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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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.  

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.

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..

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.

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.

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.