a bit lower than I was expecting for this point on my comeback tour. I ran about 51 miles in January (not sure of the decimal, my log rounds off and I'm just that lazy) and cross-country skied between 25 and 30. I would have liked to ski more, but there's not much I can do about the utter lack of snow fall. Unfortunately I can't say I've been any better about core work in the past couple weeks, but I do think yoga and skiing are helping in that area, so at least there's that.
Otherwise, not much has changed. I have enough hair to get some really crazy hat head after nice sweaty runs and I'm still having trouble focusing and motivating to get my school work done.
There are a couple things that are still bothering me with my health. When I start to drift off to sleep, I get this feeling that I'm falling but don't jerk back awake like you would normally expect - I just keep falling. It's disturbing and it's starting to cause anxiety and interfere with ever actually falling asleep, so my oncologist referred me to a neurologist. That appointment should be sometime in the next couple weeks. I'm also having pain and tightness in my right arm (cancer side) that seems consistent with Axillary Web Syndrome (though fortunately not as serious as in that picture), so I'll also be setting up a physical therapy appointment. I'm not really sure how that's going to effect yoga tomorrow morning, as it started last week when I didn't attend yoga, so I'll just have to pay close attention to my arm and make sure not to aggravate it. I'm obviously frustrated by both of these things and would really, really love to just move on already, but apparently my body isn't ready for that yet.
And on that note, I read a great NYT Well Blog entry on recuperating vs. recovering - of all the things I've read, this comes closest to describing where I am right now....and will be for a while, I guess:
January turned out to be a pretty good month, running-wise. As I mentioned in my last post, I've joined a half marathon/marathon training group organized by the local running store. Today was the 4th group run, but I missed last week's since we went to Chicago to celebrate my birthday (last one in my 20s!). So far I'm really enjoying it and I like the weekly accountability and companionship. They also offer yoga classes on Sunday mornings - tomorrow will be my second. The first was great, so I'm really looking forward to it.
Looking back on the month, the thing that sticks out at me the most is how much my pace has dropped - it's quite a bit lower than I was expecting for this point on my comeback tour. I ran about 51 miles in January (not sure of the decimal, my log rounds off and I'm just that lazy) and cross-country skied between 25 and 30. I would have liked to ski more, but there's not much I can do about the utter lack of snow fall. Unfortunately I can't say I've been any better about core work in the past couple weeks, but I do think yoga and skiing are helping in that area, so at least there's that.
Otherwise, not much has changed. I have enough hair to get some really crazy hat head after nice sweaty runs and I'm still having trouble focusing and motivating to get my school work done.
There are a couple things that are still bothering me with my health. When I start to drift off to sleep, I get this feeling that I'm falling but don't jerk back awake like you would normally expect - I just keep falling. It's disturbing and it's starting to cause anxiety and interfere with ever actually falling asleep, so my oncologist referred me to a neurologist. That appointment should be sometime in the next couple weeks. I'm also having pain and tightness in my right arm (cancer side) that seems consistent with Axillary Web Syndrome (though fortunately not as serious as in that picture), so I'll also be setting up a physical therapy appointment. I'm not really sure how that's going to effect yoga tomorrow morning, as it started last week when I didn't attend yoga, so I'll just have to pay close attention to my arm and make sure not to aggravate it. I'm obviously frustrated by both of these things and would really, really love to just move on already, but apparently my body isn't ready for that yet.
And on that note, I read a great NYT Well Blog entry on recuperating vs. recovering - of all the things I've read, this comes closest to describing where I am right now....and will be for a while, I guess:
After surgery and treatment, my 21st-century synapses and neurons wanted to believe that the cancer had been no more than a bump in the road toward a bright future — just a particularly nasty frost heave.
But the deepest analog part of me understood that having cancer was a life-changing event. As much as I thought I wanted to forge ahead, surge into the whirlwind of dailiness, I needed to slow way down.
The scar on my gut might have faded a bit — I had indeed recuperated — but I still needed to recover.
Saturday, January 09, 2010
It's Almost Over
Break, that is. Huge bummer. Since I can't seem to focus on much of anything, I thought I'd come here for one more wrap-up/kick-off post before it all gets going again.
Since my previous post summed up the year nicely I suppose I don't need to do that again. December ended well - a trip to PA threw off my running plans a little, as it always does, and once again I managed to forget how tough those hills are. We really don't have anything here that even remotely compares. So, I didn't time a single run while I was there. I'm base-building anyway so who cares about time, right? RIGHT? Yeah, I thought so. I finished the month with 40.33 miles making that my third highest month of the year. To me, that seems to bode well for 2010 - at least I was headed in the right direction at the end of 2009. That made a whopping 315 miles for the year - 885 miles short of my goal. Ha! Nothing I can do but laugh, that's a huge number.
Of course the end of 2009 and reflection on goals means it's a new year and thus, time for new goals. It's been tough for me to figure out how to approach this year. Last year didn't exactly give me a good idea of where I'm headed. So, basically ignoring 2009, I went back to look at my logs for 2007 and 2008. Based on those two years I've decided to set a conservative goal of 750 miles for 2010. Truthfully I think I can exceed that, but I don't want to ask too much of myself in a year when I'm supposed to be recovering. That, and the fact that I hope my running mileage is going to lose out to SKIING mileage for the next few months. This week that has been the case - I've run 5 miles and skied 9.8 miles. It's been a good snow week.
As far as a racing schedule, I don't have one. I'll do the Race for the Cure again in April (and hopefully have a much better showing) and I'm considering the Dances with Dirt trail half marathon in WI on July 10 (I think). There local running store organizes a half marathon/marathon training group that I'm 75% sure I'll join. The kick off meeting is tomorrow and I've decided to go to the meeting and decide then. I won't be running their goal race because of another commitment that same weekend, but I think training with the group would help me meet my general goal of improving my aerobic base and getting back to decent weekly mileage without pushing me to ramp up too quickly. I'm a bit bored right now and these runs get lonely, so I'm excited to potentially meet some local people to run with. We'll see. This won't be The Year Of The Marathon, but we'll see about 2011.
So, the semester starts on Tuesday. Considering meetings and just plain needing to buckle down, it basically starts Monday. All that fatigue last semester left me with a take home final that still needs to get done and is in front of me on my desk as I type. Holy cats, did I fall out of school mode. I needed this break and frankly I'm not mentally ready to move on to another semester, so I'm trying not to feel too guilty about not having this done yet. I do, however, need to finish it before all this new work piles up on me...
Happy running!
Since my previous post summed up the year nicely I suppose I don't need to do that again. December ended well - a trip to PA threw off my running plans a little, as it always does, and once again I managed to forget how tough those hills are. We really don't have anything here that even remotely compares. So, I didn't time a single run while I was there. I'm base-building anyway so who cares about time, right? RIGHT? Yeah, I thought so. I finished the month with 40.33 miles making that my third highest month of the year. To me, that seems to bode well for 2010 - at least I was headed in the right direction at the end of 2009. That made a whopping 315 miles for the year - 885 miles short of my goal. Ha! Nothing I can do but laugh, that's a huge number.
Of course the end of 2009 and reflection on goals means it's a new year and thus, time for new goals. It's been tough for me to figure out how to approach this year. Last year didn't exactly give me a good idea of where I'm headed. So, basically ignoring 2009, I went back to look at my logs for 2007 and 2008. Based on those two years I've decided to set a conservative goal of 750 miles for 2010. Truthfully I think I can exceed that, but I don't want to ask too much of myself in a year when I'm supposed to be recovering. That, and the fact that I hope my running mileage is going to lose out to SKIING mileage for the next few months. This week that has been the case - I've run 5 miles and skied 9.8 miles. It's been a good snow week.
As far as a racing schedule, I don't have one. I'll do the Race for the Cure again in April (and hopefully have a much better showing) and I'm considering the Dances with Dirt trail half marathon in WI on July 10 (I think). There local running store organizes a half marathon/marathon training group that I'm 75% sure I'll join. The kick off meeting is tomorrow and I've decided to go to the meeting and decide then. I won't be running their goal race because of another commitment that same weekend, but I think training with the group would help me meet my general goal of improving my aerobic base and getting back to decent weekly mileage without pushing me to ramp up too quickly. I'm a bit bored right now and these runs get lonely, so I'm excited to potentially meet some local people to run with. We'll see. This won't be The Year Of The Marathon, but we'll see about 2011.
So, the semester starts on Tuesday. Considering meetings and just plain needing to buckle down, it basically starts Monday. All that fatigue last semester left me with a take home final that still needs to get done and is in front of me on my desk as I type. Holy cats, did I fall out of school mode. I needed this break and frankly I'm not mentally ready to move on to another semester, so I'm trying not to feel too guilty about not having this done yet. I do, however, need to finish it before all this new work piles up on me...
Happy running!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Holy Lazy Blogger!
Hi there. I've been sort of absent lately, eh? It's been busy! A quick update, since I can't seem to focus on work anyway.
Last week was spring break - I got to go down to NC and see all (well, most) of the friends and family I've been missing since we moved. Two thoughts on that:
1) It's really too bad everyone doesn't have spring break!
2) I might need two weeks to really see everyone I want to see!
Never happy, right? Anyway, I got to catch up with everyone on both sides of the family, took a cool trip with my aunt and grandmother out to the coast, and got to see the "babies."
All in all, it was a good trip! Unfortunately I had a cold before leaving town which got worse on the plane - nothing like having your ears totally clogged for the better part of two days. They're STILL popping when I swallow, but at least they don't hurt anymore.
I also got to see some friends, but there were a whole bunch I couldn't catch up with. Next time!
Now, I'm back at school and trying to focus, but maybe it's that whole needing-a-vacation-to-recover-from-vacation thing, or maybe it's spring fever. Whatever it is, I can't concentrate!
In other news, Kona might have bladder stones. We noticed she had been peeing more lately - the other night, she went 3 times on a 20 minute walk, and that just isn't normal for her. Doug collected a urine sample, and she has a lot of struvite crystals in there. Apparently that could mean anything from a UTI to bladder stones, and anything from antibiotics to surgery. The vet also said something about "postprandial wave" but neither of us know what that is - guess I should check Google. Anyway - we're hoping for a UTI and antibiotics. Please cross your fingers that it's something simple!
Oh, this is supposed to be a running blog, isn't it? Ha. There hasn't been much of that lately. My cold really knocked me out for two weeks, but I have run 10 miles since Sunday so it's improving. I'm taking today off, and then plan to run Thurs-Sun. We'll see how that goes. I really want to develop a plan and get going on speed work so I can take another attempt at a 5k PR in early summer. I'm going to see if a fast friend will run with me to help me get it down to 23 minutes or so. Not sure if I can do it, but I think maybe with added speedwork I can. Then, I've really got to get my base up if I'm still going to consider a fall marathon.
That's probably enough for today...back to work!
UPDATE: Kona went to the vet this afternoon. He thinks it's just an infection, so she's on antibiotics. Big sigh of relief, over here. However, he also thinks she might have minor hip dysplasia.
Last week was spring break - I got to go down to NC and see all (well, most) of the friends and family I've been missing since we moved. Two thoughts on that:
1) It's really too bad everyone doesn't have spring break!
2) I might need two weeks to really see everyone I want to see!
Never happy, right? Anyway, I got to catch up with everyone on both sides of the family, took a cool trip with my aunt and grandmother out to the coast, and got to see the "babies."
Sarah figured out how to call Andy on my cell phone...
and Paige has gotten big!
All in all, it was a good trip! Unfortunately I had a cold before leaving town which got worse on the plane - nothing like having your ears totally clogged for the better part of two days. They're STILL popping when I swallow, but at least they don't hurt anymore.
I also got to see some friends, but there were a whole bunch I couldn't catch up with. Next time!
Now, I'm back at school and trying to focus, but maybe it's that whole needing-a-vacation-to-recover-from-vacation thing, or maybe it's spring fever. Whatever it is, I can't concentrate!
In other news, Kona might have bladder stones. We noticed she had been peeing more lately - the other night, she went 3 times on a 20 minute walk, and that just isn't normal for her. Doug collected a urine sample, and she has a lot of struvite crystals in there. Apparently that could mean anything from a UTI to bladder stones, and anything from antibiotics to surgery. The vet also said something about "postprandial wave" but neither of us know what that is - guess I should check Google. Anyway - we're hoping for a UTI and antibiotics. Please cross your fingers that it's something simple!
Oh, this is supposed to be a running blog, isn't it? Ha. There hasn't been much of that lately. My cold really knocked me out for two weeks, but I have run 10 miles since Sunday so it's improving. I'm taking today off, and then plan to run Thurs-Sun. We'll see how that goes. I really want to develop a plan and get going on speed work so I can take another attempt at a 5k PR in early summer. I'm going to see if a fast friend will run with me to help me get it down to 23 minutes or so. Not sure if I can do it, but I think maybe with added speedwork I can. Then, I've really got to get my base up if I'm still going to consider a fall marathon.
That's probably enough for today...back to work!
UPDATE: Kona went to the vet this afternoon. He thinks it's just an infection, so she's on antibiotics. Big sigh of relief, over here. However, he also thinks she might have minor hip dysplasia.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
New Camera and other musings
Anything to avoid working on that literature review, right?
The generosity of family meant I had birthday money to use on a new camera. I've been wanting one for a while, but only lusting over this specific camera for a few weeks, ever since Doug found it in Outside Magazine. It arrived at our apartment this past Saturday - the Olympus Stylus 1050SW - shockproof, waterproof, and freezeproof. Adventure ready...Of course, it's been 60 freaking degrees outside so I haven't gotten to take it on any of the winter adventures I had hoped for. Hopefully winter will rejoin us soon. In the meantime, here's a test picture from MSU's big win over Ohio State this past Sunday.
In other news, we've got two houses in mind for next school year. We tour one on Saturday. It has a fenced in yard which would be oh-so-wonderful for the pupper, and a second bedroom which would be oh-so-wonderful for me - a home office!
In running-related news, I can't decide what to do with my spring. After having a headache/nausea thing going on for nearly a week, I'm having yet another low-mileage week, with already 2 days off this week. Riding my bike to campus two days in a row has angered my back, and while running doesn't seem to affect it at all, I'm wondering if I shouldn't bag it all and just swim for a while. Of course in winter, it's really hard to force a swim. Therefore, the verdict is out on whether I'll do a spring half marathon at all...and therefore the fall marathon is also on shaky ground. Maybe I'll bail and do the half in the fall. Part of me worries, though, that my problem might actually be my complete lack of a goal.
The generosity of family meant I had birthday money to use on a new camera. I've been wanting one for a while, but only lusting over this specific camera for a few weeks, ever since Doug found it in Outside Magazine. It arrived at our apartment this past Saturday - the Olympus Stylus 1050SW - shockproof, waterproof, and freezeproof. Adventure ready...Of course, it's been 60 freaking degrees outside so I haven't gotten to take it on any of the winter adventures I had hoped for. Hopefully winter will rejoin us soon. In the meantime, here's a test picture from MSU's big win over Ohio State this past Sunday.
In other news, we've got two houses in mind for next school year. We tour one on Saturday. It has a fenced in yard which would be oh-so-wonderful for the pupper, and a second bedroom which would be oh-so-wonderful for me - a home office!
In running-related news, I can't decide what to do with my spring. After having a headache/nausea thing going on for nearly a week, I'm having yet another low-mileage week, with already 2 days off this week. Riding my bike to campus two days in a row has angered my back, and while running doesn't seem to affect it at all, I'm wondering if I shouldn't bag it all and just swim for a while. Of course in winter, it's really hard to force a swim. Therefore, the verdict is out on whether I'll do a spring half marathon at all...and therefore the fall marathon is also on shaky ground. Maybe I'll bail and do the half in the fall. Part of me worries, though, that my problem might actually be my complete lack of a goal.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Time rolls on
Hi there.
The past few weeks have been more of the same old thing. Getting started in a new semester with new classes and new projects. It's still winter, both outside and in, and I'm starting to get sick of being cold in my house. Maybe that's why I'm in school again - to one day make enough money to pay for heat. It's quiet here tonight. D's at work, Kona's laying up against my left side, and we're both basking in the glow of the space heater. I'm supposed to be writing (a paper, blogging) but my head isn't in it tonight.
Running is...running. I hemmed and hawed too much this winter over what race I wanted to do, and now can't do the fall back one. Rather, I could do it, I just don't have enough time to train the way I wanted. I could get in up to a 14 mile run, but it would be a higher percentage of my weekly mileage than I want, and I wanted to repeat the long distances a couple times before the race. So, I'm looking for one in May or June, instead. Thought briefly about the one in Traverse City, and found out it's closed already. Thought a whole night long, rather than sleeping, about Coeur d'Alene , and then realized the fortune that would cost. Looked for one close to Seattle around the time of ACSM, there isn't one. Right now, I guess my choices are one in Palos Heights, Il. in May, or in London, ON also in May. I'm leaning towards London just because it's in another country, that'd be kind of a cool thing. Regardless, I can't make up my mind and really need to get going with a training plan.
Or maybe I could just putz around some more and not run a spring half at all.
To lift this downer of a post - here's a fun picture from skiing!
The past few weeks have been more of the same old thing. Getting started in a new semester with new classes and new projects. It's still winter, both outside and in, and I'm starting to get sick of being cold in my house. Maybe that's why I'm in school again - to one day make enough money to pay for heat. It's quiet here tonight. D's at work, Kona's laying up against my left side, and we're both basking in the glow of the space heater. I'm supposed to be writing (a paper, blogging) but my head isn't in it tonight.
Running is...running. I hemmed and hawed too much this winter over what race I wanted to do, and now can't do the fall back one. Rather, I could do it, I just don't have enough time to train the way I wanted. I could get in up to a 14 mile run, but it would be a higher percentage of my weekly mileage than I want, and I wanted to repeat the long distances a couple times before the race. So, I'm looking for one in May or June, instead. Thought briefly about the one in Traverse City, and found out it's closed already. Thought a whole night long, rather than sleeping, about Coeur d'Alene , and then realized the fortune that would cost. Looked for one close to Seattle around the time of ACSM, there isn't one. Right now, I guess my choices are one in Palos Heights, Il. in May, or in London, ON also in May. I'm leaning towards London just because it's in another country, that'd be kind of a cool thing. Regardless, I can't make up my mind and really need to get going with a training plan.
Or maybe I could just putz around some more and not run a spring half at all.
To lift this downer of a post - here's a fun picture from skiing!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
The Year in Review
This is it, the last day of 2008. It's been an interesting one to be sure. The year in numbers:
Moves: 2
Apartments: 3
Broken trailer hitches: 1
$$ spent on gas: hahaha
Wisdom teeth removed: 4
MRIs: 1
Injuries: 1!! (an improvement)
Miles run: 761
Highest weekly mileage: 30
Average weekly mileage: 14.5
Highest monthly mileage: 96 (February...go figure, the shortest)
Average monthly mileage: 68 (not bad, now that I look at it)
Weeks of laziness (no running): 2! Both due to the hip injury
Months as a vegetarian: 18
New car batteries: 1
New computers: 1
New textbooks: 8?
"A"s in stats class: 1!!
"A"s total: 3!!
Publications: 2
Manuscripts in progress: 3
New bikes: 1
New pairs of skis: 3 (2 for me, 1 for Doug)
New baby cousins: 1 (Paige)
That's all I can think of for now - not a bad year!
Happy New Year, all...
Moves: 2
Apartments: 3
Broken trailer hitches: 1
$$ spent on gas: hahaha
Wisdom teeth removed: 4
MRIs: 1
Injuries: 1!! (an improvement)
Miles run: 761
Highest weekly mileage: 30
Average weekly mileage: 14.5
Highest monthly mileage: 96 (February...go figure, the shortest)
Average monthly mileage: 68 (not bad, now that I look at it)
Weeks of laziness (no running): 2! Both due to the hip injury
Months as a vegetarian: 18
New car batteries: 1
New computers: 1
New textbooks: 8?
"A"s in stats class: 1!!
"A"s total: 3!!
Publications: 2
Manuscripts in progress: 3
New bikes: 1
New pairs of skis: 3 (2 for me, 1 for Doug)
New baby cousins: 1 (Paige)
That's all I can think of for now - not a bad year!
Happy New Year, all...
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sitting in the airport as the sun comes up
That's right - the semester's over! I've actually been done since the 12th, but still in town until today. Now, I'm sitting at the spectacular Capital Region INTERNATIONAL Airport waiting for a flight to Detroit, where I will change planes and head to Newark. Happy to be headed home, but sad that once again, Doug and I won't be spending Christmas together. One day...
The semester wrapped up pretty well. I managed a 4.0 - even getting an A in my stats class, which is definitely new! Maybe I did actually learn something in that class... Next semester I'll be keeping myself busy with two classes and an independent study. My schedule doesn't look bad, but I know that independent study will take up quite a bit of time, and I'm really hoping to get some good research done over the course of the semester. Have to take advantage of not teaching!
Running has been interesting these past few weeks. I would guess that in the past month, there's been one day without snow on the ground - the day it rained and temps were in the 40s. Since then, snow has fallen almost every day, and we have over a foot on the ground (about a foot of that came all in one day). I've managed every run outside and there was only one day - with windchills right around zero - that I really just didn't want to go out there. Twice, the weather has kept me from going out. The first was this past Friday when that foot of snow dropped, and the second was yesterday when the wind chill was -15 with sustained winds at 29 mph and gusts to 45. That's just cold. In light of that, I've decided I'm going to need a gym membership when I get back from PA. I still want to increase my mileage, and at least need to maintain it, for good spring racing. If that means I have to break down and run on a treadmill, I guess I'll deal. I'll still get out as much as I possibly can.
Last weekend, to celebrate the end of the semester, we went cross country skiing up in Roscommon. It was a lot of fun! I have definitely found a new sport. We tried skate skiing - which Doug already has experience with - they were offering a 2 hour clinic for $5. It's tough! I'll give it another try because I did enjoy it, but it was really rather tricky. Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting out there as much as I can and as a bonus, I found out Saturday that the local trails are open, so we won't have to drive 2+ hours to do it!
Hope everyone is doing well, and a happy holiday season to you :)
The semester wrapped up pretty well. I managed a 4.0 - even getting an A in my stats class, which is definitely new! Maybe I did actually learn something in that class... Next semester I'll be keeping myself busy with two classes and an independent study. My schedule doesn't look bad, but I know that independent study will take up quite a bit of time, and I'm really hoping to get some good research done over the course of the semester. Have to take advantage of not teaching!
Running has been interesting these past few weeks. I would guess that in the past month, there's been one day without snow on the ground - the day it rained and temps were in the 40s. Since then, snow has fallen almost every day, and we have over a foot on the ground (about a foot of that came all in one day). I've managed every run outside and there was only one day - with windchills right around zero - that I really just didn't want to go out there. Twice, the weather has kept me from going out. The first was this past Friday when that foot of snow dropped, and the second was yesterday when the wind chill was -15 with sustained winds at 29 mph and gusts to 45. That's just cold. In light of that, I've decided I'm going to need a gym membership when I get back from PA. I still want to increase my mileage, and at least need to maintain it, for good spring racing. If that means I have to break down and run on a treadmill, I guess I'll deal. I'll still get out as much as I possibly can.
Last weekend, to celebrate the end of the semester, we went cross country skiing up in Roscommon. It was a lot of fun! I have definitely found a new sport. We tried skate skiing - which Doug already has experience with - they were offering a 2 hour clinic for $5. It's tough! I'll give it another try because I did enjoy it, but it was really rather tricky. Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting out there as much as I can and as a bonus, I found out Saturday that the local trails are open, so we won't have to drive 2+ hours to do it!Hope everyone is doing well, and a happy holiday season to you :)
Monday, November 24, 2008
Out of steam for today.
I sat down at the computer to write my review paper, but I'm tired and have run out of steam.
We had snow again today, it's actually still snowing as I type this. When I checked at around 6 PM we'd had almost 2 inches, and it has snowed steadily since then - it's all pretty outside. My walk home from school was cold but I didn't mind - it makes me feel like such a little kid, but the snow just makes me so happy! Mondays are my usual day off running, but I wanted to get back out there so I changed as soon as I got home (after 8) and took Kona out for 40 minutes. We had a great time.
We had snow again today, it's actually still snowing as I type this. When I checked at around 6 PM we'd had almost 2 inches, and it has snowed steadily since then - it's all pretty outside. My walk home from school was cold but I didn't mind - it makes me feel like such a little kid, but the snow just makes me so happy! Mondays are my usual day off running, but I wanted to get back out there so I changed as soon as I got home (after 8) and took Kona out for 40 minutes. We had a great time.
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