It’s been a long time. The course of events over the last few months completely messed with my running. I travelled a whole bunch in October. That was no good for my motivation. The stress fracture in my foot is much better. Perhaps even gone. Then this stupid phantom pain in my left foot started. I have no idea what it was. It’s mainly gone now. I was sentenced to eight sessions of physical therapy for November. In my “last” session, my therapist told me I needed two to three more weeks of therapy. I’m going to choose to believe that it’s because he has a thing for me (one can hope) and that it’s not because my knees are total crap.
My last run before I stopped running was back in San Antonio, where I realized that I can’t put my right foot down at the same straight angle as my left foot. I hate running on treadmills, but the only time I had to run was in the hotel gym and that’s what was available. I watched the positioning of my feet with each step in the mirror and I realized that my right toe area was crooked.
I ran for the first time since I started therapy last night. With the therapy and the heel insert in my shoe (did I mention my left leg is longer than my right leg), I realized that my toe area came down much straighter. I was hoping that I would have this amazing run, with no pain and I’d think that I could run to the ends of the earth. It was only OK in the end – my feet are fine; my knees felt stronger (turns out the therapy is making an impact and I don’t feel wobbly with each step). I could feel the muscles in my legs working so differently last night, and I could feel the pull of my knee caps working. My breathing was absolute crap and I actually had to use my inhaler when I got home. Running in the cold is a whole new thing to me and I hope that it doesn’t always go like that. I liked my new running pants – they weren’t like the tights I had to wear in high school and therefore are much warmer but more technical and regulated my sweat better. I saw a chick running in nylons; I know this because I could see her white granny panties in the street light.
It’s so strange to actually feel everything, since all I have been doing in physical therapy is focus on how stuff feels. The therapist just pokes at my knees and looks at my face to determine if this or that hurts. Fortunately everyone is awesome in the office and I look forward to each session, even if it’s not always pleasant and I have to be polite while someone hurts me. I totally have a thing for the therapist. Every girl I talk to about it says it’s totally normal to have crushes on the physical therapist. My sessions are almost over and that kind of bums me out, although I’d like to walk away with a comment like “go run your ass off and never look back.” The other primary irritation is that I have sessions twice a week, it’s winter, and who the hell wants remembers to deal with leg hair that often…ok I know that’s just me, but it’s certainly something I have to work very hard to remember every time I go to therapy. The guy who does the strength exercises with me reminds me of my big brother in mannerisms and character (he can’t sit still). He’s really funny and makes me miss my brother terribly.
I hope to keep up some very short runs over the next few days, and start back up with yoga next week. I’ve neglected my body over the last 6 weeks (except for my stomach). I leave for the west coast on the 16th and I hope to keep up my running while I’m there. The order of my life is going to be very measured while I’m there. I have to work remotely several of the days, and I am also going to be the designated baby helper – my responsibilities will be to cook like crazy, clean as much as I can and hang out with baby Audrey as much as possible while my brother and his wife visit the baby Alessandro at the hospital. Since that’s what I’ll be doing, I hope that finding the rhythm of my life will be easy enough. There isn’t much I was to do for just me beyond run and get in a couple of climbs with friends out there. I can’t wait to meet the babies. I can’t wait to see my brother. Having family far away sucks.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Pressing On
Monday's run was blissful. The air gliding over my skin and into my face felt crisp and inviting and all I could think of was my old horse lease, Cheval. When the temperature cooled and the damp NY summers fell away, you would think that this 19 year old grandpa was a 2 year old. He had boundless energy and excitement to be working with me. The run wasn't entirely like riding on those perfect cool days, but, it felt so good to be floating. I ran a very reasonable distance from in front of my office to each piece of trail where the gravel trail ended on either side of the building. Maybe 2.5 miles? It's difficult to stop myself when it feels so good to be moving and the weather is so great; and it's even harder to know that I could be running 10 or 12 miles if I'd not screwed my foot up. My foot feels fine (and I'm not surprised, given that the distance was short and I was on the gravel). My knees feel very weak and I'm really looking forward to starting my physical therapy. It's encouraging to consider that I could be running without joint discomfort.
Speaking of, I have my first session tomorrow. In a great turn of luck, the therapist is actually right next door to my office so that's very convenient. I've never done physical therapy, so I'm not actually sure what to expect.
I'm in San Antonio all of next week, which means that I'm going to be pressed for time to run and I'll already be missing a week of therapy. I had so much fun in Denver that I wouldn't have had the time to work out, but fewer people will be in San Antonio and that may mean that there will be fewer social evenings. My girlfriend/co-worker who will actually be running the full marathon with me in January (so jealous) will be there; I know she is motivated to do early morning runs and hopefully she will be a little contagious. I imagine it will still be quite hot, so mornings will be the smart way to go.
I missed yoga last night and I feel that I've abandoned Chuck. My boss had asked me to go to dinner with her in DC (Zaytinya, yum) and she introduced me to this chick who actually works in Senator Kennedy's office, focusing on Health Policy. She was pretty much awesome and I'm pretty psyched on hanging out with her. She's also a marathoner, biker, skier, outdoorsy type, etc. I'm definitely going to hit her up for some fun times. (In my tremendous effort to make girlfriends when I moved to DC, I've actually discovered a whole other realm of fun. Coming from a life of only friends who are boys, it's quite a change: I have several girl friends who I'd actually consider close friends). DC has been so good to me.
I was having breakfast at my little table looking at my view of the cathedral, and I couldn't help but feel this incredibly romantic feeling toward DC. It was such a content moment of absolute...perfect.
Speaking of, I have my first session tomorrow. In a great turn of luck, the therapist is actually right next door to my office so that's very convenient. I've never done physical therapy, so I'm not actually sure what to expect.
I'm in San Antonio all of next week, which means that I'm going to be pressed for time to run and I'll already be missing a week of therapy. I had so much fun in Denver that I wouldn't have had the time to work out, but fewer people will be in San Antonio and that may mean that there will be fewer social evenings. My girlfriend/co-worker who will actually be running the full marathon with me in January (so jealous) will be there; I know she is motivated to do early morning runs and hopefully she will be a little contagious. I imagine it will still be quite hot, so mornings will be the smart way to go.
I missed yoga last night and I feel that I've abandoned Chuck. My boss had asked me to go to dinner with her in DC (Zaytinya, yum) and she introduced me to this chick who actually works in Senator Kennedy's office, focusing on Health Policy. She was pretty much awesome and I'm pretty psyched on hanging out with her. She's also a marathoner, biker, skier, outdoorsy type, etc. I'm definitely going to hit her up for some fun times. (In my tremendous effort to make girlfriends when I moved to DC, I've actually discovered a whole other realm of fun. Coming from a life of only friends who are boys, it's quite a change: I have several girl friends who I'd actually consider close friends). DC has been so good to me.
I was having breakfast at my little table looking at my view of the cathedral, and I couldn't help but feel this incredibly romantic feeling toward DC. It was such a content moment of absolute...perfect.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Bleah?
Of course, I'm in the situation where a cute stranger has to touch my feet, my knees and he gets to check out all the bruises I acquire from climbing sloppily (on occasion). I mention cute boy doctor because I went to pay him a visit today for my follow up appointment - I say my foot doesn't hurt, he says great, go to physical therapy for your knees. So, I'll be going to physical therapy 3 - 4 times a week and I'm going to start running again. I asked if he thought I might still make the half marathon in January (and I think it's slightly unreasonable to hope for the full without injuring myself again), and he seemed sort of whatever about it. I believe he wanted me to not run until I had a month of physical therapy for the knees behind me. However, 10 weeks of training just wouldn't be enough for me to get in running condition.
Motivation will definitely be harder to come by. The weather is starting to cool now (last night got in to the 30s). I suspect the day time will still be quite nice, but I realize that if I'm not able to run until 5:30 or 6:00 most days, it's going to be colder and windier. Running on the river on Friday was actually quite breezy too, and it was only like 60 degrees. I'm going to try to run on the gravel path on the Potomac consistently, at least until the knees are stronger. Obviously I'll need to do some pavement training, but it can come later. The problem with winter and no snow, for me, is that I like to ski. If it's cold and I can't play in the snow, then I pretty much just want to hibernate in my awesome sleeping bag throughout the winter. Obviously, that has it's draw backs. Last night I read my most recent Rock & Ice issue and came across an article about getting psyched on what you do. The writer explained that he loves climbing, but once late summer hits, motivation sort of fails and progression stops. Another climber suggested he was just not passionate about climbing and that explained his lack of motivation. The writer disagreed (thankfully) and so do I. I'm passionate about most of the things I do - be in horse back riding or running or climbing...but desire to do those things is so strongly tied to the balance of my life and my world. So, the writer suggested the simplest of things: do other stuff. For him it was cooking crazy, complicated dinners for friends. I might try my hand at that. Consider this an invitation for dinner: polenta, white lasagna, ricotta and spinach stuffed shells, orange spiced tofu, chocolate tiramisu with sliced strawberries, English fools...anybody? I have a sense that I may dig my way out of my little rut if I mix things up a little. I should probably also start yoga at Dupont.
And for my weekend report out: I'd gotten sort of excited about having a nothing weekend. Camping didn't pan out (with the dog in my care) and so I opted to stay in. Except it didn't really happen like that since lately I'm not capable of sitting at home doing nothing for more than two hours. I trained myself to that and now I'm complaining about it. I haven't had a lazy day in a long time, but it's pretty cool, really. Friday I went for my short run, which felt pretty much good. I also went to REI, saw Burn After Reading and ate at a terrible diner in Arlington with a girlfriend. That night didn't end until around 2:00 AM.
I actually managed to sleep until 11 the next morning, which is amazing. The day was gorgeous. I took Melman for a long walk along the river and (very clearly against his wishes) laid in the grass for an hour while he stood around uncomfortably. I don't think he even knows how to sun bathe. I did some work from the apartment in the afternoon, watched crappy Saturday afternoon TV, and went on to Pentagon City Mall in the early evening I don't understand how the mall works as it was insanely packed. It felt like Christmas shopping already. A friend reminded me that if zombie movies had taught him anything, it was that malls are full of potential weapons. I had to stifle my imagination. From the mall, I went on to Georgetown to hang out with my brother and his wife, and their school mates. I let go of feeling lame for not working out on Saturday after I spent 2 and half hours dancing my ass off at Third Edition and Paper Moon.
I ended up getting in bed at 3:00, but I was awake and (not) very chipper Sunday at 8. We went out to Crescent Rock in WV and climbed for a couple hours. The day was fantastic: it was easy to warm up and the hike out was definitely a work out. I have new found respect for the pack carriers! As far as the actual climbing went: I got to be the first one up all day, which is interesting but makes things more challenging for me! My first climb was good (although as is the norm, it's a climb that scares me all the way till the end and only after I've sent it do I breathe again), and the other routes were only eh. The pizza route was still a pain in the ass and I'm thoroughly annoyed that I haven't sent it clean yet - although I got a good piece of beta to just ignore the pizza hold and lay back on the hold that's directly left of the pizza. I did the lay back the second time around and it felt SOOOO much better. I need to figure out how to climb lay backs better, as it's not something I've done much and apparently it doesn't really exist in the gym. I did the 5.8 and the 5.9 variation of the route, and although the 5.9 presents a different set of challenges and scares me a lot at the top third, it's awesome and I'd rather climb it any day over the 8. Next time I go out to Crescent, I'm taking a machete and I'm going to town on the damn briers. It's all quite overgrown.
I'm off dog duty after I pay an afternoon visit to Melman - I'm going to take a short run after work and then head to the grocery store for some real food. And, the best part of my day will likely be getting in my own bed for the evening!!! I'll have slept in my own bed only 12 nights by the 31st of October between Denver, San Antonio and dog sitting. I can't believe October is almost over (or the year, even).
Motivation will definitely be harder to come by. The weather is starting to cool now (last night got in to the 30s). I suspect the day time will still be quite nice, but I realize that if I'm not able to run until 5:30 or 6:00 most days, it's going to be colder and windier. Running on the river on Friday was actually quite breezy too, and it was only like 60 degrees. I'm going to try to run on the gravel path on the Potomac consistently, at least until the knees are stronger. Obviously I'll need to do some pavement training, but it can come later. The problem with winter and no snow, for me, is that I like to ski. If it's cold and I can't play in the snow, then I pretty much just want to hibernate in my awesome sleeping bag throughout the winter. Obviously, that has it's draw backs. Last night I read my most recent Rock & Ice issue and came across an article about getting psyched on what you do. The writer explained that he loves climbing, but once late summer hits, motivation sort of fails and progression stops. Another climber suggested he was just not passionate about climbing and that explained his lack of motivation. The writer disagreed (thankfully) and so do I. I'm passionate about most of the things I do - be in horse back riding or running or climbing...but desire to do those things is so strongly tied to the balance of my life and my world. So, the writer suggested the simplest of things: do other stuff. For him it was cooking crazy, complicated dinners for friends. I might try my hand at that. Consider this an invitation for dinner: polenta, white lasagna, ricotta and spinach stuffed shells, orange spiced tofu, chocolate tiramisu with sliced strawberries, English fools...anybody? I have a sense that I may dig my way out of my little rut if I mix things up a little. I should probably also start yoga at Dupont.
And for my weekend report out: I'd gotten sort of excited about having a nothing weekend. Camping didn't pan out (with the dog in my care) and so I opted to stay in. Except it didn't really happen like that since lately I'm not capable of sitting at home doing nothing for more than two hours. I trained myself to that and now I'm complaining about it. I haven't had a lazy day in a long time, but it's pretty cool, really. Friday I went for my short run, which felt pretty much good. I also went to REI, saw Burn After Reading and ate at a terrible diner in Arlington with a girlfriend. That night didn't end until around 2:00 AM.
I actually managed to sleep until 11 the next morning, which is amazing. The day was gorgeous. I took Melman for a long walk along the river and (very clearly against his wishes) laid in the grass for an hour while he stood around uncomfortably. I don't think he even knows how to sun bathe. I did some work from the apartment in the afternoon, watched crappy Saturday afternoon TV, and went on to Pentagon City Mall in the early evening I don't understand how the mall works as it was insanely packed. It felt like Christmas shopping already. A friend reminded me that if zombie movies had taught him anything, it was that malls are full of potential weapons. I had to stifle my imagination. From the mall, I went on to Georgetown to hang out with my brother and his wife, and their school mates. I let go of feeling lame for not working out on Saturday after I spent 2 and half hours dancing my ass off at Third Edition and Paper Moon.
I ended up getting in bed at 3:00, but I was awake and (not) very chipper Sunday at 8. We went out to Crescent Rock in WV and climbed for a couple hours. The day was fantastic: it was easy to warm up and the hike out was definitely a work out. I have new found respect for the pack carriers! As far as the actual climbing went: I got to be the first one up all day, which is interesting but makes things more challenging for me! My first climb was good (although as is the norm, it's a climb that scares me all the way till the end and only after I've sent it do I breathe again), and the other routes were only eh. The pizza route was still a pain in the ass and I'm thoroughly annoyed that I haven't sent it clean yet - although I got a good piece of beta to just ignore the pizza hold and lay back on the hold that's directly left of the pizza. I did the lay back the second time around and it felt SOOOO much better. I need to figure out how to climb lay backs better, as it's not something I've done much and apparently it doesn't really exist in the gym. I did the 5.8 and the 5.9 variation of the route, and although the 5.9 presents a different set of challenges and scares me a lot at the top third, it's awesome and I'd rather climb it any day over the 8. Next time I go out to Crescent, I'm taking a machete and I'm going to town on the damn briers. It's all quite overgrown.
I'm off dog duty after I pay an afternoon visit to Melman - I'm going to take a short run after work and then head to the grocery store for some real food. And, the best part of my day will likely be getting in my own bed for the evening!!! I'll have slept in my own bed only 12 nights by the 31st of October between Denver, San Antonio and dog sitting. I can't believe October is almost over (or the year, even).
Friday, October 17, 2008
Back to the Grind
I've come around a little bit...I'm exhausted but at least I feel all of my muscles whining and I've done something besides be a slob.
Monday, I bailed on yoga and decided to sit around and do nothing. I needed to do nothing, but I didn't end up sleeping a lot so it didn't really do anything. Tuesday, I went out for my friend's birthday and we had a pretty ridiculously good time.
Finally, Wednesday came around and I hit up the gym. One of my climbing buddies was able to make it, so we top roped for a good portion of the evening. On Wednesday, I still thought I might make it out to Seneca to camp and climb, so I had the notion that I ought to up my endurance a little with two days of climbing in a row. I didn't climb a lot on Wednesday, but I climbed pretty hard stuff. There is this one burly 5.9 that I fought with a lot last time, and this time I was so close to sending it clean. I had to take once and that happened because I just wasn't paying enough attention - the hold that I needed most was sort of hidden from me and it took me all of 30 seconds to realize it. Had I been paying more attention, it would have gone quite nicely. Plus, there is this sweet move on the route where I've got a lot of my weight on my left leg, and I'm holding the arete and I end up heel/ankle hooking on this gross sloper with my right leg...and that leg has to pull me up into a stand to reach this shitty top right hand hold. It's pretty much my favorite sequence ever. Very cool stuff. I also tried the 10 right next to it (again) and I made a fair amount of progress on it. The top of the route juts out at a good angle and by the time I get there I am so pumped out, but I figure in a few weeks I should be able to kick it. 2 of my 3 climber boy crushes were at the gym that night, and I'm steadily more interested in one of them. I shared the information with my buddy and she cautioned me against "shitting where I eat." I love that line. Of course, she's totally right.
Thursday, I took advantage of Spa Week and got a 60 minute deep tissue massage and only paid $50 (half the price). I was so psyched on the massage, but it was basically the worst one I've ever had. Not that I'm a massage snob, but it was just crap. I've always had dudes massaging me, which for a while was weird but I have grown to prefer them. They're stronger and they're better at working out the kinks. The woman who worked on me yesterday didn't do anything with her hands: she just rolled her arm up and down my back like a rolling pin. When it came to working on my knots, she just poked at them repeatedly with her index finger. It hurt. I know deep tissue massages are a little bit painful - it's what I always get. But this was just downright painful and not relaxing. Disappointing. I went to the gym for my day 2 of climbing after the massage and I had to briefly debate between climbing and yoga. I wasn't sure if my climbing buddy was going to show up, but in the end he did and so I bouldered for a little while and then went to yoga. The bouldering was frustrating since they changed up all the routes (like all of them, which is usually cool, but they took down all my projects!). It was a smart thing to stop climbing when I did because my elbows are a little annoyed, to say the least. I hadn't bouldered in a good while, and V2s I could have normally sent were a bit more challenging than usual. None of my boy crushes was there last night, which was a little disappointing but, oh well.
Yoga was absurd...I didn't get Chuck, since he teaches on Tuesdays. Thursday is Liz. She did sun salutations over and over and over and it was just exhausting. She taught a good class and she was really helpful in making the poses the best possible, but it was a total killer. I'm a big fan of pigeon pose...it is pretty much the best hip opener ever. She also did this modified pigeon pose where you point your back foot up, you hook it in your elbow and then you connect both hands overhead. Very cool stuff. It wasn't my favorite class ever, but I can definitely give credit to Liz for one really awesome thing: during savasana she walked around and gave out neck/shoulder massages. How awesome is that? The brief massage was better than what Maria, the Brazilian masseur, had done just a few hours earlier.
Last night after the gym, I went home to pick up some stuff for the weekend, since I'm still out in Alexandria dog sitting. Given the pleasant coolness of the weather, I picked up my running shoes. I'm going to go for a short little jog after work. It's silly to think that I might only run 10 or 20 minutes, but that's what I'm going to need to do. Supposedly, I'm not to be running until I get the food checked again by cute boy doctor on the 20th. (Don't tell anyone I'm breaking the rules; my mother will get mad). I should probably figure out if the foot still hurts anyway, and it hasn't hurt at all in weeks. I felt so happy picking up my running shoes...I just hope shit cooperates. Hope hope hope.
Monday, I bailed on yoga and decided to sit around and do nothing. I needed to do nothing, but I didn't end up sleeping a lot so it didn't really do anything. Tuesday, I went out for my friend's birthday and we had a pretty ridiculously good time.
Finally, Wednesday came around and I hit up the gym. One of my climbing buddies was able to make it, so we top roped for a good portion of the evening. On Wednesday, I still thought I might make it out to Seneca to camp and climb, so I had the notion that I ought to up my endurance a little with two days of climbing in a row. I didn't climb a lot on Wednesday, but I climbed pretty hard stuff. There is this one burly 5.9 that I fought with a lot last time, and this time I was so close to sending it clean. I had to take once and that happened because I just wasn't paying enough attention - the hold that I needed most was sort of hidden from me and it took me all of 30 seconds to realize it. Had I been paying more attention, it would have gone quite nicely. Plus, there is this sweet move on the route where I've got a lot of my weight on my left leg, and I'm holding the arete and I end up heel/ankle hooking on this gross sloper with my right leg...and that leg has to pull me up into a stand to reach this shitty top right hand hold. It's pretty much my favorite sequence ever. Very cool stuff. I also tried the 10 right next to it (again) and I made a fair amount of progress on it. The top of the route juts out at a good angle and by the time I get there I am so pumped out, but I figure in a few weeks I should be able to kick it. 2 of my 3 climber boy crushes were at the gym that night, and I'm steadily more interested in one of them. I shared the information with my buddy and she cautioned me against "shitting where I eat." I love that line. Of course, she's totally right.
Thursday, I took advantage of Spa Week and got a 60 minute deep tissue massage and only paid $50 (half the price). I was so psyched on the massage, but it was basically the worst one I've ever had. Not that I'm a massage snob, but it was just crap. I've always had dudes massaging me, which for a while was weird but I have grown to prefer them. They're stronger and they're better at working out the kinks. The woman who worked on me yesterday didn't do anything with her hands: she just rolled her arm up and down my back like a rolling pin. When it came to working on my knots, she just poked at them repeatedly with her index finger. It hurt. I know deep tissue massages are a little bit painful - it's what I always get. But this was just downright painful and not relaxing. Disappointing. I went to the gym for my day 2 of climbing after the massage and I had to briefly debate between climbing and yoga. I wasn't sure if my climbing buddy was going to show up, but in the end he did and so I bouldered for a little while and then went to yoga. The bouldering was frustrating since they changed up all the routes (like all of them, which is usually cool, but they took down all my projects!). It was a smart thing to stop climbing when I did because my elbows are a little annoyed, to say the least. I hadn't bouldered in a good while, and V2s I could have normally sent were a bit more challenging than usual. None of my boy crushes was there last night, which was a little disappointing but, oh well.
Yoga was absurd...I didn't get Chuck, since he teaches on Tuesdays. Thursday is Liz. She did sun salutations over and over and over and it was just exhausting. She taught a good class and she was really helpful in making the poses the best possible, but it was a total killer. I'm a big fan of pigeon pose...it is pretty much the best hip opener ever. She also did this modified pigeon pose where you point your back foot up, you hook it in your elbow and then you connect both hands overhead. Very cool stuff. It wasn't my favorite class ever, but I can definitely give credit to Liz for one really awesome thing: during savasana she walked around and gave out neck/shoulder massages. How awesome is that? The brief massage was better than what Maria, the Brazilian masseur, had done just a few hours earlier.
Last night after the gym, I went home to pick up some stuff for the weekend, since I'm still out in Alexandria dog sitting. Given the pleasant coolness of the weather, I picked up my running shoes. I'm going to go for a short little jog after work. It's silly to think that I might only run 10 or 20 minutes, but that's what I'm going to need to do. Supposedly, I'm not to be running until I get the food checked again by cute boy doctor on the 20th. (Don't tell anyone I'm breaking the rules; my mother will get mad). I should probably figure out if the foot still hurts anyway, and it hasn't hurt at all in weeks. I felt so happy picking up my running shoes...I just hope shit cooperates. Hope hope hope.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Bleah
I'm having a shitty day, self-wise. I'm not sleeping as soundly as I want to because I'm not exercising enough...and I'm eating out all the damn time so I feel disgusting...gross gross gross. I hadn't had such a hard time getting out of bed to go to work in the morning since I left SI.
I really like the balance of my life where I exercise so much that I can and have to eat like an athlete and it's all good...I do not like the balance of my life where I eat like a slob just because. I don't believe in dieting, really. I believe in exercising enough to offset the deliciousness that I consume. I fell off the band-wagon right when I stopped running. Fortunately, I have my next doctor's appointment on the 20th. Hopefully he'll say something like: "hey your foot looks fantastic - go run your ass off." And then I will. He'll put me into his little physical therapy sessions to make that grinding in my knees less annoying...and I'll essentially live happily ever after. Can't wait. The days just go better when I'm physically exhausted.
I may buy the bike this weekend or early next week. That should help with the disgusting.
I say early next week because we might go camping this weekend. The issue is: I'm dog sitting for this very Melman like character...(remember the giraffe from Madagascar?). Well, he's really pretty weird as far as dogs go, but I think he's chill enough (or uncomfortable enough) that he would do OK on a camping trip. My concern is, if we were to climb at Seneca Rocks, he'd have to hang out at the bottom of the cliff, alone, for like 3 or 4 hours since it's a 300 foot climb. Even then, I think he'd be fine...but if there were a lot of other people around I'd have concerns with him being alone without us. Shame he's not a climbing dog. Side note - when I get my own dog, she's totally going to be the type who comes to the cliffs with me...runs with me (I'm excited about having a running dog) and potentially runs around the farm while I ride. Of course that would mean that I'm going to have that farm with horses one day too.
I'm cool with just camping somewhere else, but I feel like the opportunities to climb Seneca are going to be fewer and farther between as we head into rainy Fall season and I really want to see a few different places before I'm committed to being indoors for the season.
One thing that makes me really happy is the conclusion that I spent enough time outdoors this season: my hair is a little bit blonder. That hadn't happened in a really long time. I suppose I hadn't been outside as much as I used to be in years. Go figure.
I really like the balance of my life where I exercise so much that I can and have to eat like an athlete and it's all good...I do not like the balance of my life where I eat like a slob just because. I don't believe in dieting, really. I believe in exercising enough to offset the deliciousness that I consume. I fell off the band-wagon right when I stopped running. Fortunately, I have my next doctor's appointment on the 20th. Hopefully he'll say something like: "hey your foot looks fantastic - go run your ass off." And then I will. He'll put me into his little physical therapy sessions to make that grinding in my knees less annoying...and I'll essentially live happily ever after. Can't wait. The days just go better when I'm physically exhausted.
I may buy the bike this weekend or early next week. That should help with the disgusting.
I say early next week because we might go camping this weekend. The issue is: I'm dog sitting for this very Melman like character...(remember the giraffe from Madagascar?). Well, he's really pretty weird as far as dogs go, but I think he's chill enough (or uncomfortable enough) that he would do OK on a camping trip. My concern is, if we were to climb at Seneca Rocks, he'd have to hang out at the bottom of the cliff, alone, for like 3 or 4 hours since it's a 300 foot climb. Even then, I think he'd be fine...but if there were a lot of other people around I'd have concerns with him being alone without us. Shame he's not a climbing dog. Side note - when I get my own dog, she's totally going to be the type who comes to the cliffs with me...runs with me (I'm excited about having a running dog) and potentially runs around the farm while I ride. Of course that would mean that I'm going to have that farm with horses one day too.
I'm cool with just camping somewhere else, but I feel like the opportunities to climb Seneca are going to be fewer and farther between as we head into rainy Fall season and I really want to see a few different places before I'm committed to being indoors for the season.
One thing that makes me really happy is the conclusion that I spent enough time outdoors this season: my hair is a little bit blonder. That hadn't happened in a really long time. I suppose I hadn't been outside as much as I used to be in years. Go figure.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Stellar Weekend
So I had a pretty money weekend. Friday evening I went to the gym and met up with my most consistent climbing buddy. She ended up coming in later than me, so I got 12 routes in, as opposed to my usual 10. It was...a little ridiculous to say the least. I was EXHAUSTED from the last couple weeks and travel, etc, but just being at the gym gave me a little extra energy. I climbed pretty hard, and tried out a few routes I hadn't climbed before. I got this new 5.9 down - it was a a pretty burly, man-esque climb and I loved it. My partner suggested the 10 right next to it and it was basically stupid. I've finished other 10s before and I actually made a pretty good attempt at this one, but the climb was all upper body work. It's another project to work on and it was very late in the evening and I couldn't have expected to make that work. After the gym, we went to the Shenandoah brew pub where I tried this hoppy pale ale that was actually quite alright. I'm not super psyched on beers yet anyway, but I do appreciate that post-climb beer.
Saturday, I visited Georgetown with a friend and we rented canoes to play around on the Potomac. We didn't paddle very far, but we crossed the river and picnicked and basically just floated around. The little paddling that we did do got my shoulders all warm and active - fortunately the girl I paddled with was a better paddler than I was and she could actually steer. It worked out well. After paddling, we walked around Georgetown. We'd initially palnned on partcipating in Taste of Georgetown but the crowds were just annoying and we opted for lunch at a French restaurant. I had two cups of this super refreshing gazpacho and I decided I wanted to come up with my own recipe soon. By the end of the day, I'd ended up walking all over town and probably covered 3 or 4 miles of Georgetown. And, I went to the tattoo place where I think I might get Pete, my gecko, done.
Sunday, the climbing crew went out to Seclusion in Great Falls. We mixed in with another climbing party and had like 6 different routes available. The day was PERFECT. It was really sunny but not insanely hot... just warm enough to go shirtless to work on the tan. I climbed only OK but was thrilled to just be outside. On this one route, 5.8, I was moving right along just fine until I came to this little roof that was a bit tricky. I was sort of pressing on until this monster spider came out of a crack...now I'm not really a pansy with bugs and things that creep and crawl (and for the most part I really like them) but he was just big and hairy and in the middle of my route. Of course I fell and I had to explain myself...I god made fun of, of course. Stupid spider.
I'm super sore now, but I feel good about the entire weekend. This week I'll be doing Monday yoga and Wednesday climbing...I have hopes that the weekend will include a camping trip out to Seneca with the climbing people...I still haven't managed to try out my new tent, which makes me bonkers. Hopefully the weather holds out and we can spend another weekend outside!
Saturday, I visited Georgetown with a friend and we rented canoes to play around on the Potomac. We didn't paddle very far, but we crossed the river and picnicked and basically just floated around. The little paddling that we did do got my shoulders all warm and active - fortunately the girl I paddled with was a better paddler than I was and she could actually steer. It worked out well. After paddling, we walked around Georgetown. We'd initially palnned on partcipating in Taste of Georgetown but the crowds were just annoying and we opted for lunch at a French restaurant. I had two cups of this super refreshing gazpacho and I decided I wanted to come up with my own recipe soon. By the end of the day, I'd ended up walking all over town and probably covered 3 or 4 miles of Georgetown. And, I went to the tattoo place where I think I might get Pete, my gecko, done.
Sunday, the climbing crew went out to Seclusion in Great Falls. We mixed in with another climbing party and had like 6 different routes available. The day was PERFECT. It was really sunny but not insanely hot... just warm enough to go shirtless to work on the tan. I climbed only OK but was thrilled to just be outside. On this one route, 5.8, I was moving right along just fine until I came to this little roof that was a bit tricky. I was sort of pressing on until this monster spider came out of a crack...now I'm not really a pansy with bugs and things that creep and crawl (and for the most part I really like them) but he was just big and hairy and in the middle of my route. Of course I fell and I had to explain myself...I god made fun of, of course. Stupid spider.
I'm super sore now, but I feel good about the entire weekend. This week I'll be doing Monday yoga and Wednesday climbing...I have hopes that the weekend will include a camping trip out to Seneca with the climbing people...I still haven't managed to try out my new tent, which makes me bonkers. Hopefully the weather holds out and we can spend another weekend outside!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Back Home
I had a blast in Colorado. Climbing and playing all weekend was pretty much awesome (although I recently attributed the challenges on climbing at the canyon in part to the change in altitude + the lack of sleep/hydration/food). In any case, the week led to more awesomeness. The hotel was quite fun, the group of people I was with was brilliant (and I'm so saturated on United Way) and all of the extra curricular fun that went on outside of work was great. I visited the REI Flagship store twice and it was just fantastic...the building is gorgeous, the inventory was ridiculous, the location was perfect. I also visited the Patagonia store - I could completely outfit myself at Patagonia.
I spent the entire week mostly indoors so I took advantage of free time as much as possible. I walked almost every day to offset the insane eating we did all week. I noticed a serious sluggishness to myself when I put myself in a situation that's very different from my normal weeks.
For the social side of things: Monday I walked to REI with a friend and then we had overpriced drinks at the hotel bar. Tuesday we went to trivia night at a local bar, and Wednesday we went to dinner with all the early childhood team and then karaoke! I had so much fun. Karaoke was just plain silly and it was embarrassing to realize that other people were actually singing because they were talented - I, of course, am not a talented singer.
Tomorrow, I'm heading to the gym after work to try to work through some of this serious climbing craving I am having (a combination between being in CO, not climbing all week and getting Rock & Ice in the mail). I wanted to go camping this weekend and finally use my new tent, but it seems like everyone has too much other shit going on. I briefly considered going alone, since the weather is supposed to be good and I am still dying for sun light, but I don't know if I'm up for something like that. I've never camped alone...is there a reason not to? I dunno.
Sunday we'll hopefully get outside, maybe to Seneca if we have enough leaders amongst us, or to Great Falls.
I may go for a short run on Monday. My knees have been bothering me all week, for no apparent reason.
Being out in Colorado confirmed that skiing is too much a part of what makes me happy to not be doing it all the time. I would have hopes to be living out there in two years. I love DC alot and the notion of leaving sort of bums me out, but maybe in two years? I would be skiing, climbing and riding...I am already fantasizing about working at one of the mountains and being a hippie. Denver and Boulder hippie-dom so very appealed to me. We'll see.
I spent the entire week mostly indoors so I took advantage of free time as much as possible. I walked almost every day to offset the insane eating we did all week. I noticed a serious sluggishness to myself when I put myself in a situation that's very different from my normal weeks.
For the social side of things: Monday I walked to REI with a friend and then we had overpriced drinks at the hotel bar. Tuesday we went to trivia night at a local bar, and Wednesday we went to dinner with all the early childhood team and then karaoke! I had so much fun. Karaoke was just plain silly and it was embarrassing to realize that other people were actually singing because they were talented - I, of course, am not a talented singer.
Tomorrow, I'm heading to the gym after work to try to work through some of this serious climbing craving I am having (a combination between being in CO, not climbing all week and getting Rock & Ice in the mail). I wanted to go camping this weekend and finally use my new tent, but it seems like everyone has too much other shit going on. I briefly considered going alone, since the weather is supposed to be good and I am still dying for sun light, but I don't know if I'm up for something like that. I've never camped alone...is there a reason not to? I dunno.
Sunday we'll hopefully get outside, maybe to Seneca if we have enough leaders amongst us, or to Great Falls.
I may go for a short run on Monday. My knees have been bothering me all week, for no apparent reason.
Being out in Colorado confirmed that skiing is too much a part of what makes me happy to not be doing it all the time. I would have hopes to be living out there in two years. I love DC alot and the notion of leaving sort of bums me out, but maybe in two years? I would be skiing, climbing and riding...I am already fantasizing about working at one of the mountains and being a hippie. Denver and Boulder hippie-dom so very appealed to me. We'll see.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Boulder
So this a little different that my norm...rather than share what I'm doing to work out, I'll share my experience in Boulder over the past weekend.
I flew out from DC to Denver airport after a particularly stressful week at work. I got in to the airport around 7:30 and we headed straight to Pearl Street in Boulder. I had a ridiculous potato burrito at Illegal Pete's (totally different from Bombers, but absolutely fantastic on a totally different level). The night led to various shenanigans across Pearl Street and it was all sorts of fantastic. We didn't end up getting home till 3:30. Sleep was brief and interrupted, and we ended up going fro breakfast at this fantastic place at 8:30...I has a guacamole/tomato/cheddar omelet. I know it sounds weird, but it was excellent! Course I spent most of the day sick to my stomach, but ultimately, it was worth it.
I'd really wanted to climb out here but had serious doubts about the commitment my friends might put into it - fortunately, one of the guys (who I wasn't particularly close with at RPI, but I had hung out with briefly) has been climbing like a beast and suggest a trip out to Boulder Canyon. Absolutely gorgeous. We climbed Avalon and Watermark. All of the climbs were fantastic. Dry, fun, challenging and pretty different from my East Coast experiences. I actually did my first lead belay, and lead my first sport route at 5.7 Leading the sport route was really interesting. The route was easy and something I knew I could go, but it made my climb sooo much more deliberate and calculated. Certain things that I hadn't thought of were complicated - for example, if I were to ever climb something harder than a 5.7 I'd have to practice clipping in the rope one handed. I had great feet all over the place so clipping in two handed was totally doable, but going one handed was a little more challenging.
I also committed a fairly large fuck up: at the top, the route shared anchor bolts with the route to the left of it. I yelled down to my belayer whether I should be using a different set of quick draws, but apparently my question was not understood and I ended up clipping my rope through the same set that the other rope was on. It certainly was not clear to me, and after hearing the explanation (nylon rubbing nylon = bad) I totally understand my fuck up and apologized profusely. Still, I felt pretty stupid and it took a little away from the sense of accomplishment I felt at climbing my first sport route.
The other climbs were pretty awesome and I felt that I'd had a pretty solid day of Boulder climbing. Lead belaying was pretty simple and straight forward and I'm glad to have done it. The weather was less than fantastic: it doesn't rain in Colorado, but it did this weekend. The temperature dropped a ton while we were out in the canyon and I was thrilled that the guy who took me climbing had this crazy huge down jacket. Being a bit dehydrated and not having tons of snacks with me meant that I was NOT feeling in top shape.
Saturday evening involved delicious sushi, quiet hanging out and lots of sleeping to make up for the night before. Sunday involved serious abuse and pain from my most loving friend, and eventually I came out the hotel in Denver where I'll be for the next 4 days. I went to dinner with my co-worker and her little sister (who, by the way, is living a parallel life with me, go figure). Magianno's was fantastic - fried zucchini is still as good as it ever was and I got a little nostalgic for my Atlanta vacations. Back in my room, I did some work for the meeting this week.
Boulder and Denver are pretty wonderful...I have to say that Colorado appeals to me. If I lived here, I'd probably be skiing like an animal, climbing after work and I could potentially see riding (horse) come back into my life. There are horse barns everywhere. I love DC so much and I'm no where near ready to leave, nor do I see that happening for a few years, but I can see Boulder in my future. I just have to figure out where Seattle, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Rome and Australia (at large) factor in to the times and order that I want to live in these places.
Ahi quedamos.
I flew out from DC to Denver airport after a particularly stressful week at work. I got in to the airport around 7:30 and we headed straight to Pearl Street in Boulder. I had a ridiculous potato burrito at Illegal Pete's (totally different from Bombers, but absolutely fantastic on a totally different level). The night led to various shenanigans across Pearl Street and it was all sorts of fantastic. We didn't end up getting home till 3:30. Sleep was brief and interrupted, and we ended up going fro breakfast at this fantastic place at 8:30...I has a guacamole/tomato/cheddar omelet. I know it sounds weird, but it was excellent! Course I spent most of the day sick to my stomach, but ultimately, it was worth it.
I'd really wanted to climb out here but had serious doubts about the commitment my friends might put into it - fortunately, one of the guys (who I wasn't particularly close with at RPI, but I had hung out with briefly) has been climbing like a beast and suggest a trip out to Boulder Canyon. Absolutely gorgeous. We climbed Avalon and Watermark. All of the climbs were fantastic. Dry, fun, challenging and pretty different from my East Coast experiences. I actually did my first lead belay, and lead my first sport route at 5.7 Leading the sport route was really interesting. The route was easy and something I knew I could go, but it made my climb sooo much more deliberate and calculated. Certain things that I hadn't thought of were complicated - for example, if I were to ever climb something harder than a 5.7 I'd have to practice clipping in the rope one handed. I had great feet all over the place so clipping in two handed was totally doable, but going one handed was a little more challenging.
I also committed a fairly large fuck up: at the top, the route shared anchor bolts with the route to the left of it. I yelled down to my belayer whether I should be using a different set of quick draws, but apparently my question was not understood and I ended up clipping my rope through the same set that the other rope was on. It certainly was not clear to me, and after hearing the explanation (nylon rubbing nylon = bad) I totally understand my fuck up and apologized profusely. Still, I felt pretty stupid and it took a little away from the sense of accomplishment I felt at climbing my first sport route.
The other climbs were pretty awesome and I felt that I'd had a pretty solid day of Boulder climbing. Lead belaying was pretty simple and straight forward and I'm glad to have done it. The weather was less than fantastic: it doesn't rain in Colorado, but it did this weekend. The temperature dropped a ton while we were out in the canyon and I was thrilled that the guy who took me climbing had this crazy huge down jacket. Being a bit dehydrated and not having tons of snacks with me meant that I was NOT feeling in top shape.
Saturday evening involved delicious sushi, quiet hanging out and lots of sleeping to make up for the night before. Sunday involved serious abuse and pain from my most loving friend, and eventually I came out the hotel in Denver where I'll be for the next 4 days. I went to dinner with my co-worker and her little sister (who, by the way, is living a parallel life with me, go figure). Magianno's was fantastic - fried zucchini is still as good as it ever was and I got a little nostalgic for my Atlanta vacations. Back in my room, I did some work for the meeting this week.
Boulder and Denver are pretty wonderful...I have to say that Colorado appeals to me. If I lived here, I'd probably be skiing like an animal, climbing after work and I could potentially see riding (horse) come back into my life. There are horse barns everywhere. I love DC so much and I'm no where near ready to leave, nor do I see that happening for a few years, but I can see Boulder in my future. I just have to figure out where Seattle, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Rome and Australia (at large) factor in to the times and order that I want to live in these places.
Ahi quedamos.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That
Fact is, today was not my best in climbing. I mean it was, and it wasn't. I sent my first 5.9 clean and that was a pretty cool accomplishment. I also did the start of a route that involved some lateral dynamic movement, which I'd never done before. I was pretty impressed that I could actually make that start move. I ended up doing it like 5 times (just the start) and used a lot of my energy trying to make it stick. Next time I climb, I'm going to try that route again when I'm a little fresher and I can actually move forward after the start.
I got to the gym at 6 and ended up being there (actually climbing and not just hanging out) until 8:30. I have no idea how many routes I climbed, but I'm exhausted. I started the evening feeling downright shitty: I think I was starting to have a tension headache coming up from my shoulders and into neck/head. My sensibility to go home and sleep was ignored, and instead I took out my psychotic work week stress on climbs. It was a good decision indeed. My shoulders and neck are still really achy, but I have let go of all the frustration that came from my office. My abs and hip flexors are out of wack. Yesterday's yoga practice was just absurd to the point that my abdominals and hip flexors don't want to work right now.
I lost a fair amount of skin on a sand papery jug...it was such a solid hold and I couldn't get my feet where I wanted them...ultimately it came down to me staying on route by the skin on my right ring finger. I should have stopped climbing then, but I persisted and actually got my flapper to bleed. I found that impressive. Deeelicious.
While I had some awesome successes, the rest of the night was sorta messy: I pumped my arms out rather quickly, my feet were sloppy and my fingers were just whiny. Thankfully, I had a patient belayer, and he had a patient grigri.
All of my climbing boy crushes were at the gym tonight (all three of them). What a great pile of man candy. I love climbing.
It's just skin:
I got to the gym at 6 and ended up being there (actually climbing and not just hanging out) until 8:30. I have no idea how many routes I climbed, but I'm exhausted. I started the evening feeling downright shitty: I think I was starting to have a tension headache coming up from my shoulders and into neck/head. My sensibility to go home and sleep was ignored, and instead I took out my psychotic work week stress on climbs. It was a good decision indeed. My shoulders and neck are still really achy, but I have let go of all the frustration that came from my office. My abs and hip flexors are out of wack. Yesterday's yoga practice was just absurd to the point that my abdominals and hip flexors don't want to work right now.
I lost a fair amount of skin on a sand papery jug...it was such a solid hold and I couldn't get my feet where I wanted them...ultimately it came down to me staying on route by the skin on my right ring finger. I should have stopped climbing then, but I persisted and actually got my flapper to bleed. I found that impressive. Deeelicious.
While I had some awesome successes, the rest of the night was sorta messy: I pumped my arms out rather quickly, my feet were sloppy and my fingers were just whiny. Thankfully, I had a patient belayer, and he had a patient grigri.
All of my climbing boy crushes were at the gym tonight (all three of them). What a great pile of man candy. I love climbing.
It's just skin:
Ridiculous and other random thoughts
Yoga last night was just ridiculous. I think Chuck was in a good mood and felt like making us sweat. We asked for hip openers and upper back/shoulder work. He read that as “exhaust us.”
The entire practice was strenuous, but two things really stood out for me: I tried to look up the names of the poses but I can’t find them. The first was this hideous crunch type thing. You basically have your entire weight on your sits bones, but your upper and lower body is opened outward/upward. Your legs are curled around each other, and the arms are curled around each other. For the dynamic part of the exercise, you inhale your shoulders to the floor without touching the floor, and you lower your legs to the floor without touching the floor. Then on the exhale, you close the gap from arms to legs by crunching them together. Ridiculous. It made my 250 crunches at home seem like a breeze. You know how when you overexert your muscles doing something (be it climbing, lifting, running…riding for me) your muscles twitch a lot? Well my abdominals were twitching. I think we only did a total of 20 “crunches” and it was totally a full body experience. My abdomen is actually very sore today.
The other pose, which had some dynamic movements but ended up as a static pose, was really quite cool. It was a transition from the knee bent over the shoulder while the other is straight out on the floor. With both hands at the hips on the floor, you lift the leg that’s on the floor, begin to bend the elbows and start to shift your chest toward the arms so that ultimately, you’re learning on the bent arms but have your curled legs out to the left of the body and off the floor. I only barley managed to get the weight shifted correctly and I got the legs out, but I couldn’t hold the pose in any real way. In any case, it’s quite cool and a pose I look forward to for fun.
Chuck plays some pretty awesome beats throughout the practice and I have to say some of it is really mesmerizing, other times it’s very sexy and other times still the beats are sort of absorbing. I’m always impressed with how the noise of the gym (the auto belay whirring, the dudes whistling and yelling when they send some crazy stupid problem, the little kids running around) fades away when I’m in yoga. I’m getting better at maintaining my focus throughout the practice and only during shavasana am I having real trouble in keeping myself centered. I’ve found that setting an intention for my practice helps a lot and the very notion of breathing for my intent is so helpful. But during shavasana it just gets complicated…I suppose that’s normal. Shavasana is when you’re supposed to bring mind and body back together, but the way my thoughts come smashing back into my head really annoys me! The languid thoughts sort of dissipate and I’m almost immediately filled with thoughts about work and life and what I’m doing for dinner and how are my nieces and nephew and what did that guy mean when he said “x,” and how am I going to buy that bike I liked and crap I really wish I could be running.
Speaking of running, I’ve sort of lost my little purpose in life (the marathon) and that frustrates me to no end. I am considering taking yoga classes at the studio where Chuck teaches – it’s supposed to be a ridiculously nice studio that has gotten really high ratings. Running had sort of become a way of life for me. (I get into relationships quickly, and running was no exception). Maybe I can get into a relationship with yoga while I wait for my foot to be done doing its thing. This is the studio. It’s more expensive than I’d like…but maybe I should give up the budget line item I have for Thursday Happy Hours and dining out for lunch and do something that is certainly better for me AND will strengthen my core a lot more…once I start running again it’s going to be very challenging to get back to where I was and I should probably help myself as much as I can?
Swimming hasn’t really happened, unfortunately. Swimming was easier when I lived at home and I get just go to the sports center and do my laps. Walking a couple miles or driving through boring old Lakes of the Meadow (where my family is) was no big deal. Now, I have to deal with a gym membership and fight traffic to get to the pool. Course I wouldn’t trade my life now for being back in Miami…although the ocean calls me pretty often.
Wardrobe: I got new full length Prana yoga pants which are super comfy and I could see myself using them for other stuff. I also got a good Under Armor shirt (which is great because it’s more fitted and quick dry), a sweet pair of running shorts with a butt zip pocket, and this Brooks running jacket (puddle color, haha) for when the weather starts to cool off. I’m starting to accept the fact that if I’m going to be running through the winter and trying to even go for the half marathon, I’ll be buying tights and looking silly. I used to run in wind breaker type pants, but it’s so uncomfortable and lends itself to leg chafing. No one likes that. I don’t like running in tights, but what are you going to do? I always envied my North East friends who thought it was totally legitimate to run in shorts when it was 20 degrees outside in Troy (you know who you are). Freaks.
I can’t wait for ski season (yes, I know we don’t get snow in VA Jenn!). I’m hoping for a fun filled trip to Snowshoe…and potentially up to Mount Snow…but we’ll see. Thing I most miss about college: riding for cheap ($13 a lesson, ha!) through the RPI Student Union, and cheap season passes to Okemo/Stratton. And skiing 2/3 times a week…riding 3/4 times a week. How fun.
I’d be much more suited to skiing these days…now that I actually get up when it’s still morning.
The entire practice was strenuous, but two things really stood out for me: I tried to look up the names of the poses but I can’t find them. The first was this hideous crunch type thing. You basically have your entire weight on your sits bones, but your upper and lower body is opened outward/upward. Your legs are curled around each other, and the arms are curled around each other. For the dynamic part of the exercise, you inhale your shoulders to the floor without touching the floor, and you lower your legs to the floor without touching the floor. Then on the exhale, you close the gap from arms to legs by crunching them together. Ridiculous. It made my 250 crunches at home seem like a breeze. You know how when you overexert your muscles doing something (be it climbing, lifting, running…riding for me) your muscles twitch a lot? Well my abdominals were twitching. I think we only did a total of 20 “crunches” and it was totally a full body experience. My abdomen is actually very sore today.
The other pose, which had some dynamic movements but ended up as a static pose, was really quite cool. It was a transition from the knee bent over the shoulder while the other is straight out on the floor. With both hands at the hips on the floor, you lift the leg that’s on the floor, begin to bend the elbows and start to shift your chest toward the arms so that ultimately, you’re learning on the bent arms but have your curled legs out to the left of the body and off the floor. I only barley managed to get the weight shifted correctly and I got the legs out, but I couldn’t hold the pose in any real way. In any case, it’s quite cool and a pose I look forward to for fun.
Chuck plays some pretty awesome beats throughout the practice and I have to say some of it is really mesmerizing, other times it’s very sexy and other times still the beats are sort of absorbing. I’m always impressed with how the noise of the gym (the auto belay whirring, the dudes whistling and yelling when they send some crazy stupid problem, the little kids running around) fades away when I’m in yoga. I’m getting better at maintaining my focus throughout the practice and only during shavasana am I having real trouble in keeping myself centered. I’ve found that setting an intention for my practice helps a lot and the very notion of breathing for my intent is so helpful. But during shavasana it just gets complicated…I suppose that’s normal. Shavasana is when you’re supposed to bring mind and body back together, but the way my thoughts come smashing back into my head really annoys me! The languid thoughts sort of dissipate and I’m almost immediately filled with thoughts about work and life and what I’m doing for dinner and how are my nieces and nephew and what did that guy mean when he said “x,” and how am I going to buy that bike I liked and crap I really wish I could be running.
Speaking of running, I’ve sort of lost my little purpose in life (the marathon) and that frustrates me to no end. I am considering taking yoga classes at the studio where Chuck teaches – it’s supposed to be a ridiculously nice studio that has gotten really high ratings. Running had sort of become a way of life for me. (I get into relationships quickly, and running was no exception). Maybe I can get into a relationship with yoga while I wait for my foot to be done doing its thing. This is the studio. It’s more expensive than I’d like…but maybe I should give up the budget line item I have for Thursday Happy Hours and dining out for lunch and do something that is certainly better for me AND will strengthen my core a lot more…once I start running again it’s going to be very challenging to get back to where I was and I should probably help myself as much as I can?
Swimming hasn’t really happened, unfortunately. Swimming was easier when I lived at home and I get just go to the sports center and do my laps. Walking a couple miles or driving through boring old Lakes of the Meadow (where my family is) was no big deal. Now, I have to deal with a gym membership and fight traffic to get to the pool. Course I wouldn’t trade my life now for being back in Miami…although the ocean calls me pretty often.
Wardrobe: I got new full length Prana yoga pants which are super comfy and I could see myself using them for other stuff. I also got a good Under Armor shirt (which is great because it’s more fitted and quick dry), a sweet pair of running shorts with a butt zip pocket, and this Brooks running jacket (puddle color, haha) for when the weather starts to cool off. I’m starting to accept the fact that if I’m going to be running through the winter and trying to even go for the half marathon, I’ll be buying tights and looking silly. I used to run in wind breaker type pants, but it’s so uncomfortable and lends itself to leg chafing. No one likes that. I don’t like running in tights, but what are you going to do? I always envied my North East friends who thought it was totally legitimate to run in shorts when it was 20 degrees outside in Troy (you know who you are). Freaks.
I can’t wait for ski season (yes, I know we don’t get snow in VA Jenn!). I’m hoping for a fun filled trip to Snowshoe…and potentially up to Mount Snow…but we’ll see. Thing I most miss about college: riding for cheap ($13 a lesson, ha!) through the RPI Student Union, and cheap season passes to Okemo/Stratton. And skiing 2/3 times a week…riding 3/4 times a week. How fun.
I’d be much more suited to skiing these days…now that I actually get up when it’s still morning.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Boogie
I have an insane amount of energy. I'm tired, because I haven't gotten more than 5.5 hours of sleep over the last several nights (and for no particularly awesome reasons) but somehow I can't sit still. I think it's because I'd gotten up to running some 20 miles a week and then I took it all away. Almost immediately, I'm not hungry all the time and not so craving-y and I'm not sleeping as soundly as I'd like.
Tuesday was a good yoga class, although it was hard to concentrate. It seemed to sort of focus me for Wednesday, and climbing Wednesday was just ridiculous. Last week, my work out day had been 10 routes (I think it was like 5 5.8s and then a good mix of 5.6s and 5.7s). Yesterday, I did not climb 10 routes...I climbed 7. My coach/partner/freakin bad ass friend pushes me way harder than I would ever push myself. I started on 5.8, then 5.9, 5.9, 5.10, 5.9, 5.7, 5.6. By the time I got to the 5.7, my arms were so pumped out that I fell (repeatedly) off the route that I've done about 40 times. It was actually pretty embarrassing. I bucked up for the 5.6 and managed it ok, but I have to say even that was an effort. I'm looking forward to the day I can climb all of those 5.9s clean...so far I'm not there but it's getting closer. Soon as I do, I can take the lead class and I'll be fairly satisfied with myself. In any case, I'm quite sore today. The post climb beer was well appreciated - I think my body is starting to be conditioned to a post-climb beer...I love my climbing friends. I still don't really have a taste for beer, but it's a good way to end the awesomeness that is climbing.
Tonight, the weather washed out my original workout plans (80s dancing in Adams Morgan) but I came home and did an hour and a half of yoga poses and crunches. I'll take a moment to say that my new yoga mat, which came in the mail yesterday after TWO WEEKS, is AWESOME. It's purple (of course) and it's suuuuper sticky. Also, it's eco-friendly, edible, recyclable and will take messages while you're not home. The blanket I got is also pretty sweet. In any case, the newest yoga video I got is a little ridiculous. I was pretty sold by the title: Yoga Trance Dance with Shiva Rea...it basically sounds awesome, right? Well, it's awesome on some levels (the music is sooo rhythmic and percussive) but the way Shiva is filmed is ridiculous...it looks like some college tech guy who got all this new equipment filmed the video. There are these crazy aerial shots, and then frontal shots transposed on profile shots...the whole thing is dizzying. The poses are good and it's a whole other skill set, but it's too hard to follow. (Not the poses, but the transitions). Plus, the woman talks like she was smoking something and it goes from very long, drippy words to words all smooshed together. All too frustrating. Conveniently, you can turn off talking lady and just have some good beats. The actual dance sequences are quite silly, but the people dancing are very pretty and they do make me want to be silly in a desert too.
I may be bouldering at the gym tomorrow, depending on whether I decide to hang out with a good bunch of friends of friends...I'm also hoping that Sunday leads to climbing at Seneca. I was told the weather would be good, but weatherchannel.com disagrees...in all honestly, I want to really close out my tan before the sun goes away. And I DO want to climb Seneca. It looks quite pretty. Apparently it's all trad, which should be interesting since I still haven't seen that in action.
I'm going to put on 80s music and boogie around my (ultra cool temperature) apartment. I <3 living alone.
Tuesday was a good yoga class, although it was hard to concentrate. It seemed to sort of focus me for Wednesday, and climbing Wednesday was just ridiculous. Last week, my work out day had been 10 routes (I think it was like 5 5.8s and then a good mix of 5.6s and 5.7s). Yesterday, I did not climb 10 routes...I climbed 7. My coach/partner/freakin bad ass friend pushes me way harder than I would ever push myself. I started on 5.8, then 5.9, 5.9, 5.10, 5.9, 5.7, 5.6. By the time I got to the 5.7, my arms were so pumped out that I fell (repeatedly) off the route that I've done about 40 times. It was actually pretty embarrassing. I bucked up for the 5.6 and managed it ok, but I have to say even that was an effort. I'm looking forward to the day I can climb all of those 5.9s clean...so far I'm not there but it's getting closer. Soon as I do, I can take the lead class and I'll be fairly satisfied with myself. In any case, I'm quite sore today. The post climb beer was well appreciated - I think my body is starting to be conditioned to a post-climb beer...I love my climbing friends. I still don't really have a taste for beer, but it's a good way to end the awesomeness that is climbing.
Tonight, the weather washed out my original workout plans (80s dancing in Adams Morgan) but I came home and did an hour and a half of yoga poses and crunches. I'll take a moment to say that my new yoga mat, which came in the mail yesterday after TWO WEEKS, is AWESOME. It's purple (of course) and it's suuuuper sticky. Also, it's eco-friendly, edible, recyclable and will take messages while you're not home. The blanket I got is also pretty sweet. In any case, the newest yoga video I got is a little ridiculous. I was pretty sold by the title: Yoga Trance Dance with Shiva Rea...it basically sounds awesome, right? Well, it's awesome on some levels (the music is sooo rhythmic and percussive) but the way Shiva is filmed is ridiculous...it looks like some college tech guy who got all this new equipment filmed the video. There are these crazy aerial shots, and then frontal shots transposed on profile shots...the whole thing is dizzying. The poses are good and it's a whole other skill set, but it's too hard to follow. (Not the poses, but the transitions). Plus, the woman talks like she was smoking something and it goes from very long, drippy words to words all smooshed together. All too frustrating. Conveniently, you can turn off talking lady and just have some good beats. The actual dance sequences are quite silly, but the people dancing are very pretty and they do make me want to be silly in a desert too.
I may be bouldering at the gym tomorrow, depending on whether I decide to hang out with a good bunch of friends of friends...I'm also hoping that Sunday leads to climbing at Seneca. I was told the weather would be good, but weatherchannel.com disagrees...in all honestly, I want to really close out my tan before the sun goes away. And I DO want to climb Seneca. It looks quite pretty. Apparently it's all trad, which should be interesting since I still haven't seen that in action.
I'm going to put on 80s music and boogie around my (ultra cool temperature) apartment. I <3 living alone.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Runner's Envy...Runner's Withdrawl?
Well, the weather has been absolutely glorious. Perfect for long after work runs. I stayed late at work today and all of these sail boats were out on the river and I was sooooo jealous of the runners all up and down the trails. I've never enjoyed running as much as I have over the last several weeks and now I need to find another activity to let my brain do it's thing. Yoga is good, but it's such an organized sort of thing that I can't really just put my shoes on and go...running on the other hand it strictly for me when I want it.
ANYWAY, yoga today was really good. I feel super long and limber. I love Tuesday night yoga...Chuck, the instructor, is so awesome. He totally embodies what I think of when I hear "yoga." I think he reads a different piece of wisdom during every practice, but I've only been to a couple of his classes. He also rings this little bell at the end of the practice when we're coming back from meditating that is amazing. I know I'm supposed to have my eyes closed during meditation, but I really want to look at the bell. The sound is so crisp and delicate, but huge at the same time. He rings it three times and I can practically feel the slow motion traveling of the waves hitting my eardrums, while I see the waves sort of squiggle through the room. It's pretty amazing.
I'm going to put a lot of effort into all of my "other" training to see if maybe I can still pull off a half marathon in January. I'm also going to more heavily consider the purchase of the road bike. Up till now it was a serious item on the wish list of things I don't really need...now...I need to find another activity to put all my energy into and I think that may be the way to go after all.
So...if you have a super sweet road bike you want to sell...you should probably hook me up.
ANYWAY, yoga today was really good. I feel super long and limber. I love Tuesday night yoga...Chuck, the instructor, is so awesome. He totally embodies what I think of when I hear "yoga." I think he reads a different piece of wisdom during every practice, but I've only been to a couple of his classes. He also rings this little bell at the end of the practice when we're coming back from meditating that is amazing. I know I'm supposed to have my eyes closed during meditation, but I really want to look at the bell. The sound is so crisp and delicate, but huge at the same time. He rings it three times and I can practically feel the slow motion traveling of the waves hitting my eardrums, while I see the waves sort of squiggle through the room. It's pretty amazing.
I'm going to put a lot of effort into all of my "other" training to see if maybe I can still pull off a half marathon in January. I'm also going to more heavily consider the purchase of the road bike. Up till now it was a serious item on the wish list of things I don't really need...now...I need to find another activity to put all my energy into and I think that may be the way to go after all.
So...if you have a super sweet road bike you want to sell...you should probably hook me up.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Lame!
Dreams dashed. I’m so bummed out! I just visited cute-boy-doctor who told me that if I kept running, I was going to develop a stress fracture in my foot. If I were to develop a stress fracture in my foot, it would mean: a cast for 6 weeks, no weight bearing, about a year recovery period and the potential for surgery. Fuck. It had been bugging for a while and I mainly assumed it was just my body responding to the abuse I was giving it – except it responded a little harder than I wanted it to.
I mentioned that I was going to up my race from the half to the full marathon, since the motivation and ability was there. I even said that I was doing so well that I actually had some time to injure myself, if the problem were to arise. What a great theory. Now, I’m not allowed any running for a month, and if the foot still hurts when I walk the mile from the metro to work by the end of the week, I have to go back to the doctor and get some sort of monster cast. I’ve never messed up anything on my skeletal structure (besides my head a couple times) and the first time anything goes wrong, it’s something as lame as a foot stress fracture. I can’t even say that I was doing something totally ridiculous (mountain biking…trapezing…getting blown out of a cannon) to amount in a potentially fractured bone...just simple distance running! GRR!!!
Basically, I have to go back to visit cute-boy-doctor in a month to see if stuff still is screwed. If it’s not, he’s going to start me on some physical therapy type stuff to teach me how to strengthen the muscles around my knees so those whiny bastards will quit hurting. If in a month my foot is good, I might be able to start back up for the half marathon training. Maybe. *Fingers crossed*
In the meantime, I was instructed to work on my flexibility, so that means I’ll be yogaing a whole lot more, in addition to climbing a bit more aggressively. I should also find out what sort of issue biking is going to be. I desperately need some sort of goal to work at, which was why the marathon was such a good idea. Blahblahblah.
Slacklining yesterday was good. Despite having spent all day in bed with the dogs (something I still need every now and then) I managed to get outside for a few hours to sit on the Potomac, slackline and enjoy the perfect weather. After dinner we ran into an amicable (and cute) pack of musicians who initiated a friendly game of wiffle ball off the walls of the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. It was a good night. A very good night indeed.
I mentioned that I was going to up my race from the half to the full marathon, since the motivation and ability was there. I even said that I was doing so well that I actually had some time to injure myself, if the problem were to arise. What a great theory. Now, I’m not allowed any running for a month, and if the foot still hurts when I walk the mile from the metro to work by the end of the week, I have to go back to the doctor and get some sort of monster cast. I’ve never messed up anything on my skeletal structure (besides my head a couple times) and the first time anything goes wrong, it’s something as lame as a foot stress fracture. I can’t even say that I was doing something totally ridiculous (mountain biking…trapezing…getting blown out of a cannon) to amount in a potentially fractured bone...just simple distance running! GRR!!!
Basically, I have to go back to visit cute-boy-doctor in a month to see if stuff still is screwed. If it’s not, he’s going to start me on some physical therapy type stuff to teach me how to strengthen the muscles around my knees so those whiny bastards will quit hurting. If in a month my foot is good, I might be able to start back up for the half marathon training. Maybe. *Fingers crossed*
In the meantime, I was instructed to work on my flexibility, so that means I’ll be yogaing a whole lot more, in addition to climbing a bit more aggressively. I should also find out what sort of issue biking is going to be. I desperately need some sort of goal to work at, which was why the marathon was such a good idea. Blahblahblah.
Slacklining yesterday was good. Despite having spent all day in bed with the dogs (something I still need every now and then) I managed to get outside for a few hours to sit on the Potomac, slackline and enjoy the perfect weather. After dinner we ran into an amicable (and cute) pack of musicians who initiated a friendly game of wiffle ball off the walls of the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. It was a good night. A very good night indeed.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Weekend Jumble
Friday went well - I got up to seven miles in right around 65 minutes. It was a fabulous accomplishment and beyond the fact that my knees and ankles were screaming quite loudly, I felt pretty good. I ran out by my office again, and this time I came just a little closer the airport. My next run out there will be the same seven mile route, and the one following that will be all the way to the airport. Friday involved the Mount Vernon Trail down to Duke Street and back to the office (around 2 miles) then 2.5 miles out toward GW Parkway and back. Great weather and far fewer people than Wednesday (I guess people want to have fun or be with their families at the end of the work week).
Saturday we went out to Great Falls to climb and I had tons of fun. For the sake of naming things, we went to this area with climbs named Romeo's Ladder and Juliet's Balcon (I think). How great is that? The climbs were really great. Very footsy, requiring lots of thought. The starts for all the climbs, 5.5 to 5.9, were ridiculous. I had a really hard time getting on everything. Once on, things got more reasonable. In any case, it seems pretty standard that getting on routes at Great Falls and Carderock is a pain in the ass. A lot of the climbs, even being footsy, asked for a little more arm muscle than I'm used to working on, and for the first time my biceps and shoulders are a little sore.
Today I had thought to go run out on the track (since I'm in Germantown this weekend and tracks are a little more prominent than in the inner city). I really wanted to so some timed runs and get a good gauge on my pace, and I also wanted to test out this iPhone application, TrackThingLite, that I downloaded that supposedly tracks distance/time via GPS. My brother recommended it to me and I hope it works. In any case, I'd like to try it out and then buy one of those fancy schmancy arm bands to carry on my runs. I'm generally against running with electronics, and I manage without it just fine, but I'd like to know my times and distances without googlemaps after runs. At the same time, running with my phone appeals to me since I run on my own most of the time and it's a good safety option. In any case, I'm debating whether I go out to the track today. My knees and ankles are achy and while I feel motivated, I'm not sure it's the smartest thing to do.
I've started considering the notion of running the full marathon rather than the half. The race is January 25, and I'm already at 7 miles. What's to stop me from going all the way? I could run a faster 13.1 miles if I just focused on training for it, or I could keep up the slow pace and do the full 26.2. I've got my appointment with the Sports Doc tomorrow, and hopefully he can give me a better idea of what sorts of limitations I'll be looking at. I may just take the good advice he offers and ignore the stupid warnings I am bound to get. It would be pretty awesome to run a full marathon...and the Miami race is supposed to be a good first marathon by most standards. We'll see.
It's a good thing that I don't have a TV or internet in my apartment. Beyond saving money that I don't need to spend, I am much more motivated to do other things. I had a pretty active weekend, but last night I came home from climbing (and REI) and I sat in front of the TV for hours watching stuff that was of no particular interest to me. The fact that I don't have TV or internet at home means that I have to find other ways to entertain myself outside the apartment or I'll go crazy.
Today maybe involve some late afternoon slacklining down on the Potomac. I may bring the boys (also known as my brother's 2 Italian Greyhounds) with me to the park, or if it's later in the afternoon I'll just head back to the DC area for the evening, since my dog sitting shift is over this evening. Alexandria is an insane dog capital - I love it. I should get a dog. I can't, but I should. A friend of mine is adopting a dog that I will get to have some time with during my office lunch times.
That is all.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Run Alexandria
I did really well tonight. I got out of work around 5:30, stretched out on the running path for some 20 minutes on the Oronoco Bay Park, and ran 55 minutes. It was a great run and more than likely one I'll repeat. I ended up pacing off a few runners only slightly faster than I am, and I managed to run on gravel and/or grass a lot of the way. It was one of my longer runs, and while I'm not perfectly comfortable, my knees and ankles are pretty OK. My arms are super gummy from yesterday, but overall I'm feeling pretty good.
I ran all the way out past Old Town from my office, and then doubled back on the same path. I continued out the same path but in the other direction of my office, and I ran just shy of Reagan Airport (past the marina, past some awesome apartments, past this weird factory that I couldn't figure out what it did, through the woods). I'd admired the people who ran along the George Washington Parkway for a long time, and today I actually got to do it. It also made me want a road bike even more...grrr. Anyway, I have a series of running goals in mind - the first is to make is from the door of my apartment to this roundabout about 4 miles north of me, and back. I figure I should make the 8 mile mark in 2 or 3 weeks, depending on what sort of crap I get from the sports doctor next week. The other goal, I established today, is to make it from the door of my apartment to the door of my office, 10 miles. It should be a really quite cool run - running through Columbia Heights, through downtown DC, through the mall, across the 14th street bridge, south on the parkway, and along the Potomac river path. And then when I start working toward a full marathon...I'd turn around and run back from Alexandria back to my place. But, for now just the 10 mile run and hopefully someone giving me a ride back home. That's my goal for the weekend of October 25.
October is going to be a little complicated for my training, at least in terms of consistency. I'm in Denver for a week at the beginning of the month for work, and that presents two challenges: work travel means I start at 7:30 in the morning and don't stop until 8:00 at night. And then, the altitude. I'm only going to be there for a week, and I wonder if it's enough time to get accustomed to the altitude if I'm trying to run an hour and half+ by that time. I skied pretty hard last time I was there and I managed alright, but I feel like it's a different sort of workout? On the other hand, I realize that my lazy ass can't tolerate breaking from the routine and if I were to stop, it would be that much harder to pick it back up. Just gotta suck it up. Also in October, I'll be dog sitting across the street from my office and that means that I'll be able to take advantage of the river running trails right there. I'll be in San Antonio for a week at the end of the month too...by then the heat shouldn't be too bad (I hope) and I'll just be able to keep up my routine. I wonder how the weather here in DC is going to affect my training toward the end of the year. October should be pretty ok, while November and December could get uncomfortable. I'll need to explore some alternatives to running times, with night coming earlier and mornings not being ideal for 1.5 and 2 hour runs. I'll be in San Fran visiting my new niece and nephew for 3 weeks in December (yay), and I'll get even more hill workouts, so that's something to look forward too.
I'm so psyched on all this race stuff, especially when I have good runs like today and everything that annoys me in my anatomy is tolerable. Every time I am thinking positively during the run, I remind myself that I'll never live a sedentary lifestyle again. I spent a year sitting down! It is miserable trying to get back where I should have always been! Why would I ever have stopped running? Of course...it was easier to be in shape and feeling good when I was riding 4 times a week and skiing 2 or 3 days a week...but hey, college had to end sometime. I miss horse back riding...need to make some arrangements on that front.
I'll leave you with two humorous stories: a black squirrel almost fell on my head today. I was almost at the end of my run today when a black poof flew across the air about 10 feet from my head. He (she?) jumped from one tree to the next, about 4 or 5 feet, and almost didn't make it to his landing spot. It was slightly traumatic and I was fairly certain I was going to be killed by a falling projectile.
The other was that about half way through the run, a woman I'd been pacing off and had gotten 100 meters ahead of me got to the end of her workout and passed me going the other way. She just said, "good job!" I often wonder why people don't acknowledge each other while running. I think it's just reasonable to notice that what you're doing is pretty awesome. I always try to acknowledge people with a nod or a hand raise. I so appreciated her taking a moment to encourage me! Training solo has its benefits and disadvantages, and the lack of team mates makes it hard to push yourself sometimes. It helped move me along.
Tomorrow, just yoga.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
A Good Day
Today was a good day in my training. I got up in the morning and did 15 minutes of yoga poses. It's amazing how much more effort it took to do the poses in the morning than it was later in the evening.
The ankle/foot and knees were a bit whiny, but I still walked the mile to the office in the morning. In the afternoon, I drove out to the gym. I set myself up for 10 routes, ranging from 5.6 to 5.8. I think I ended up at four 5.6s and four 5.8s and two 5.7s in between. I'm pretty satisfied with my progress climbing - two months ago I had a hard time on 5.8s, and now it's actually part of my workout. I'm working on a couple 5.9s and a 5.10 too, but I'm trying to just work on laps during my actual workout days, rather than things I'm likely to use all of my energy on (and fall off of a whole bunch).
Yoga was just outstanding. It had been a couple months since I'd done yoga at the gym, and today I had class with Chuck. He was awesome. His class involved the right combination of work and relaxation. I set some good intentions, worked really hard, loosed up the muscles that are a little sore...overall just a great class. And, during the final meditation moments, he read this excerpt from a Buddhist monk:
Peace is Every Step
"Every morning, when we wake up, we have 24 brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these 24 hours will bring peace, joy, & happiness to ourselves & others.
Peace is present right here & now, in ourselves & in everything we do & see. The question is whether or not we are in touch with it. We don't have to travel far away to enjoy the blue sky. We don't have to leave our city or even our neighborhood to enjoy the eyes of a beautiful child. Even the air we breathe can be a source of joy.
We can smile, breathe, walk, & eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of happiness that is available. We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, & we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, & so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy, & serenity. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment . Of course, planning for the future is a part of life. But even planning can only take place in the present moment . . .
I thought that was such a fantastic way to end the class. It made me feel good and actually brings a little light and clarity to life. It doesn't work all the time, but it's good to know.
Tomorrow, 5 or 6 miles on the Potomac and softball in the evening with my work team. Haha.
Monday, September 15, 2008
19 Weeks...I think?
It's coming along. I failed at getting my ass out of bed this morning. The heat last night, plus the fact that my brain wouldn't turn off, meant that I didn't sleep much. I actually got out of bed at 1:30 for a cold shower. And so, my run was postponed to the evening.
At a ten minute mile, I think I was up around 4 miles today. The run took just about all of my willpower. I was sooo beat before I even got outside. Coming home on the metro, I fell asleep while reading my book. Standing after my transfer took all of my effort to just stay awake while on my feet. I ate my lunch at work at 10:30 in the morning as opposed to noon, so by the time I got home I was starving. It's impressive that I actually got outside on no sleep and a full belly. The run actually felt pretty good, even though it was a harder run today. I underestimated how long it would take me to get back home, so I ended up doing tons of loops around the neighborhood to avoid running by my apartment. If I have to run by home, I just want to stop. I avoided running past home to make sure that wouldn't happen.
I have this small issue that makes me think of just about every horse I ever worked with...alot of horses clip their feet with their hooves...they sell Hock Guards to protect them from hurting themselves. Myself, I perpetually clip the inside of my right ankle with the heel of my left shoe. Every time I do it, I have a moment of clarity..."Mariana, pay attention to where your feet are." 5 minutes later, there goes the clip again. I have this persistent little scab on my foot and it gives me no great sense of accomplishment that this is one of my battle wounds!
At home, I did 30 minutes of yoga poses and then went on to my crunches, leg lifts, push ups. I'm embarrassed to say that I can't really do push ups. Lots of people can't. I want to be able to. I will. I still haven't gotten my yoga mat. I'm calling Hugger Mugger tomorrow. Bastards.
One of the challenges I'm dealing with is the fact that I'm hungry all the freaking time. Literally. Which is all good and well; I expect to need to eat more if I'm running 15 to 20 miles a week and yogaing and climbing...but it's all the time!
And...I want a road bike! I soooo want to start riding. If I'd bought a bike the way I wanted to back in April, I'd be all sorts of ready (maybe) for the century ride I wanted to do in October. So much for that one. I think I've acquired the courage to bike to work in DC traffic, and the lovely fall weather should really be great. There are showers at work, which is pretty convenient.
Tomorrow I might go out to the climbing gym, since I've got softball after work on Wednesday. The other thing I was thinking - since my softball game isn't till 7:30 on Wednesday, I might go for my run along the Potomac before the game. The weather should be fabulous and I'll feel super Alexandria-Trendy-Fit-Active while running on the river. Plus the running path along the river is just lovely.
I'm off to put frozen broccoli on my sore parts. I should probably buy some freezer packs.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
I Fell Asleep on the Rug in the Middle of My Workout
Sunday resulted in a significantly more productive day, physically, than I expected. The Pub Crawl on Saturday night was a hit with a great posse. Due to a little thinking-ahead, I was able to get up in time to go climb. Unfortunately, the heat spoiled the plans to go to Carderock, and a few of us opted for bouldering at the gym instead.
I discovered a few new problems, and continued to bitch at the ones that I can't figure out. I'm working on a V2 and a V3 as obnoxious problems, and then there are two V1s that I ought to be able to do that just make me mad because they're overhanging and require more from my body than I know how to do. Patience. Ha...I've got to be the most impatient person out there. But persistence is supposed to be helpful too.
I came home to do my stretching and my crunches...butt clenches...etc...and I actually fell asleep on the rug. I was mostly done with the workout, but by the time I woke up, I had lost motivation to finish the workout.
My goal tonight is to be in bed at 10, read "Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu," (which is by the same guy who wrote the "Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific,") and be lights out by 10:30. I figure, this way I can be up before 7 to actually make my AM run worth running. By the way, I highly recommend "Sex Lives of Cannibals," ...it's hysterical and makes living a "regular" life a little frustrating at times. But, Maarten Troost is a fun writer.
Hopefully my yoga mat will come in tomorrow and I can stop using a towel on my rug as my yoga mat.
That is all for now.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Hot
Oh man was it hot. I sweat like crazy; that's a standard for me (damn the Florit genes). My clothes look like I just pulled them out of the wash (but unfortunately they don't smell like they came out of the wash...a side effect of my training is that I do laundry much more often, else my closet be unapproachable). Anyway, today was a good run besides the absurd heat.
I headed straight west, into the Mount Pleasant/Columbia Heights/Rock Creek Park area. It's so pretty, I can't believe that it actually counts as DC. Not because DC is not pretty, but because that area just seems so homie and almost suburban. Miami was so boring to run! In my head, it was always something like, "hey that house is the same as mine. Hey, that house is identical to the one next door. Hey...that's a gnat in my mouth/nose/ears/eyes...there's a person who won't smile or say hello to me because that would be weird." People are more aware of what a neighborhood and community is here.
The best part of my run: I was turning a corner and this cute Odie type dog was staring at the SUV to my left...the woman in the car hollered at the dog that she would be right back. The car turns the car and Odie chases her around the house. Too cute. The first 15 - 18 minutes of my run were very pleasant. I alternated between up and down hill streets (rather than my standard of running straight one way, and then straight back in the other direction). It takes a little more effort, simply because you can't tell exactly what's happening next, but I think ultimately it'll be better for my training and not over using the knees/feet/ankles when I've got no juice left. The hills do make my arms heavy though. I remember when I was running track in high school, one of the girls that ran distance with me (who by the way was a speed beast) was made to run with five pound weights in her hands in order to make her run with her wrists at hers hips. I can't imagine how frustrating that must have been. I think of her when I start to get tired and I find my hands at my chest.
The other positive about today: minimal pain! I'm trying to figure out how to balance not weighting the foot, or the braced knee...or the good knee. I guess that sounds like I'm hopping around on a half a foot or something, but it works. It's also helping me learn to step lightly and not stomp my feet with each step.
Today, I've got a few push ups and around 150 crunches to do. (I'm annoyed that I ever stopped my crunches. While I was up in Germantown, I was at like 300 crunches 3/4 times a week)! Shame on me. I still haven't gotten my yoga mat and I've highly neglected yoga at the climbing gym, which is dumb. My mom is pushing me to do it at the gym, which I ought to, but the issue is: now that I'm living in DC and not a bajillion miles away, I have a little more flexibility in transportation. So I typically climb on Monday and Wednesday, and I should do yoga at home Tuesday and at the gym on Thursday. I still have the jeep, which makes getting home from the gym 30 minutes faster...but then I deal with parking on the street late at night (when spots are limited) and then driving the car in the morning (which is a pain). I love having the jeep...I even more love leaving it parked at my office.
Tomorrow afternoon, some friends and I are heading to Carderock, MD to climb in the even hotter sun (almost 100 degrees apparently). Can't wait. Even though it's hot, and the rock will be hot, I want to be outside before summer really ends, and even more so, I want to get tan! (Sports bras and shorts are the required attire, according to the boss. I just wish the boys would follow the same attire!) We climbed at Carderock last weekend, and it was pretty challenging in that it's much more footsy than what I've climbed before, and the hand holds are pretty much absent. It was awesome.
Tonight is the half way to St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl, and knowing that, my climbing friends have agreed to an afternoon climb rather than an 8 am climb. Thank you, thank you, thank you for allowing me to sleep in later.
On that note, I'm off to finish my work out..
I headed straight west, into the Mount Pleasant/Columbia Heights/Rock Creek Park area. It's so pretty, I can't believe that it actually counts as DC. Not because DC is not pretty, but because that area just seems so homie and almost suburban. Miami was so boring to run! In my head, it was always something like, "hey that house is the same as mine. Hey, that house is identical to the one next door. Hey...that's a gnat in my mouth/nose/ears/eyes...there's a person who won't smile or say hello to me because that would be weird." People are more aware of what a neighborhood and community is here.
The best part of my run: I was turning a corner and this cute Odie type dog was staring at the SUV to my left...the woman in the car hollered at the dog that she would be right back. The car turns the car and Odie chases her around the house. Too cute. The first 15 - 18 minutes of my run were very pleasant. I alternated between up and down hill streets (rather than my standard of running straight one way, and then straight back in the other direction). It takes a little more effort, simply because you can't tell exactly what's happening next, but I think ultimately it'll be better for my training and not over using the knees/feet/ankles when I've got no juice left. The hills do make my arms heavy though. I remember when I was running track in high school, one of the girls that ran distance with me (who by the way was a speed beast) was made to run with five pound weights in her hands in order to make her run with her wrists at hers hips. I can't imagine how frustrating that must have been. I think of her when I start to get tired and I find my hands at my chest.
The other positive about today: minimal pain! I'm trying to figure out how to balance not weighting the foot, or the braced knee...or the good knee. I guess that sounds like I'm hopping around on a half a foot or something, but it works. It's also helping me learn to step lightly and not stomp my feet with each step.
Today, I've got a few push ups and around 150 crunches to do. (I'm annoyed that I ever stopped my crunches. While I was up in Germantown, I was at like 300 crunches 3/4 times a week)! Shame on me. I still haven't gotten my yoga mat and I've highly neglected yoga at the climbing gym, which is dumb. My mom is pushing me to do it at the gym, which I ought to, but the issue is: now that I'm living in DC and not a bajillion miles away, I have a little more flexibility in transportation. So I typically climb on Monday and Wednesday, and I should do yoga at home Tuesday and at the gym on Thursday. I still have the jeep, which makes getting home from the gym 30 minutes faster...but then I deal with parking on the street late at night (when spots are limited) and then driving the car in the morning (which is a pain). I love having the jeep...I even more love leaving it parked at my office.
Tomorrow afternoon, some friends and I are heading to Carderock, MD to climb in the even hotter sun (almost 100 degrees apparently). Can't wait. Even though it's hot, and the rock will be hot, I want to be outside before summer really ends, and even more so, I want to get tan! (Sports bras and shorts are the required attire, according to the boss. I just wish the boys would follow the same attire!) We climbed at Carderock last weekend, and it was pretty challenging in that it's much more footsy than what I've climbed before, and the hand holds are pretty much absent. It was awesome.
Tonight is the half way to St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl, and knowing that, my climbing friends have agreed to an afternoon climb rather than an 8 am climb. Thank you, thank you, thank you for allowing me to sleep in later.
On that note, I'm off to finish my work out..
Friday, September 12, 2008
Attention elsewhere
The fact is, when you've got a bum leg (foot), you find other things to keep you busy. I managed to bust the foot, and have since made an appointment with a Sports Medicine Man.
On the more productive end of things, I'm bouldering this evening at Sport Rock in Alexandria and I'm working on this "goal setting" notion that my bad ass climbing friends do. They did 42 problems last Friday. I suppose I did about 35? I'll probably aim for 35 again. The thing about being at the gym is that I forget it's a workout (thankfully, because that's not my style). On the same token, I realize that setting goals will make me a better climber and actually help me in training for the race. It's just strange to goal set at climbing the way I would for a run...I'm forcing myself to do something I really like. Running - I like it because of how energetic and healthy I feel as a result - but the actual running part blows! Climbing, on the other hand, presents a different set of challenges and frustrations, but it's so much fun. (Regret from college: I didn't climb when I had every opportunity to. And I knew I liked it. But, I had my reasons).
Tomorrow morning, I hope to do a decent little run, at a slow pace. I'd like to go through Rock Creek Park, but that would probably make the run longer than it ought to be...and I think it's sort of unnecessary to drive to some place I want to run? Maybe? Ideally, I'll get my heart rate up and use the leg muscles I haven't used since Tuesday, without making the foot scream. I should add the feeling is not muscular - if I have no weight on it, I couldn't even tell you where it hurts. If I poke it and I'm not weighting it, it doesn't hurt. No swelling. No bruises. Very weird.
Side note - I like being a grown up. I can eat a can of sweet peas for breakfast (and I did this morning). Not that I would have gotten stopped for it as a kid...but I certainly would have gotten questions. I also like ice cream cake and warm soup with lots of cheese at breakfast. Cold pizza? Not a chance.
On the more productive end of things, I'm bouldering this evening at Sport Rock in Alexandria and I'm working on this "goal setting" notion that my bad ass climbing friends do. They did 42 problems last Friday. I suppose I did about 35? I'll probably aim for 35 again. The thing about being at the gym is that I forget it's a workout (thankfully, because that's not my style). On the same token, I realize that setting goals will make me a better climber and actually help me in training for the race. It's just strange to goal set at climbing the way I would for a run...I'm forcing myself to do something I really like. Running - I like it because of how energetic and healthy I feel as a result - but the actual running part blows! Climbing, on the other hand, presents a different set of challenges and frustrations, but it's so much fun. (Regret from college: I didn't climb when I had every opportunity to. And I knew I liked it. But, I had my reasons).
Tomorrow morning, I hope to do a decent little run, at a slow pace. I'd like to go through Rock Creek Park, but that would probably make the run longer than it ought to be...and I think it's sort of unnecessary to drive to some place I want to run? Maybe? Ideally, I'll get my heart rate up and use the leg muscles I haven't used since Tuesday, without making the foot scream. I should add the feeling is not muscular - if I have no weight on it, I couldn't even tell you where it hurts. If I poke it and I'm not weighting it, it doesn't hurt. No swelling. No bruises. Very weird.
Side note - I like being a grown up. I can eat a can of sweet peas for breakfast (and I did this morning). Not that I would have gotten stopped for it as a kid...but I certainly would have gotten questions. I also like ice cream cake and warm soup with lots of cheese at breakfast. Cold pizza? Not a chance.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
I Need New Parts
I've had enough with my legs, knees, ankle, feet. I'm throwing these out and getting new ones. Ok I know that's not totally possible, but, I am getting the foot checked out since walking was a bit more intense than it ought to be this morning. And my bosses are making me.
In the meantime, I'm going to up the yogaing and try to strengthen my core as much as possible. Hopefully, that will make moving toward longer, more intense runs more doable. I see a bajillion sun salutions in my future. I ordered a sweet 5 mm mat and cotton blanket for yoga, which I'm really pretty excited about. The mat is all kinds of edible and non-toxic and will probably do tricks to entertain me, etc. Obviously, it's purple.
Besides the foot and the horror movie scene, yesterdays run was awesome and I really got to test my stamina. Although, today I learned that it's not unreasonable to think of horror movies: other girls have been raped and killed in the park. I learned my lesson. I'll save my trail runs for those early morning and weekend runs. Or, I'll carry my head lamp and my mace.
Fun tidbit: my pedometer has a waistband clip and an emergency clip in case it falls off the waistband. When the emergency clip actually seperates from the pedometer, it screams at you. It reminds me of the scene from X Men where Cerebro looks for and starts killing the mutants (and then later the humans). I feel pretty good knowing it's right on my waist...if it stops me in my tracks, it will probably do the same for others. Audio mace.
No softball or climbing today - just going to chill out.
In the meantime, I'm going to up the yogaing and try to strengthen my core as much as possible. Hopefully, that will make moving toward longer, more intense runs more doable. I see a bajillion sun salutions in my future. I ordered a sweet 5 mm mat and cotton blanket for yoga, which I'm really pretty excited about. The mat is all kinds of edible and non-toxic and will probably do tricks to entertain me, etc. Obviously, it's purple.
Besides the foot and the horror movie scene, yesterdays run was awesome and I really got to test my stamina. Although, today I learned that it's not unreasonable to think of horror movies: other girls have been raped and killed in the park. I learned my lesson. I'll save my trail runs for those early morning and weekend runs. Or, I'll carry my head lamp and my mace.
Fun tidbit: my pedometer has a waistband clip and an emergency clip in case it falls off the waistband. When the emergency clip actually seperates from the pedometer, it screams at you. It reminds me of the scene from X Men where Cerebro looks for and starts killing the mutants (and then later the humans). I feel pretty good knowing it's right on my waist...if it stops me in my tracks, it will probably do the same for others. Audio mace.
No softball or climbing today - just going to chill out.
The Beginning
About 3 weeks ago I went looking for a new pair of running shoes. I'd just gotten my new knee brace that supposedly would work its magic on my "Patella-Femoral Syndrome." (Whatever?) I'd done a few short runs and learned about grinding in my knees. I had hopes of getting back into running shape, with the help of my flashy pink accented shoes and fancy arch supports. While at the store, I met Mayor Fenty's dad/owner of Fleet Feet and I learned that the dude has run over 100 miles in a day. More than once. Intense.
My motivation to start running again was furthered while at Fleet Feet: I was browsing the race advertisements and am now aiming for the Miami Half Marathon on January 25th. It's the perfect first race: flat, cool weathered and (the bonus) I have free lodging. Plus, my parents will love having me home and I get to lay about in the sun while my DC counterparts deal with crappy weather.
I didn't even get to try out my shoes before I had to take two more weeks off - I fell on the arch of my foot while trying to climb a crack that was pretty much out of league. It started to get better, then I jump on a tent stake while jumping for a frisbee. So lame!
I've started getting into my little rhythm though, and I feel awesome! On Saturday, I did a decent 4 miles. Tuesday, I did something truly unprecedented: I got up and went running in the morning! Anybody who knows me knows that this is an amazing accomplishment. Since college, I've gotten a lot better about not spending the entire day sleeping (honest). I rarely sleep past 9:30 anymore. In any case, I did my morning run and felt peppy all day. The extra pep is certainly incentive to keep the morning runs up.
My progress in training brought me to do one of the stupidest things I've ever done tonight: I decided to take advantage of the cool, albeit humid, weather. I recently discovered Rock Creek Park 2 blocks from my apartment. The roads are basically covered by the canopy of trees, cicadas and birds make alot of noise...generally, your tree hugger paradise right in DC. I decided to take a long, leisurely run right through the park. I should have turned back at the first sign that sidewalks would be scare, but I decided that I would press on. This was a dumb idea. While the lack of side walks was not that bad, I ended up running in the dark because the canopy blocked out the setting sun. I knew I would run in the dark a bit, but it escalated quickly to running in darkness, on no sidewalks, further than I'd planned to run from home, with zero street lights. My imagination conjured images of horror movies where hairy men jump out of the bushes to drag you into the woods. The entire time, I was thinking, "shit I left my mace at home...what good does it do me there!??!"
Beyond the horror movie, I got a solid 6 miles in on pavement and trails, so it was a good run. My foot is pissed off at me, which is altogether a new thing for me, but for now I'm ignoring it.
Florida was never great on teaching me to deal with hills, and I certainly neglected them in Troy. But, I figure if I learn to run hills here, running Miami Beach and Key Biscayne will be a breeze. It's good that I've committed to that: it seems like everywhere I want to run around here is downhill on the way out and uphill on the way in.
And onward: tomorrow, softball (apparently) and perhaps climbing if the foot stops being a sissy.
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