Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Foto Friday
Going to play along with Nikemom's Foto Friday tradition! She posted one that is giving her inspiration to get her butt in the pool, here's one that inspires me:
Ah, how I love a good TA. Just when I'm thinking "yech! I dont want to race this year, that all sounds like too much work!" I see a pic of a TA and I remember how much I miss it. Something about all those bikes in one place just makes me want to put on some spandex and hit the road.
I've been reevaluating my race shedule a bit for this year, though. In the interest of saving money (because I want a REAL vacation, dammit! One that doesnt revolve around a race!), and racing is expensive, I think I'm going to ax Steelhead. That was going to be my big travel race for the year, and honestly, I'd rather just spend the money getting to a beach in Mexico. Also not sure if I'm going to do Shawnee Mission. I know it's pretty much a standard race for everyone to do around here, but really, dont we get enough of Shawnee Mission Park? Thats where I go to do my OWS training, where I go if I want a nice hilly, low-traffic loop to ride, same for running.....do I really need to pay to do it? Not really.
Plus, after HyVee at the end of June, I'd like to be able to concentrate on my marathon training a little bit more. I'm still planning to run Chicago in October, so 3 months to focus soley on running would be awesome. But fear not! I still have plenty of tri's on my schedule. Heritage Park and the new KC Tri both in May, KS 70.3 and HyVee both in June. Still not sure about QuarterMax, I dont know that I really want to do 3 tri's in the span of 5 weeks. We'll see. But regardless, it should be a fun summer!
Monday, January 26, 2009
I am not OCD
Well, I had myself all psyched up to go run 14 outside on Saturday. Ate a good dinner Friday night, laid out all my warm clothes before I went to bed, etc. But, it just didn't happen. I figure I have to draw the line between hardass and stupid at some point. And that line is somewhere north of 9 degrees. I woke up at 6 and didnt even pretend I was going to get up and go. I just shut the alarm off and went back to sleep. I did get up and go run 5 miles on the treadmill at the gym though. I would have gone farther, but the treadmill shuts off after you've been on it for an hour. Ok, maybe I wouldnt have gone farther. Running on a treadmill is one of the most boring things I can imagine.
Sunday I did the Groundhog 10K with D and a couple of other people. This was actually the first 10K I've ever signed up for. I've done 5K's, 4-milers, half marathons, marathons....but never a 10K. It was all in the underground storage caves, so the temp was in the mid-60's or so. A welcome break from all the outside running as of late. I did it in 1:12, which is an 11:15 min/mile pace. Not too bad for me. I'm used to being beat by 70 year old women, so whatever. What bugs me though, is all the volunteers. I'm ALWAYS at the tail end of race. I'm fine with it. But I cant stand it when us stragglers come through and the volunteers are like "you can do it! Keep going!". I know I can run effing 6 miles! I know I'm slow! Just shut up! It's pity cheering. You can hear it in their voices.
I have a routine for everything. I NEED routine. That is just how I am. Call it a character flaw if you want, but it's just something I need in order to function. I have a routine for folding laundry. I have a routine for eating my food. Everything has a routine. Everything is planned and thought out in advance. My routine for grocery shopping goes like this:
1. Get out all my recipes
2. Make menu for the week
3. Go through fridge and cabinets to figure out what ingredients I already have
4. Make grocery list
5. Go to grocery store
6. Start on the right side of the store and work my way down the aisles to the left side of the store (the produce section in all the grocery stores I use is on the right. I dont know what I will do if someday I go to one where the produce is on the left)
I HAVE to do it this way. And it all has to happen in one sitting. There is no making out the menu, then the next day going grocery shopping. No. It is one event. So imagine my delimma when I get to the grocery store only to discover......I HAVE FORGOTTEN MY LIST AT HOME! Oh. My. God. I nearly had an attack right there in the front of the store. I seriously stood there for a couple of minutes with my cart trying to decide if I should just get what I could remember, or if I should go home and get my list. I decided to try to shop without my list.
I should ALSO mention that I was not at my regular grocery store. I have gotten so fed up with the HyVee by my house as they have stopped carrying half the shit I need, and the last straw was when they stopped carrying the Farm to Market bread. That is the only kind of sourdough bread I like, I dont like the store bakery stuff. And since I was making baked potato soup last night, well, I needed sourdough bread. So I decided to try out the P Chop over at 95th & Mission. It's a lot nicer than the P Chop by our old house, so I figured I'd give it a whirl.
So there I am, in a new grocery store, without my list. AND, I was driving Dan's car. The Element is my grocery-getter, but he had taken off in it to go run some errands, and I didnt want to wait for him to get home so I could go to the store. This grocery trip just didnt not start out right from the beginning, my whole game was off. ANYWAY. One of the benefits of going to the store right after having made my menu and list is that it was all pretty fresh in my mind. So I could kind of go through my menu in my head and recreate my shopping list. Typically, I am able to just go down my list and cross things off as I put them in my cart. This trip required a bit more back tracking across the store as I remembered various other things I needed, that I had forgotten about my first trip down a certain aisle. But I did manage to get out of the store with pretty much everything I needed.
With a few exceptions. The good ol P Chop did not have regular pork breakfast sausage. I did not want maple flavored, or extra hot, or reduced fat (who uses reduced fat sausage??), I just wanted regular. They had the little price sign for it in the sausage freezer, but it was not there. I dug through it all. I guess everyone else wanted some too. It also took me a while to find the chicken. CHICKEN! The problem was that their meat counter is laid out different than the one at HyVee, and the chicken is in a different colored package than what HyVee uses too. But I did finally find it. BUT! P Chop packages their chicken 4 to a package. HyVee does it 3 to a package. I am used to figuring out how many packages of chicken I need based on the 3 to a package math. So this threw me off. I managed to find one 3-chicken package, so I got that and a 4-chicken package. I knew I needed 6 pieces of chicken for the week, so I dont know what I'll do with the lone leftover. I guess freeze it and hope that I can find another 3-chicken package next week to even it out.
So after having to stop every 5 minutes to try and re-figure what I needed, I made it out OK. I think I'll use this grocery store again, being that my experience was good despite the no-list issue, and wrong car issue. One downfall is that I do like the HyVee brand of a lot of stuff, but not the Best Choice generic brand that P Chop carries. So we'll see how the grocery budget comes out if I stop buying as much generic stuff.
Food is a big deal, people!
Sunday I did the Groundhog 10K with D and a couple of other people. This was actually the first 10K I've ever signed up for. I've done 5K's, 4-milers, half marathons, marathons....but never a 10K. It was all in the underground storage caves, so the temp was in the mid-60's or so. A welcome break from all the outside running as of late. I did it in 1:12, which is an 11:15 min/mile pace. Not too bad for me. I'm used to being beat by 70 year old women, so whatever. What bugs me though, is all the volunteers. I'm ALWAYS at the tail end of race. I'm fine with it. But I cant stand it when us stragglers come through and the volunteers are like "you can do it! Keep going!". I know I can run effing 6 miles! I know I'm slow! Just shut up! It's pity cheering. You can hear it in their voices.
I have a routine for everything. I NEED routine. That is just how I am. Call it a character flaw if you want, but it's just something I need in order to function. I have a routine for folding laundry. I have a routine for eating my food. Everything has a routine. Everything is planned and thought out in advance. My routine for grocery shopping goes like this:
1. Get out all my recipes
2. Make menu for the week
3. Go through fridge and cabinets to figure out what ingredients I already have
4. Make grocery list
5. Go to grocery store
6. Start on the right side of the store and work my way down the aisles to the left side of the store (the produce section in all the grocery stores I use is on the right. I dont know what I will do if someday I go to one where the produce is on the left)
I HAVE to do it this way. And it all has to happen in one sitting. There is no making out the menu, then the next day going grocery shopping. No. It is one event. So imagine my delimma when I get to the grocery store only to discover......I HAVE FORGOTTEN MY LIST AT HOME! Oh. My. God. I nearly had an attack right there in the front of the store. I seriously stood there for a couple of minutes with my cart trying to decide if I should just get what I could remember, or if I should go home and get my list. I decided to try to shop without my list.
I should ALSO mention that I was not at my regular grocery store. I have gotten so fed up with the HyVee by my house as they have stopped carrying half the shit I need, and the last straw was when they stopped carrying the Farm to Market bread. That is the only kind of sourdough bread I like, I dont like the store bakery stuff. And since I was making baked potato soup last night, well, I needed sourdough bread. So I decided to try out the P Chop over at 95th & Mission. It's a lot nicer than the P Chop by our old house, so I figured I'd give it a whirl.
So there I am, in a new grocery store, without my list. AND, I was driving Dan's car. The Element is my grocery-getter, but he had taken off in it to go run some errands, and I didnt want to wait for him to get home so I could go to the store. This grocery trip just didnt not start out right from the beginning, my whole game was off. ANYWAY. One of the benefits of going to the store right after having made my menu and list is that it was all pretty fresh in my mind. So I could kind of go through my menu in my head and recreate my shopping list. Typically, I am able to just go down my list and cross things off as I put them in my cart. This trip required a bit more back tracking across the store as I remembered various other things I needed, that I had forgotten about my first trip down a certain aisle. But I did manage to get out of the store with pretty much everything I needed.
With a few exceptions. The good ol P Chop did not have regular pork breakfast sausage. I did not want maple flavored, or extra hot, or reduced fat (who uses reduced fat sausage??), I just wanted regular. They had the little price sign for it in the sausage freezer, but it was not there. I dug through it all. I guess everyone else wanted some too. It also took me a while to find the chicken. CHICKEN! The problem was that their meat counter is laid out different than the one at HyVee, and the chicken is in a different colored package than what HyVee uses too. But I did finally find it. BUT! P Chop packages their chicken 4 to a package. HyVee does it 3 to a package. I am used to figuring out how many packages of chicken I need based on the 3 to a package math. So this threw me off. I managed to find one 3-chicken package, so I got that and a 4-chicken package. I knew I needed 6 pieces of chicken for the week, so I dont know what I'll do with the lone leftover. I guess freeze it and hope that I can find another 3-chicken package next week to even it out.
So after having to stop every 5 minutes to try and re-figure what I needed, I made it out OK. I think I'll use this grocery store again, being that my experience was good despite the no-list issue, and wrong car issue. One downfall is that I do like the HyVee brand of a lot of stuff, but not the Best Choice generic brand that P Chop carries. So we'll see how the grocery budget comes out if I stop buying as much generic stuff.
Food is a big deal, people!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Well, that was a bad idea
So, we all know I have issues with my pinky toes. Several weeks ago, I got a pretty big blister on one of them that eventually deflated, but the top layer of skin never reattached to my toe. So there was just sort of this empty pocket there. I finally got sick of it, and since I had last weekend off running, I decided to just cut the skin off. Big mistake! Just doing that made my toe feel like it was on fire. I ran 2 on Wednesday and it bothered me a little bit, but last night I did 4 and it killed. My toes had gotten nice and calloused up, and I basically just cut that whole layer off. So now I'm starting from scratch again. Ugh. I should have known better. The 14 I'm supposed to do tomorrow should be greeeeaaaat.
Speaking of those 14, it's supposed to be 9 degrees Saturday morning. NINE. That will make it even better! Last night when I ran, it was about 60. I was running outside at the end of January in shorts. Seriously, it is not cool to be teased with a day of weather like that, and then have it plummet to single digits. Sigh. Such is the life in Kansas.
Speaking of those 14, it's supposed to be 9 degrees Saturday morning. NINE. That will make it even better! Last night when I ran, it was about 60. I was running outside at the end of January in shorts. Seriously, it is not cool to be teased with a day of weather like that, and then have it plummet to single digits. Sigh. Such is the life in Kansas.
Monday, January 12, 2009
The best of us can find happiness in misery
I am always proud of myself for training. Because it's ALWAYS a struggle to go do it. I rarely think "oh gee, I just cant wait to go run/hop on my trainer/whatever". Once I'm out there doing it, I'm fine. It's just the getting out there part that is hard. I always have to have a little discussion with myself about the benefits of doing it, versus the negative aspect of not doing it. But some days I'm more proud of myself than others. Saturday was one of those days.
I had 12 miles planned, and I actually HAD been looking forward to it. Finally getting up in the higher mileage makes me happy. But, it was fuggin cold on Saturday. It was fuh-REE-zing. After my alarm went off, I stayed in bed for probably 20 minutes debating with myself about whether or not to go. Since it was the last run of the winter session, I figured I had better go though. So I got all bundled up and headed out. I'm not sure of the exact temperature, but I'd guess it was around 15 degrees. Oh, and did I mention the wind? Or the fact that it was a relatively hilly course? Fantastic.
We actually had a pretty large group because Eladio had opened it up to the Spring session participants, and a lot of them showed. Which was surprising, since it was so cold. My thought process during the whole ordeal went a little something like this....
Start-0.5 mile: Oh shit, I am going to get hypothermia and die, and probably frostbite on at least 50% of my body. I'm turning around now.
0.5 mile-mile 1: Ok, we're in the woods, there is no wind, I'm starting to warm up, this isnt so bad!
Mile 1-2: Holy mother of God! My ass is frozen and I'm going to die! I'm turning around now.
Miles 2-5: Ok, this isnt THAT bad, there are people to talk to, everyone is commenting on how badass my IM jacket is, I'm glad I showed up.
Mile 5-6: Fuck this half mile hill, fuck this wind, fuck running! I am turning around now.
Mile 6-7: Dear God, please let me die a quick death right this instant and put me out of my misery.
Miles 7-9: **laughing to self at all the lazy effers who stayed home in bed while I am out being a badass running 12 miles in the freezing cold on a Saturday morning**
Mile 9-10: Oh no, face is too frozen to talk without excruciating pain. Am pretty sure skin on cheeks is going to be cracked when I finish.
Mile 10-11: I am truly going to die. Right here on the spot. I hope someone notices my frozen carcas laying on the side of the rode and notifys my family of my untimely death.
Mile 11-12: Sweet Jesus, I am almost done! I love running, this is the best thing ever! I am going to run in the cold every night this week!!
Somewhere towards the end of the run, we were talking about what "runners high" is. For me, it is getting to the last mile of a long run and realizing that I am almost done and will be able to sit down and stop moving soon. Whoever said that acutally running gives you some sort of high was full of shit. Getting done is the best part. I'd also like to retract an earlier statement I made about liking to run in the cold. Because, I dont. I guess I had forgotten about how bad it sucks.
But, I did feel really good after I finished. I was really happy that I had drug myself out of bed to go run, despite the fact that it was 3 hours of sheer misery. After I got home, I stayed all bundled up, gloves and all, because I just couldnt stop shivering. It took me a good half an hour to get warmed up enough to stop shaking. It felt like the cold was just coming out of my bones. Then I felt like complete ass the rest of the day, even Chipotle didnt help me feel better. I dont know if it was the distance or the cold or a combination of the two, but I was completely wiped out. I better get used to it! We have this weekend off, then next weekend the spring session starts, and I dont have anything less than a 10 mile long run until the OKC marathon at the end of April. Cant wait!
I had 12 miles planned, and I actually HAD been looking forward to it. Finally getting up in the higher mileage makes me happy. But, it was fuggin cold on Saturday. It was fuh-REE-zing. After my alarm went off, I stayed in bed for probably 20 minutes debating with myself about whether or not to go. Since it was the last run of the winter session, I figured I had better go though. So I got all bundled up and headed out. I'm not sure of the exact temperature, but I'd guess it was around 15 degrees. Oh, and did I mention the wind? Or the fact that it was a relatively hilly course? Fantastic.
We actually had a pretty large group because Eladio had opened it up to the Spring session participants, and a lot of them showed. Which was surprising, since it was so cold. My thought process during the whole ordeal went a little something like this....
Start-0.5 mile: Oh shit, I am going to get hypothermia and die, and probably frostbite on at least 50% of my body. I'm turning around now.
0.5 mile-mile 1: Ok, we're in the woods, there is no wind, I'm starting to warm up, this isnt so bad!
Mile 1-2: Holy mother of God! My ass is frozen and I'm going to die! I'm turning around now.
Miles 2-5: Ok, this isnt THAT bad, there are people to talk to, everyone is commenting on how badass my IM jacket is, I'm glad I showed up.
Mile 5-6: Fuck this half mile hill, fuck this wind, fuck running! I am turning around now.
Mile 6-7: Dear God, please let me die a quick death right this instant and put me out of my misery.
Miles 7-9: **laughing to self at all the lazy effers who stayed home in bed while I am out being a badass running 12 miles in the freezing cold on a Saturday morning**
Mile 9-10: Oh no, face is too frozen to talk without excruciating pain. Am pretty sure skin on cheeks is going to be cracked when I finish.
Mile 10-11: I am truly going to die. Right here on the spot. I hope someone notices my frozen carcas laying on the side of the rode and notifys my family of my untimely death.
Mile 11-12: Sweet Jesus, I am almost done! I love running, this is the best thing ever! I am going to run in the cold every night this week!!
Somewhere towards the end of the run, we were talking about what "runners high" is. For me, it is getting to the last mile of a long run and realizing that I am almost done and will be able to sit down and stop moving soon. Whoever said that acutally running gives you some sort of high was full of shit. Getting done is the best part. I'd also like to retract an earlier statement I made about liking to run in the cold. Because, I dont. I guess I had forgotten about how bad it sucks.
But, I did feel really good after I finished. I was really happy that I had drug myself out of bed to go run, despite the fact that it was 3 hours of sheer misery. After I got home, I stayed all bundled up, gloves and all, because I just couldnt stop shivering. It took me a good half an hour to get warmed up enough to stop shaking. It felt like the cold was just coming out of my bones. Then I felt like complete ass the rest of the day, even Chipotle didnt help me feel better. I dont know if it was the distance or the cold or a combination of the two, but I was completely wiped out. I better get used to it! We have this weekend off, then next weekend the spring session starts, and I dont have anything less than a 10 mile long run until the OKC marathon at the end of April. Cant wait!
Monday, January 5, 2009
I hate the gym in January!
Well, it's that time of year again. Time for all the New Year's resolution people to come out and make the gym hell to go to. I was being a puss tonight and decided I'd trade running outside in the cold for running inside on the treadmill. I should have known better, it being the first Monday after New Years.
I pull up to the gym and both parking lots are packed. I should have just turned around and gone home at that point. But no, I was thinking maybe everyone was there for step class, or something. My second clue should have been the fact that every single first row locker was taken. It pisses me off when people dont use locks, because I go around opening 5 million lockers, all of them full of someone elses shit before I find an open one. At least if you use a lock I know it's taken. Next time I'm stealing something.
So I lock up my stuff and go upstairs, and of course all the treadmills are taken. Half of which were taken by fuckers who were just walking. Perfect. And the "jogging" track is clogged up with a bunch of walkers walking 4 wide making it impossible for anyone to run. But, I figured I'd attempt to run a few laps while I waited for a treadmill to open up. I'm running, dodging fat walkers left and right, along with a couple other poor souls who just wanted to run, I come back around to by the treadmills, and some guy is getting off. Fantastic! So I go over and hop on, and some fat bitch comes up and goes "EXCUSE ME!!!! I was wating for that for FIVE MINUTES!!!!". I said "yeah, so was I, I was just RUNNING while I did it." I almost added "you should try it, it might help" while looking her up and down giving her my best "you are fat and ugly and disgusting" look. But I didn't. I also let her have the damn treadmill. I'm getting soft in my old age. But hey, she had a good hundy on me so I didnt want to start anything that I wasnt sure I could win.
I couldnt stand the thought of trying to run on the track anymore, so I just left. On my way back into our neighborhood, I passed Dan on his way out. I knew he was headed up to the gym, so I called him and was like "dont EVEN bother, it is too fucking crowded". I wasnt going to let the fat fuck resolution people keep me from getting my workout in, so I threw on my running pants when I got home and finished up outside. Luckily I only had 2 miles planned for tonight. Unfortunately, I was still so pissed when I left the house that I forgot my headband and gloves and I froze.
I FUCKING HATE NEW YEARS RESOLUTION PEOPLE AT THE GYM!!! Gah, they make it virtually IMPOSSIBLE for anyone who actually does give two shits about their health to get anything done. Maybe if you tried actually working out YEAR ROUND you wouldnt be in such a frenzy to lose a few pounds in January after you just spent the last two months stuffing your face. I am just going to have to forego the gym on weeknights for the next month or so. I guess I shouldn't complain, at least I have enough balls to run outside on a below freezing January night.
PS- I apologize for all the F-bombs, but as this just happened tonight, my rage still has not subsided.
I pull up to the gym and both parking lots are packed. I should have just turned around and gone home at that point. But no, I was thinking maybe everyone was there for step class, or something. My second clue should have been the fact that every single first row locker was taken. It pisses me off when people dont use locks, because I go around opening 5 million lockers, all of them full of someone elses shit before I find an open one. At least if you use a lock I know it's taken. Next time I'm stealing something.
So I lock up my stuff and go upstairs, and of course all the treadmills are taken. Half of which were taken by fuckers who were just walking. Perfect. And the "jogging" track is clogged up with a bunch of walkers walking 4 wide making it impossible for anyone to run. But, I figured I'd attempt to run a few laps while I waited for a treadmill to open up. I'm running, dodging fat walkers left and right, along with a couple other poor souls who just wanted to run, I come back around to by the treadmills, and some guy is getting off. Fantastic! So I go over and hop on, and some fat bitch comes up and goes "EXCUSE ME!!!! I was wating for that for FIVE MINUTES!!!!". I said "yeah, so was I, I was just RUNNING while I did it." I almost added "you should try it, it might help" while looking her up and down giving her my best "you are fat and ugly and disgusting" look. But I didn't. I also let her have the damn treadmill. I'm getting soft in my old age. But hey, she had a good hundy on me so I didnt want to start anything that I wasnt sure I could win.
I couldnt stand the thought of trying to run on the track anymore, so I just left. On my way back into our neighborhood, I passed Dan on his way out. I knew he was headed up to the gym, so I called him and was like "dont EVEN bother, it is too fucking crowded". I wasnt going to let the fat fuck resolution people keep me from getting my workout in, so I threw on my running pants when I got home and finished up outside. Luckily I only had 2 miles planned for tonight. Unfortunately, I was still so pissed when I left the house that I forgot my headband and gloves and I froze.
I FUCKING HATE NEW YEARS RESOLUTION PEOPLE AT THE GYM!!! Gah, they make it virtually IMPOSSIBLE for anyone who actually does give two shits about their health to get anything done. Maybe if you tried actually working out YEAR ROUND you wouldnt be in such a frenzy to lose a few pounds in January after you just spent the last two months stuffing your face. I am just going to have to forego the gym on weeknights for the next month or so. I guess I shouldn't complain, at least I have enough balls to run outside on a below freezing January night.
PS- I apologize for all the F-bombs, but as this just happened tonight, my rage still has not subsided.
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