6K kickdown

I still have the cold, but I'm feeling about 90% of normal now, so I figured a hard workout would be fine (and besides, I did a hard workout in spinning yesterday and then worked all day, and that went all right). The weather was chilly at 32F (0C), but it was calm and there was no precipitation, thankfully.

Today I was to do a 6K kickdown. Normally my kickdowns have been 4 splits, but since this one was so short, it was to be 3 splits of 2K each. Jim didn't say how fast to go - just however I felt, and to start a little faster than usual since it was just a 3 split kickdown.

I took his advice to heart! I know I always start these too fast, and I tried not to, but it's been a long time since I've done one, so of course I started too fast. I did have the help of the slight downhill on the north side of Liberty Park, but then I kept going too fast :). Oh well! I'm still happy with the workout. Why? 1) I did go faster on each split. 2) I had a very fast 6K overall, and I felt strong until the last 1.5 km; even then, I still managed to pull out a strong finish on the last 500m despite being very tired. 3) I now have a much better idea of pace than I did before. This takes a while to work out, especially after a layoff like I've had.

I really died on the last 1.5 km (though like I said I did manage a good last 500m). It hurt a lot, but in a good way. I feel I got a great workout, and that's the point.

Here are my splits: 2K (4x500m)

12:30 (3:06, 3:07, 3:04, 3:13)
12:00 (3:02, 3:00, 2:58, 3:00)
11:42 (2:52, 2:56, 3:03, 2:51)

Total time was 36:17 (my watch rounds down for some reason, hence the extra 5 seconds). I'm proud of this effort. It is 3 minutes faster than the hilly 6K I did in November when I was sick (OK, so this route was flat, and I'm feeling decent now though not 100% over my cold). I got to 5K in about 30:20, which is quick considering I started off at a 6:15/km pace. I felt really strong until the very end, and the endurance will return. I got a nice sense of confidence that I still have some good speed in there.

Garmin connect data here.

Spinning

This morning I felt slightly better. I am still quite fatigued and have the runny nose and congestion, but I did feel better than yesterday morning, so there was no doubt in my mind that I'd work out.

Today I was to cross-train. I attended the 6-7 am spinning class at the gym, and it was very good. The instructor actually cared that our cadence matched the music - love that. As a musician, it drives me nuts when the cadence doesn't match. Anyway, the workout was hard and good - 5 x 5' aerobic threshold intervals. A little on the boring side, when you're on the stationary bike, but you're breathing hard and working it so it's not so bad. My HR was in the low 160s for most of the intervals, which was about right for aerobic threshold.

The weather has been so windy this week. I was glad I wasn't outside, as it was horrible this morning. It's supposed to snow a couple inches today, and maybe a bit more tonight. Looks like it could possibly be OK for an outdoor workout tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, as I have a 6km kickdown to do, and I'd prefer to do that outside if possible. Because it's spring break at the U, the indoor track won't be open until late tomorrow, so my only other option is the treadmill.

still sick; 10K

I am still sick today. However, I woke up feeling much better than I did last night. That's not unusual for me, as I generally feel worse at night when I'm sick. I was really on the edge of doing my workout or not. I have a dry cough, a runny nose, swollen lymph nodes, congestion, and fatigue. But I felt like I could get through a workout OK, and when I checked the weather it said it was a very warm 55F and not raining yet! I looked outside, and my thermometer was reading 45F but it wasn't raining. Cool! Decent weather! So I got dressed for outside and started down the street. It was gusty and windy, but then it started to rain. Ugh. I had this feeling if I continued that it was going to pour, as we were supposed to get quite a storm. And I hadn't brought my rain jacket, and I started to think about the fact that I was sick, and the treadmill started to look appealing. After all, I could stop at any time if I didn't feel well, I could do a load of laundry while I was on it, and control the environment, more or less. So, I turned around and headed back home.

I threw on my new shorts (the ones I bought for World Masters) and hopped on the treadmill. I figured it would be a disaster, but it went well! I did stop at 30 min for about 3 min to move the laundry from the washer into the dryer (multitasking at its best!), and then 15 min later for a drink of water (another benefit of being indoors), but other than that it was steady. I had done about 2/3km (0.4mi) outside, so I had 5.8 miles to go inside. I did most of the indoor part at 5.8mph, and the last 1.4 km at 5.7mph. The outside portion took me 4:30, and the inside part took 60:15, for a total of 1:04:45 with ave HR 149. Not bad! I'm glad I did the workout. However, I'm paying. I'm really tired, so I'm leaving work early to get a nap before I have to pick up the kids from school.

Garmin connect data here.

***

Treadmill ruminations - I wanted to see how my treadmill did in terms of calculating pace, etc. I timed it for 0.62 miles (1km) at 5.8 mph and it was consistently 6:24-6:25. That's pretty close. It should be 6:25.8. The one km I did at 5.7 mph was 6:32, also right about spot on. The one question I still have about my treadmill is whether it is actually flat. My basement floor is not very flat (hey, it's a 1940 house!), but I have it in a spot I think is flat. I didn't have time after my workout to run to the garage and get the level, but I'll do that this afternoon. I'm curious. I think it's pretty close, but I'm not sure.

sick again :( :( :(

I've been feeling worse and worse throughout the day today. Tonight I feel terrible. I had to come into work for a little to do an experiment but I'm headed right home to bed. I didn't go to the gym tonight for x-training, as I felt lousy. I'll be lucky if I feel good enough for my 10K tomorrow. I probably won't. I'm coughing now, which means it's in my chest, which is usually how I decide whether I'm working out or not. If it's in the chest, I bail out :(. I have had sore throat, runny nose, swollen lymph nodes, and now, the cough. UGH. Hopefully this virus won't last like the one last fall...

12K; other stuff

I figured today might be slow. It was, but not too bad, all things considered.

Weather: 32F (0C) and breezy. It was kind of chilly! I wore my fleece, and that seemed about right. It was clear, though, which was nice. March-May are the rainiest/snowiest months in SLC, so I'm glad for every day that is clear.

I started off well - 6:14 and 6:11 for the first 2km. But the 3rd km was 6:27 and I knew it would be a slog after that. I managed to keep the pace OK for the most part, though by 6km I wondered if I was going to be 6:45/km average! My legs were tired. However, I just kept trying to keep my cadence and that seemed to work OK. My HR was not that high, but my muscles were complaining and I just felt sluggish. I picked up a bit around 9 km and did a 6:31, and did decently on the last uphill, so it was really just from 5-9km that was quite slow.

Total time 1:18:50 for 6:34/km and ave HR 151. It's a decent start. I have another 12K on Sunday and I'll do better.

Garmin connect data here.

***

I did Pilates again last night from 5:30-6:20pm. The kids were at swim lessons so it worked out well. It was a good class and I'm the tiniest bit sore today in the abs. I noticed because I did weight training this morning after my 12K and the core part was a bit sore.

So far I'm doing well adding in the Pilates and some extra x-training. Hoping to make it to the gym tonight for some stationary bike time. My cold is still annoying me, though - I'm tired, not sleeping the best, and still have a runny nose. Grrrr!

3K fartlek

Last night when I went to bed, I noticed I had a bit of a sore throat. Loren is recovering from a fairly nasty cold that kept him out of work on Friday, so I wasn't that surprised. I hoped it wouldn't get bad enough to keep me from my workout. Plus, it was supposed to snow. I can always work out at the indoor track on weekdays, so at least I had a backup.

This morning I didn't feel great when I got up; I still had the slight sore throat and also a touch of a runny nose, but it wasn't bad enough to keep me from my workout. I was also a bit sore from weight training yesterday.

The weather was sort of cooperative. It was 35F (2C) and snowing lightly-moderately, but at least it wasn't windy. Definitely better than the indoor track! I thought that the outdoor track might have snow on it. There was quite a bit of snow on the grass, but none on the road, so I opted for a road workout.

I warmed up doing a mile (1600m) downhill in a nice fast 9:48. I didn't feel that great for the first 1/2 mile or so; my legs were heavy and mentally I wasn't into it. However, by the time I finished the warm-up I was feeling better.

I started off with a reasonably fast 1K, with 500m splits of 2:48 and 2:52 on the very slight downhill. My legs felt all right, though I knew I'd tire fast. My first recovery was a disappointing 3:16, but I redeemed that with a 2:52 for the next 500m fast. I managed a 3:15 for the next recovery, but knew I'd pay in the last 500m. My legs didn't have much left, nor did my lungs. I just wanted to finish under 3:00 on the slight uphill, and I did, in 2:57. My total time was 18:02, which is over 30 seconds faster than Friday. That's good. It's still a pretty slow time, though, but I guess I can't expect much better right now, and that's OK. I'm just going to have to be patient, which I'm not good at!

Ave HR for the whole workout was only 163, so I guess I could have pushed harder? I don't know - it felt very hard at the time. At least I got a good workout. Hopefully my cold won't get too much worse. I'm feeling fairly tired and out-of-sorts now, so I'll try to get to bed early if possible. I am supposed to do 12K in the morning, and will have to be up early to finish in time to meet Lisa for some weight training.

If I feel up to it this evening, I plan to go to a Pilates class from 5:30-6:20. I'd really like to go, but if my cold gets worse, I might not.

Garmin connect data here.

Cross-training

Today I was to cross-train. I took a nice hard spinning class for an hour, and then lifted weights. Everything is feeling pretty good, but my left foot is slightly sore again. Grrrr. Hopefully it will be OK if I watch my form and baby it.

I've been exercising well with my new determination, but the food part has not been so good. I weighed 155 this morning, which is about 10-12 lb above where I would like to be in July. Not good. Time to stop the stress eating (which doesn't help anyway) and find something to replace it with. That's this week's challenge. Ideas: read with a cup of hot tea, take a bath, play the piano. I'm going to try some of these this week.

an old favorite

I wasn't sure I'd get to walk today, as the weather was iffy. It did snow last night, but it wasn't cold enough to stick to the street, just to the grass, and it stopped before I got up. Yay! I decided to do my old favorite route, SugarHouse Park. It's quite hilly, and so usually I avoid it when I'm trying to keep a certain training pace, but I think hills are actually quite beneficial, so I may do it more. In fact, I did manage to keep less than a 6:30/km pace on the hills today, though not without a good amount of effort.

The first km is a killer, up the steep hill by my house. It's always slow, and this time I did it feeling heavy-legged, in 7:18. I thought I was going to have a hard time after that - my legs were quite tired, and hamstrings still sore from weights on Friday. But I picked up the pace as much as I could and the 2nd km (slight downhill) was 5:59! I have no idea where that came from. I was encouraged, and kept pushing. It was chilly at 35F (2C), but beautiful with the snow and the pink glow from the sunrise. I love SugarHouse Park.

Around the park I went, doing the hills in quite respectable split times of 6:25 and 6:19, and then still managing the slight uphill to the 5th km in 6:34. Then I got to coast down the nice big hill at a 5:42km pace for the last 0.8 km and finished in 37:14 for 6:25/km, with ave HR of 153. I thought my ave HR was higher, as at times I was really pushing. Overall I'd say it was a moderately hard effort, about like yesterday. It was therapeutic for sure.

Garmin connect data here.

***

I'm about to go to the gym and hop on the bike for some cross-training. Jim suggested that extra cross-training was a really good way to improve my speed, so I am going to take it to heart and do the extra work. I'll enjoy a good book while I'm there at least :).

by way of explanation

It is probably clear to the readers of my blog that something odd has been going on with me. I have gone back and forth a lot in my mind as to whether I should write about this or not. However, after discussing it with friends and a reader of this blog (you know who you are...thank you!), I decided that it might be good therapy to write about it, and that it has potential to help some others or at least open up a bit more what seems to be a taboo subject in our society. Why that is, I'm not sure, and I think it would be more healthy if it wasn't that way. So I'm going to do my small part to make a difference.

If you are squeamish or sensitive, you might not want to read this. I'm not going to be graphic, but it's not a tame subject. You've been warned. Otherwise, read on.

On February 22nd or so, I was wondering a bit why I hadn't gotten my period. It's quite regular at 26-28 days and it was day 28. Insert a bit of history here - I have a severe luteal phase defect (7 days on average instead of 14) and my two children were conceived with the aid of fertility drugs. I was at the grocery store with the kids and thought to get a pregnancy test just in case (though I highly doubted I could be pregnant, since we weren't trying or taking any medication). They didn't have any on obvious display and I was in a hurry so I skipped it. Two days later, I knew I'd better settle the question, because it was nagging me even more. I picked up some tests and hurried home and took one. I about passed out with surprise when it was positive. I was shocked, a bit angry, kind of freaked out, and in disbelief. I spent the day in a fog and arranged for a sitter so I could take Loren out to dinner and tell him. He was equally shocked, but to his credit, he took it much better than I did and was even happy about it. I started to relax and get a bit excited about the whole thing.

Over the next 10 days or so I took it easy with my workouts (no more speed work, fewer miles, etc.) and planned things out in my head. I knew I shouldn't get too excited, as the risk of miscarriage increases a lot with age, and I was almost 41. Still, it was impossible not to think ahead and anticipate things like how great my kids would be with a new baby, how much my parents would enjoy it, etc.

On Monday, March 7, the day before my birthday, I had a very small amount of bright red spotting. Uh-oh. I freaked out and was quite upset. Funny, since this had been unplanned, but I guess the mother instinct is very strong. The spotting stopped and I was relieved and thought maybe it was OK. But on Tuesday night when I was out celebrating my birthday dinner with my friend Sarah, it started up again. It wasn't that much bleeding, but I was concerned and called the doctor the next morning. He saw me right away and did blood work to check my HCG levels. The next day I checked in with him and the levels were really good at 25000 (I was 6 wk 2 days pregnant at that point). He scheduled an ultrasound to see if all was well, and it looked great. I saw the baby's heart beating, and it was SUCH a relief, and such a gift to see that little heartbeat. The doctor said that things were much more likely to be OK after seeing the heartbeat, and he said the small amount of bleeding I was having was most likely due to the placenta's location - it was probably a bit over the cervix and it would move as the uterus grew, and the bleeding would probably stop in 7-10 days. He did say not to exercise until the bleeding had stopped, and I had already been cautious enough to stop, reluctantly, but realizing the necessity. He is a great doc and didn't promise that things would be OK, but just said it was more likely after seeing the heartbeat on ultrasound, and that things looked good at that point.

Well, unfortunately, things didn't stay OK. It was quite a rollercoaster week, emotionally. On Saturday, March 12th, I awoke at 5 am with severe pain. I knew it was really bad within 10 minutes or so, and I woke Loren up, telling him I knew I was having a miscarriage. The pain was bad enough that I had to breathe through the waves, almost like being in labor. It continued like that for 2 hours, and of course the bleeding increased. It was terrible, physically and emotionally. I cried the whole 2 hours, both from pain and from terrible sadness at the profound loss. Thankfully, the pain abated after 2 hours, and I was able to sleep for a while. The rest of the day was spent a bit in a fog. I cancelled my piano students, didn't do anything else I'd planned, and we ate dinner out so I wouldn't have to cook. I mourned and cried, but also hugged Calvin and Michelle tighter, re-realizing what a gift they are.

I didn't go to the ER, because Loren (trained in family practice though not practicing medicine now) said it wasn't necessary. I did go to see my doctor right away on Monday morning. He and his office staff were wonderful. I need to send them a thank-you note. They handled it so professionally and with so much compassion. They got me out of the waiting room full of pregnant women ASAP, found a comfy room to sit me in, and gave me some bereavement materials to read while I waited for the doctor, who was quite busy that morning. He was great, though. He did have to examine me, and it was rather uncomfortable, but I wanted him to do his job to make sure I was healthy. The main risk is infection, especially when you have been bleeding before a miscarriage, and even more so if there is any tissue that is not expelled. He didn't find anything, but of course didn't probe too much either, as early on the body is pretty good at taking care of things itself. He did prescribe antibiotics for me, which I am usually loathe to take as I don't like increasing antibiotic resistance. However, this time I agreed that it was wise, and have been dutifully taking them and enjoying the lovely GI side effects (no more details needed).

It's been a week today since this happened, and it's been tough. I think maybe I'm over the worst of the emotional pain now, but I'm not sure. A lot of things remind me of the loss; seeing a 5-year-old holding her 1-year-old sister's hand in Diva's Cupcakes and Coffee nearly sent me over the edge on Tuesday. Similar things have cropped up all week. I knew we wouldn't try again for another child, so in a way I'm mourning that as well; we had thought our family complete until this happened, but of course now a small part of me wanted another child, even if it was impractical. I had so many mixed feelings. Mostly profound sadness, but also some frustration. I had been disappointed that I wouldn't get to do the World Masters, but I figured I'd go cheer my friends on, and that I'd have the reward of a beautiful child at the end. Now that wasn't going to happen. Yes, I could still do the races, but how would I get back in shape again? So many setbacks this year. My body has been through a lot and I wonder how hard it will be to get it back into racing shape. I know women do this all the time - Kara Goucher and Deena Kastor, world-class runners, have both recently given birth, which is much more than I went through this time, and they are going to try to get back in shape for the 2012 Olympics. Still...it's a daunting task, made more complex by the fact that I'm an emotional eater and I've gained 5-6 pounds through all of this. I'm getting distracted here; I was talking about my feelings. Anyway, most of my feelings were sadness and depression-type feelings, with a few small feelings of relief (mostly financial!) mixed in. It has been so weird. I sometimes don't even know how I feel. Mostly it's just been very, very hard.

Racewalking has been great therapy this week. I should say first that my doctor cleared me for all kinds of exercise on Monday. On Tuesday, I was feeling terrible, and racewalking helped me to snap out of the lousy funk I was in when I woke up. Of course, racewalking has been a bit of a mixed bag, as I struggled through a simple 3K fartlek workout yesterday. However, I was expecting that, and it didn't upset me too much; still, it was hard. Today was good, as I managed a decent 10K, though not a great one. Given my condition it was as good as could be expected, though. I think I did lose a fair amount of blood, and my hormones are probably going crazy, so what can I realistically expect?

Another great therapy this week has been planning ahead for the World Masters and a fun summer vacation with the family. I chatted with friends this week and arranged for the three other "coachees" of my coach Jim to stay with me at my brother's house just outside of Sacramento during the races. It's going to be a lot of fun rooming together and racing together. My brother is out of town then and graciously made his home available to us, for which I am really thankful. We plan for Loren and the kids to join me there a few days before the 20K (the last race), and then we are planning a family trip to Disneyland after that. Thinking ahead to good times, enjoying my kids, working out, and working hard at my job have kept me sane this week, along with the comfort of my friends and family and my faith.

Then there have been the more surreal aspects of this. I didn't think I'd have to be worrying about birth control. Hahahaha. Well, I had to talk to the doc and Loren about that and come up with some plans for what to do. It's been interesting, and I'll spare you the details. Suffice it to say that we are doing all we can to be sure we don't go through this again. That makes me a bit sad, oddly enough, but I know it's the wise thing to do. We knew that since we weren't using birth control previously that this could potentially happen, but thought it quite unlikely given my history, and were willing to take the small chance that we could have another child. We discussed it a couple times a year to be sure we were still willing to take the small risk. But now we know that the risk might be slightly greater, so we really have to take action.

Well, that's the end of the story for now. I know it's going to be a while before I feel totally normal again, physically or emotionally, but I do feel I'm on the road to recovery. Writing about it has indeed been therapeutic, and I hope it benefits someone out there as well. At least my blog for the past few weeks should make a little more sense now to my readers. If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading and thank you for your support.

determination

I have a new sense of determination. I have been dealt some lousy cards, but I can choose how to deal with it. I can either feel sorry for myself, eat too much crap, dwell on my slow racewalking (currently slow but not permanently so!), and generally be miserable, OR I can work to turn things around as well as I can. I can't control all the circumstances, but I can do what I can to get back in shape, and even try to get in the best shape of my life.

This morning I woke determined to walk the best 10K that I could. (I was to do it tomorrow, but weather is dictating that I swap things around; if I can walk tomorrow, I will, but it's iffy). My hamstrings were a bit sore this morning from the weight training yesterday, but I figured that wouldn't matter too much. I started off trying to keep a nice fast cadence and settle into a quick rhythm. I was a bit disappointed in the 6:22 for the first km, which is half downhill and half flat. However, I just kept on going. The second km was a bit better, in 6:16, and I kept the pace for the third km, also in 6:16. I noticed my HR was a bit higher than I'd like, and I wondered how long I'd be able to keep a good pace. My legs were a bit tired by 3-4 km, as they have been this week, and I thought that the wheels might fall off sooner or later. However, it never happened. I kept pushing, and my body kept responding. I continued with the 4th km in 6:23, and worried about the 5th km which is often slow on this route (don't know why since the 5th km is flat), but I did it in 6:23 also. I still kept wondering how long I could hold the pace, and got into Liberty Park in the 6th km in 6:13 (nice downhill for part of that one). I was now beginning to hope I could go under 1:05 for the 10K. On this route, the last 3 km are the hardest. I got to 7km in 6:16, and then the real work began. The last 3km is a gradual though noticeable uphill. I did them in 6:36, 6:37, and 6:38! I was quite happy with that.

Total time 1:04:04 for the 10K; ave HR was pretty high at 157 because I channeled much of my recent frustration into this walk, and pushed moderately hard.

Garmin connect data here.

***

In keeping with my new determination, I have decided to figure out how to attend some Pilates classes. My coach keeps telling me it would really be helpful, and I keep thinking I don't have time. Well, I'm going to make time. I went this morning after my walk to the 8:30-9:15 am Pilates class at the gym. It was good - parts of it were quite challenging, and parts of it were just a nice good workout.

starting over yet again...3K fartlek

This was my first speed work since February 21st, and it showed. I knew it would be slow. I was hoping for 18:00-18:15, but that turned out to be overly optimistic.

I had a good warm-up; 1600m in 10:18 with ave HR of 147. I felt pretty good. The weather was OK; it was clear and 38F (3C) but quite windy, so it felt cold. I kept my fleece on for the whole workout. Every time I went around the one side of the track, the wind blasted me in the face. I don't think it slowed me down very much - maybe 10 seconds for the whole workout? No, the only excuse for today is that my body is recovering and I just have to be patient with it.

I did some dynamic drills after my warm-up and then quickly set about the workout. It was too cold to do much else, with the wind! The first km felt a little hard, but OK. I did it in 5:50, which is pretty slow for me, but I figured I'd be all right. However, I knew I was in trouble when I saw my first 500m recovery - it was only 3:18, at least 10 sec slower than usual. Ugh. Then the 500m hard was very hard indeed. My lungs were OK but the legs were not. There was just no gas in the tank. I wanted to go faster, but I just couldn't. I only did a 3:01 for that 500m, and then a very pathetic 3:26 500m recovery. Finally, the last 500m came, and none too soon. I was wiped (how sad is that?). I went all-out and managed a 2:59. Wow, that was slow.

Total time was 18:34 with ave HR of 165. I'm pretty sure that's the worst I've ever done for this workout. I'm trying to keep a good attitude, though. I can only get faster from here, right? It's just hard. This week has been extremely mentally challenging, and I don't feel I have a lot of reserve to draw on. I just have to keep going. The times will get better - I know that. I have to hang in there until they do, and just do the hard work without the payoff. The payoff will come eventually, but for now, I just have to do the work.

Garmin connect data here.

***

After the workout, I went to the gym and lifted for a while with Lisa. I did bench press (30 lb each arm)/abductor machine (80 lb); then military press (20lb each arm)/calf raises (one-legged, body weight), lat pull-down (70lb)/hamstring machine (60 lb); then core work. Sit-ups, toe-touchers, Russian twists all with medicine ball; 1 min plank, then repeat the medicine ball routine. Then we did rows and bicycles. It was a good hard set. I noticed that I am pretty weak after not lifting for a couple weeks. That too will return with time and more lifting.

rest day

I was up late last night doing a hypoxia experiment at work, and I felt I needed the rest, so I slept in (for me) until 6:30 am, lounged around reading for 30 min, and then got up. It felt good. I am supposed to start getting back in the groove tomorrow with a 3K fartlek, so the rest seemed appropriate. Not that a 3K fartlek is a long workout or anything, but I've been through a lot lately and it's better to err on the side of caution. However, this does mean I have to be more careful about what I eat! So far, so good :).

5K & elliptical

It was amazing outside this morning - the freak warm & windy spell that means a spring snow is on the way. I could do without the snow, but the warmth this morning was great. It was 60F (15C) and I wore shorts and a T-shirt! So nice!!! I woke a little late, as I'm still getting used to the time change, but I had time for 5K before I was supposed to be at the gym to meet Lisa.

I didn't start out that fast, considering the downhill and all - my first km was the second slowest, in 6:30. But I picked up speed as I went, and though my glutes and hamstrings were just slightly sore from yesterday's effort, I was able to do the other km in 6:27, 6:25, 6:17, and 6:40 (uphill) for 32:21 total. Ave HR was only 148, so I'm pleased with today's walk. Hopefully the improvement will continue and I'll be back in racing shape. It feels a bit like an uphill battle: 1) the mental aspect of regaining fitness, 2) the 5 lb I gained due to stress eating/physiologic factors, 3) the inactivity of last week. However, all of those can be overcome with time and effort. I've just got to try to stay positive and move in the right direction.

On a related note, I registered for the World Masters last night - I am signed up for the 5K, 10K, and 20K. Can't wait! I'm going to stay at my brother's house (he'll be out of town) with my friends Nyle (from New Zealand), David (from Australia), and Lis (from Colorado). I'm excited!

***

After the 5K I went to the gym to meet Lisa, who wasn't there. So I decided to do 20 min on the elliptical. I need a little extra cardio to get rid of that 5 lb...sigh. I did 2.5 miles in the 20 min - 8 min/mile pace. My legs were tired after the 5K but to still manage that pace on the elliptical was good.

Garmin data from 5K here.

moving forward

This morning I woke up feeling quite down. I woke up early, w/o alarm, at 5 am. I just sat there thinking and feeling a bit sorry for myself for an hour or so. I wasn't at all in the mood to racewalk, but I knew I had to do it in order to get out of my self-pitying funk. So I dragged my sorry behind out the door and as usual, was not the least bit sorry. By 2K into the workout I felt much, much better.

Then I started to push harder, because I was feeling a bit angry and it felt good to exhaust myself physically. I pushed hard and was well under 6:30/k at 4 km (about 6:18/km) before the uphill home. I was originally thinking to do 8.5k, but after 3k I knew I wasn't up to that physically, at least not today. So after one loop of Liberty Park, I tackled the uphill back home and the 5th km was in just 6:21 (!). I don't think I've done that km of that route faster even when I'm in great shape. Then I was tired and did the next one in 6:38, which is average for me for that km when I'm in good shape, so still fast for my current condition.

I finished the whole route in 40:29, for 6:25/km, with ave HR 156 (yeah, pushing...). The endorphins lasted for an hour before I started feeling a bit down again, but I have gotten through the day pretty well, which is much better than how I would have felt had I not racewalked. A good part of the mood lift was due to my speedy pace, which helped me have confidence that my speed will be back soon, with training, rest, and good nutrition.

Garmin connect data here.

cross-training

Easing back into things gradually...very gradually. Today I did 30 min on the stationary bike, and got some much-needed conversation with my friend Lisa in the process. It's good to have girlfriends to process things with! The bike felt fine - no big deal. I felt like I easily could have done another 30 minutes. In addition, I got official medical clearance today to exercise however I like :). Yay! I'm not going to overdo, though, but with the base I had before, it shouldn't take long to be back in the swing of things.

very slow, but back at it

After not exercising all week, I just had to get out and racewalk. It's going to take a while to get back in shape again after my latest setback...ugh. Hopefully I have enough time before the World Masters in July. Well, I will just do what I can to get as fast as I can, and that's all I can do. I have to say that this morning's performance was fairly pathetic, but I suppose that is to be expected.

I did the 6.3K Liberty Park route in 44:42, for a paltry 7:04/km. But average HR was 152, so I was working hard enough. I shouldn't be too hard on myself, as that is all my body will do right now. That will change, and I'll be back. It's just going to take some time, which is the one thing I don't have enough of. Too many setbacks this winter; very frustrating.

I'll be back soon

Sorry I've been gone for a few days. I've had some personal issues to attend to. Everything is going to be OK, and I don't want anyone to worry. Really! Anyway, I did have to take a little time off exercising this week, but I am going to be back in the swing of things soon, training hard for the World Masters in Sacramento! :)

rough couple of days...

It's been a rough couple of days. I did manage 15 min stationary bike + 45 min weight training yesterday, but today was definitely a rest day...and probably tomorrow too...

short recovery walk

After the longer distance of 15.3K (9.5 miles) yesterday I decided to do a shortish recovery walk today. I took it very easy and did the SugarHouse Park route (5.8 hilly km) in 42:22. Ave HR only 142 - kept it very slow & easy. I felt really good - my hamstrings were maybe slightly sore but everything else felt great. That's how I want to be feeling as I gradually add a few more miles/km until the 1/2 marathon I'm doing on April 16th.

cross-training; very easy 15K

Yesterday I cross-trained - the weather was originally supposed to be bad, but then it was beautiful. Had I been paying closer attention, I would have racewalked a bit I think, but that's OK. Instead I did an hour on the bike and 30 min on the elliptical, adn finished one book for book club (Taroko Gorge by Jacob Ritari - it was OK), and started another book, The Lazarus Vendetta, a fluffy-ish techno-thriller a bit like Robin Cook but better written. You need something kind of fluffy to keep your mind occupied when cross-training, I think!

***

Today I just wanted to get out there today and do the distance. It's been a couple weeks since I did 15K, and there is a half marathon (21.1K) that I want to do nice & slow on April 16th, so I need to keep some long days under my belt.

The weather was great today - 40F (4C), overcast, and calm. Very nice. I just wore a long-sleeved shirt and tights, and gloves. I carried water because I knew I'd be out a while - knew I would be slow, and that was fine. It felt great to be out there, and I thoroughly enjoyed my slow walk. I ended up taking a different route - just randomly went some places - and so it turned out to be 15.34k (9.5 miles). Total time 1:49:14 for 7:07/k. Garmin connect data here.

Wednesday & Thursday

Wednesday: I did an hour on the bike & elliptical (30 min each) followed by abs with Lisa. Meant to do weight training too, but got up late and it didn't happen.

Thursday: Up late last night for work (36 hour time point...sigh...), so I felt tired and a bit lightheaded this morning. I also had a few GI issues even before I went out. So I decided to go short and take it really easy. I actually enjoyed my walk a lot; it rained very lightly on and off but it was warm at 40F (4C) and it felt great to be out there. I got in a nice slow rhythm and just kept it there on this hilly route. Took me longer than the watch time because I hit stop and then forgot to start again at an intersection, and so I missed about 4 minutes. I did 5.8k at only 7:06/km, but hey, at least I was out there. Garmin data here.

Oh, I have some new shoes that were mentioned on one of the racewalking Yahoo! groups, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them. They are New Balance 205s, and they are light yet supportive, and they just feel really good. I got them on sale for $30 or so at Joe's New Balance outlet. Nice! Today was the 2nd day I wore them, and they are fantastic.

still taking it a bit easy

I'm still taking it a bit easy, as I was feeling off on Saturday night/Sunday.

Monday: stationary bike 45', then weight training.

Today: 8.6k in Liberty Park at 6:35/km. I felt pretty darn good. I was thinking to do 8.5K (twice around the park, plus to and from home), then was thinking no, maybe 6.3K (once around the park). I felt good after once around, so I did twice. It was nice this morning - chilly, but nice. It was 30F (-1C) but calm and clear. It's supposed to get up to 50F (10C) today! Yay! The worst of winter is over. However, we will still have some quite cold & snowy days. Still, it's nice that it's warmer.

rest day again

Today I intended to walk 15K. However, I woke not feeling that great, so I slept in and then later this afternoon I took a long nap. I'm feeling a bit better now and hopefully will be at least up to stationary bike and weight training tomorrow. That's the plan anyway.

the last few days

It's been an eventful last few days, so I apologize for not blogging sooner. Anyway, here's what I've been up to, exercise-wise:

Thursday: rest day.

Friday: 6.3K around Liberty Park. I was supposed to do 8K but I got up too late. It was snowing lightly but not too cold (31F) and I really enjoyed my walk - it was beautiful. I took it really easy, and I was very slow, but I just didn't care today. I averaged 7:08/km for the 6.3k. Garmin connect data here. After my racewalk, I went to the gym and lifted with Lisa for a while, and did some good core work.

Saturday: I was going to do a long day today but it snowed about 5-6 inches (15cm) and so I decided I'd cross train and do a longer day tomorrow. I did 45 min on the stationary bike, and enjoyed reading my Scientific American magazine and listening to some U2.

12K

It was about 26F (-3C) when I went out this morning. One nice thing is that at least it's getting light a bit earlier these days (unfortunately daylight savings will start in a few weeks). It was dark when I started but it was light by the time I finished. With temps in the 20s, though, I figured the breathing might be an issue again. It was; despite taking albuterol before going out I did cough a bit. Seemed better than yesterday, though.

I forgot to charge the battery in my Garmin yesterday, so it was desperately low. When I realized that I only had about 5 minutes to charge it because I had to get going so I could get back in time to take Calvin to school. Grrr. The battery made it to 4.52km, but I had brought a backup stopwatch to get the rest of the workout. Then when I got home I mapped the distance online so I still know more or less how I did. I just don't have HR data or splits for the last 7.26km. I had to guess how far 12k was, and I knew I was guessing a touch short, but it was close.

I felt reasonably good this morning. I knew I wasn't breaking any land speed records, but it felt OK. It was kind of nice not to have the pressure of the Garmin beeping every km telling me my splits.

Total distance 11.78km; total time 1:17:48, for 6:36/km. I'd guess my ave HR was about 152-153 but I really have no idea; my ave HR for the first 4.52k was a bit high at 154, but I think I slowed down a bit after that (I know I did slow down a little). Oh, and I do know it took me about 6:40 for the 2nd to last km (uphill) and 6:36 for the last bigger uphill km. I pushed at the end to finish well.

My knee didn't bother me much (though it was killing me all day yesterday), and today it's been feeling better - it's a superficial wound but hurts to wear jeans, so I wore some looser corduroys today.

The thing that does hurt is my foot. While I was out walking it was merely a bit warm, but now that I've been on it all day it's definitely achy and a bit throbby. Not good. I'm glad that tomorrow is a rest day. I did focus on my form today to try and avoid this problem, so I'm not sure what is up with that. Hopefully after a day off it will feel better. I want it to be better because I have 20K planned on Saturday. It's supposed to snow Friday night and Saturday morning so I'm not sure what I'm going to end up doing - 20K on the indoor track would be a serious bore, but that might be what I do, depending on the snow amount. 20K in a few inches of the white stuff is not that great either!

ouch! 10K

My muscles were a little sore today - just a little, mostly in the adductors (weirdly!) and a little in the hamstrings. Other than that I was good to go. It was 29F (-2C) but relatively calm and overcast. I started off well, and in the 2nd km was feeling really strong like this would be a good workout. Then I fell. I tripped over a crack in the sidewalk on 21st South. My normal route is mostly residential, but I like walking through downtown SugarHouse for a couple blocks early in the morning. It's not too crowded yet and the traffic is a non-issue since I don't cross 21st South. Still, it does involve sidewalks, which are mostly in good repair. I managed to find the one bad spot this morning, tripped, and took a nasty fall. I was wearing tights and gloves, thankfully, or the damage would have been worse. My hands were stinging but it was my left knee that was really bad. I definitely had a serious abrasion on the knee. It hurt quite a lot but I figured I could still do the workout, as it was just a superficial wound. I was really glad my tights didn't rip, because they are a nice pair and they're not cheap.

I got up and did the 3rd km pretty fast, in 6:14! However, that was short-lived. I slowed down a lot and couldn't figure out why until 6k, when I started coughing. I think that the cold air is increasing my problems with exercise-induced asthma. I seem to walk much better on the warmer days. Spring, hurry up and come! Anyway, I was slow today. My legs felt OK; maybe a little tired but nothing too serious. I think I was slow because of my lungs. Oh well, nothing I can do about that.

Total time 1:06:01 for 10k for 6:36/km; ave HR 151. Garmin connect data here.

Sunday x-training

Oops! I forgot to post this, and so then my coach didn't know I did it.

On Sunday afternoon, I did 30 min on the bike and 30 min on the stair stepper. It was a good x-training workout - nice and easy, with book in hand :).

5K fartlek on treadmill

This morning was an exercise in frustration. It started off well enough. I looked outside and it was 29F (-2C) and clear, and the roads looked mostly empty of snow (it snowed quite a bit yesterday and was supposed to snow a little more last night). So I got all dressed to walk outside, with all the layers and gloves and hat and pepper spray and headlamp and rear blinkie and reflective vest. Then I walked out my door onto the driveway by the side of my house. It was coated in ice. Uh-oh. I walked out to the street and it was only slightly better. Goody, goody. Black ice (which is just ice on the road which is hard to see). Walking outside was not going to happen. So I thought I'd go to the indoor track. Uh, nope. It's a holiday here (President's Day - for my international friends, this is to honor our presidents Washington and Lincoln) and so the indoor track isn't open until 9 am. That wasn't an option. So that left one thing: the dreadmill. Unfortunately, those darned things are just not really accurate, so I knew I wouldn't be able to gauge my fitness level very well, but I would be able to get a good hard workout. And that I did.

I warmed up with 1 mile in 10:36, doing a few pick-ups and taking it easy in between. I stretched out a bit and got started. I have had to adjust my times a bit from what is on my watch because I waited until the 'mill was almost up to speed (6.6mph for my fast intervals today except for the 4th one, which was half at 6.6 mph and half at 6.5 mph) to push start. My watch says 5:32 but it was really 5:39 for the first km. Then 3:06 recovery, and 2:49 fast 500m. Then 3:15 recovery (I was really feeling it and my HR was quite high), and 2:49 fast. Then 3:15 recovery and 2:50 fast. Then the wheels fell off a bit - I slowed down a lot on the recovery AND had some serious math issues. 500m is 0.31 miles, and the $#*(& treadmills only have miles because Americans are too colossally stupid to actually go metric and get with the program like the rest of the world. Anyway, I had to add 0.31 to 2.48 and somehow had it fixated in my head that it was 2.86 (probably because 1.86 miles is 3km...), so my 4th recovery was actually 0.38 miles (544m). Oops. Even more oops, it was in 4:06, which when translated to 500m instead of 544 is a ridiculously slow 3:46. I am wondering if this can be right? But that's what the watch says...and my HR was an ave of 173 (!). Ouch. Finally, the last 500m was 2:45 (it was at 2:49 pace like the other so not sure what is going on here).

So, my total was 30:14 if you count the first km as 5:39. Hmmm, that is kind of slow for the effort. Like I said, I don't trust the treadmill accuracy very much. And I'm not sure where the 3:46 came from. I have no idea what all this means, except that I had a very good and very hard workout. I was really pushing it, and my ave HR was 170 for the whole workout, which is crazy high. I feel pretty good now, though, and nothing hurts.

Garmin connect data here.

bourbon-pecan-chocolate-chip pie

A racewalker friend from Australia has asked for this recipe. Since I am typing it anyway, I'll put it here so I can share. It's modified from Betty Crocker and an Emeril recipe from the magazine Everyday Food. It's kind of a hodgepodge of both recipes. Enjoy!

Bourbon-pecan-chocolate-chip pie

Makes one 10" pie

2 cups pecan halves
2/3c semisweet chocolate chips
4t all purpose flour, plus more for coating chocolate chips
4 lg eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3c packed light brown sugar
1c light corn syrup
1/3c bourbon
1t vanilla extract
1/3c salted butter, melted

crust
2c all-purpose flour
1t salt
3/4c butter flavor Crisco
5-8T cold water (in Utah use 7-8T because it's so dry here!)

1. Preheat oven to 375. Make crust: whisk flour & salt in medium bowl. Cut in Crisco with pastry blender. Add just enough cold water to allow you to form a ball. Roll out on pastry mat with more flour.
2. Spread pecans in crust. In small bowl, toss chocolate chips in a little flour to coat, then scatter evenly over pecans.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, bourbon, vanilla, butter, and flour until well combined. Pour filling over pecans and chocolate chips.
4. Bake until filling is set and crust is browned, about 70 minutes. Loosely tent with foil if it browns too quickly. Let cool on a wire rack at least 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition info...don't ask LOL!

6.3K Liberty Park

Thought I might be pretty tired after yesterday's 15K in the wind, but I actually felt fine. My muscles weren't sore or anything, and I forgot to mention that while my foot felt slightly warm yesterday it wasn't really achy at all, so hopefully we're OK there. Oh, and I didn't have a coughing fit after finishing yesterday. I have still been having quite a bit of exercised-induced asthma but it seems to be getting better as the weather is a bit warmer.

It was warm this morning again (40F, 4C) and NOT windy today, just a little gentle breeze. It's supposed to rain today (and has been sprinkling since about 8 am) but it didn't do much at all when I was out. Nice.

I felt great for 3K and then tired a bit. It was harder to maintain the pace and I had a slow km (6:38 from 3-4). Then I sped up the hill doing 6:34 from 4-5. Still made it home in 40:45 which is 6:28/km (my watch says 6:30 but it also had the distance at 6.26k today (short) for some reason). Nice workout, with ave HR 152. Solid. And my foot felt fine.

It's been a good week, and I think the plan is to gradually and conservatively increase distance and also speed workouts. Eventually we'll be back to 2 speed workouts/wk and they'll be longer. But for now, I'm happy to up things slowly and carefully, and I think my body will respond well to that.

Garmin connect data here.

windy 15K

Before my 15K I did some weight training with Lisa. I focused on arms mostly so as not to tire out my legs for the 15K. I did bench press (35 lb dumbbells - heavy, could only do 3x8 reps)/foot PT bouncing ball standing on dyna disk; one-legged dead lifts (PT for foot) w/35 lb/row (70 lb); one-legged calf raises/hammer curls (15 lb ea arm); tricep rope pull-downs (25 lb)/military press (20 lb ea arm). Then core: plank (only 90 sec today), ball curls, ball pendulums (obliques), hip-ups (lower abs), stretching.

***

I met some friends from my walking club at the Jordan River Trail. Today is my Friday off, and Michelle wanted to go to her preschool, and Calvin is at school, too, of course. AND my regular Friday morning piano students canceled. Wow, some time to myself! Anyway, I met my friends and we chatted for 10 min or so before starting out. I'm younger than them (and hence faster) and so I knew I'd just see them at the start and on the way back. We all commented on the wind before we left. It was warm this morning at 41F (5C) but very, very windy. South wind at 20 mph (32 kph) with gusts of 25 mph. It felt pretty cold - so I dressed as if it were 20F outside: long-sleeved shirt and fleece on top, and tights and fleece on the bottom. The wind was steady and unrelenting. I headed south (into the wind) to start. At first I couldn't figure out why my legs felt like sludge and my times were so slow for the HR and effort. Duh! About 5km in it occurred to me that maybe it was the wind...so I looked forward to the turn-around at 7.5k. Sure enough, once I turned around, my times improved.

I saw my friends on the return and stopped for a couple minutes to chat again. I told them it was easier once you turned around! It was a hard workout because of the wind. Seriously, it's like hills. You don't gain going downhill what you lose on the uphill, and with the wind you don't gain with the tailwind what you lose with the headwind. I ended up with a 1:38:18 for 6:33/km with ave HR of 155. That is more than 2 minutes slower than last Saturday with a higher heart rate, but I don't think it's a reflection of my conditioning at all, just the wind. I mean, I might have been slower than last week without the wind, but who knows? It felt much harder today, but again, how can you compare? Anyway, I'm pleased that I got out there and did a pretty good pace despite the conditions. I had a nice negative split - 49:26 on the way out and 48:52 on the way back. Thanks, tailwind!

One down side was that I had to stop a couple times on the way back for intestinal cramps. Darn. Those haven't plagued me in a while. I wonder what it is that I ate yesterday? I wish I could figure that out. Well, it just added to the challenge today. It wasn't really a fun workout, but I'm glad I did it.

Garmin connect data here.

what we did in Mesquite

My friend Lani asked what we did in Mesquite last weekend, since we don't gamble or play golf. We were only there Friday night (late) through Sunday morning at 11 am. Basically, I racewalked, we read lots of books, shopped for certain items unavailable in Utah (ginger liqueur!), and sat by the pool. Oh, and had a pretty mediocre buffet dinner. It was great to just sit and do not much of anything. Seriously, if we'd been there a day or two longer we'd probably have gone bowling (they have a cool bowling alley), caught a movie, and done more reading and pool-sitting.

More Mesquite photos.

***

Oh, and today is a rest day :).

weights, 10K

Today was weird. Last night I was at work from 9 pm to midnight doing a time-sensitive experiment. I figured I'd sleep until 6:30-6:45 then hit the gym for some weights, and fit in my 10K racewalking later in the day somewhere - maybe leave work early to do it. I did wake around 6:30 and went to the gym to lift, and while I was there I figured, "Hey, I could just take Calvin to school and then go racewalk BEFORE work, and be a bit late." The weather was amazingly warm at 50F (10C) but very, very windy. Seriously gusty knock-trash-cans-over windy. It is supposed to storm, and this is the "warm before the storm" that often happens here. The weather said possible rain turning to snow by 11am, so I thought going racewalking early was sounding better and better.

I took it easy on the lower body weights, knowing I'd be racewalking afterward. I did do walking lunges, but just used 15 lb/arm. Did some chest flys and calf raises and lat pull-downs, then also some bicep curls and tricep skull crushers. Then a good set of abs, including a 2-minute plank (haven't done one that long in a while). It's nice to be feeling better!

Then I drove Calvin to school, helped Michelle get dressed, and went racewalking. I was apprehensive I'd be slow after doing weight training, but happily, I felt great and was even faster than yesterday. I did the exact same route as yesterday and almost all my splits were significantly faster. However, the last 3K was mostly into the wind and uphill, and I was tired by then. I still pulled out a 1:04:11, 30 sec faster than yesterday. Everything felt great except that my left foot is still just the teeniest bit achy/warmish. I think it's going to be fine, and I'm not too worried, but I'm still just watching my form and monitoring it.

10K, 1:04:11, 6:25/km, ave HR 152. Garmin connect data here.

10K

My calves were a bit sore this morning (I did calf raises yesterday after my 5K fartlek!). But the weather was nice at 34F (2C) and just the slightest breeze; a warm February morning for here. I'll take it - the cold and snow will be here tomorrow night through Monday at least.

It was a pretty uneventful 10K. I started off really well, but by 5K my legs were a little bit tired. I still did the 10K pretty fast, in 1:04:40, with ave HR 150. I worked it a bit at the end going up the slight hill, but other than that my effort was medium. I did feel kind of tired this morning; I haven't been getting quite enough sleep. My exercise-induced asthma was slightly noticeable. I was coughing a little during the workout and a fair amount at the end; my peak flow this morning was 450, which was pretty good. I took a little albuterol when I finished and the coughing is a lot better now.

My left foot is ever-so-slightly achy in the usual spot. I tried to focus a lot on my form to keep that pain at bay; hopefully it's just a little blip but I'll keep an eye on it.

Garmin connect data here.

5K fartlek under 30 min :)

There's nothing like a fast 5K to start your morning!

The NWS website said it was 40F (4C) with a slight breeze. They were wrong. My car thermometer said 35F and my house thermometer said 33. Still, it was a warm morning for here. It wasn't that windy either. I went to the track because after yesterday's warm weather in Salt Lake, it was free of snow :). It did have one small icy patch (about 2 strides long) but that wasn't bad.

I warmed up for 1600m in 10:29. Slooooowwwish for a warm-up, so I got a bit worried. I did a few dynamic flexibility drills, and my right hamstring was a little tight so I did some extra on that side. Otherwise, feeling decent. I figured I might be able to do this under 30:00 if I had a good day, but wasn't sure I was having a good day.

Then I started off. First km I felt I was working hard but it was only a 5:44. I just kept going. My recovery 500m was a 3:08, so then I figured maybe this workout would be OK after all. I pulled off a 2:50 for the next 500m and was encouraged. Then a 3:10 and 2:53 and I made it to 3K in 17:47 (a few seconds slower than last week's 3K fartlek). I thought I might just be able to do under 30 min for the 5K. I pushed pretty hard to get the last 2K fast - my legs started to get a bit tired. I still need to work on endurance, but it will come. Anyway, I managed 3:10 recovery, 2:53 fast, 3:12 recovery, and finally pulled off a 2:52 (working very hard!) to get my 29:58 total! Yay! I finished under 30 min! (My watch rounds down so the split totals don't equal the time total).

29:58, ave HR 165, 6:00/km. Garmin connect data here.

Sunday x-training

Still on vacation...I really wanted to RW because the weather is so nice here, but the coach said no. He wants me to save my energy for tomorrow's 5K fartlek. So I did 30 min on the bike and 30 min on the stair stepper in the hotel's small exercise room, and enjoyed talking with a nice couple vacationing from Saskatchewan. They were there for a month to golf. Heck, if I lived in Saskatchewan, I'd have to get away for a month in the winter, too. It's REALLY cold there!

awesome 15K!!!!!

I felt really great today, and it showed.

We're vacationing this weekend in Mesquite, Nevada. It's a border town that exists to have a few casinos close to Utah, or something like that (gambling is legal in Nevada but not in Utah). Technically, it is on the Arizona/Nevada border, but it's only about 40 miles from Utah, all the same. It is also known for its many golf courses. However, we don't gamble, and we don't golf. We just want to get WARM! It's supposed to be 70F (21C) here today...ahhhhhh.

I took two puffs of albuterol before starting my walk, just in case. I checked my peak flows before and after my walk and they were about 460. I felt like I was breathing a LOT better today in the warmer air, and I didn't cough as much while I was out or when I finished. It was about 35F (2C) when I started my walk, but it was sunny and it felt great. I waited until the sun came up, because I had the luxury of doing so today. My parents are watching the kids so we can have a weekend alone :). I wore tights and a long-sleeved shirt and gloves. The gloves came off after about 2-3k, and I wished I'd worn shorts. Seriously! I am used to the cold now, so I get hot easily, and it was 46F (8C) when I finished.

This is the route that I chose. I wanted something mostly flat, and it was - mostly. It was a good downhill to start, and a good uphill at the end (the uphill on this loop was steeper than the downhill). It's pretty flat in the middle, but there was a hill from 5-6K that slowed me down a bit. I started off fast, with two sub-6:15 kms, and my slowest km was on the way back up a big hill between 12-13 km (the freeway overpass), at 6:41. I'm so pleased that 6:41 was my slowest today, since this was the longest I've gone in a while. I felt a bit tired from 10-15k, but not too bad at all considering the hills. My legs were pretty fresh until 10-11K, and now that I'm done I feel a little stiff, but overall I feel pretty good.

Total time was 1:35:53 for 6:23/km with ave HR 153. Yeah, I pushed harder than I originally intended, but I was doing SO well that I just got in a groove and went for it :). Garmin connect data here.

Thursday & Friday

Thursday I took a rest day, and it felt very good to rest.

***

Today I did the 6.3K Liberty Park route. It was the fastest I've done it in quite some time! It took me 40:35, for 6:24/km, with average HR 150. Yeah, I was pushing up the hill on the way back, but I felt good and strong and wanted to see how fast I could do it, without pushing TOO hard. It was fun! I am just so happy to be feeling pretty much normal again.

I did have a bit of a coughing fit when I got back, as is common these days. It's definitely exercise-induced. Yesterday when I didn't work out I didn't cough much at all - surprise, surprise. I measured my peak flow and got 430 right after the workout today. I took a couple puffs of albuterol and about 15 min later my peak flows were 460. It took a while for the coughing to subside, but it's better now. The albuterol makes me a bit jittery, but it really does the trick for the coughing.

Tomorrow I'm to do 15K (9.3 miles). That's the longest I've gone since the half marathon back in November. I am sure I'm up to the distance - the only question is what speed will I be able to do it at? I'm not going to push too hard, as I want to make sure my body can handle the distance without worrying too much about the speed.

***

I haven't been eating as well the past week or so. I'm such a sucker for good dessert, and they have been plentiful this week. I think I just need to go cold turkey for a while on the after-dinner noshing. My weight is up about a pound, and I really need to be going the opposite direction. I'm thankful for racewalking, because it does give me leeway to eat good desserts. However, I can't do it every night or I do gain, despite my physical activity. I'd really like to be down 6-7 lb by July, so it's time to get the scale moving in the right direction. I keep saying this, and don't do it. But I know I'll feel much better if I get this under control a bit. It is a constant battle, I admit. However, it's one that is worth the fight.

***

Edited to add: Garmin connect data from today's walk here.

another 10k

I did another 10K today. I felt great when I started out, even though it was chilly (24F, -4C) with a slight breeze. My face got really cold by the end! But it was not as windy as yesterday, and the roads were 95% clear. However, about 3-4k I had a coughing fit, probably from the cold dry air, despite taking a puff of Albuterol before starting out today. Didn't seem to slow me down, though, but then I felt a bit wheezy for the rest of my walk. Still, I was fast to start off. Good thing, because about 7k my legs got really tired (I'm glad I'm taking a rest day tomorrow). I was able to keep pushing a bit but still lost ground especially since it was slightly uphill; my slowest km was 6:50.

Oh, and I regretted eating ice cream last night...GI pain dogged me at the end, too, and I had to stop a couple times. But in the end I still finished at 6:30/km for the 10K - watch says 9.77 because I clicked it off to wait for a car at one street and then didn't hit start again for a few tenths.

Also, saw a raccoon crossing the street and running up someone's front porch - that was pretty cool. They're pests but I kind of like them because they are clever and pretty cute.

Garmin connect data here.

10K indoors

It was 23F (-5C) and windy this morning, plus we had about 2 inches of new snow and the streets were icy. It wasn't hard to decide to walk inside.

47.4 times around the indoor track (211m) is 10K. Wheeeeeee...I was going to feel like a mouse on a wheel, but it beat the treadmill. 5 times around the track is 1055m, and so at a 6:30/km pace that is 6:51.45 per 5 laps (or 1:22 per lap). I was going to time each lap, but my watch laps were getting full, so I settled for every 5 laps (after the first few laps), with one mess-up. Still, I can add up the times more or less :).

I felt good to start, and my HR was nice and low, but as the workout went on I had to work harder to maintain pace. At the end, I was averaging HR of 158! However, overall my ave HR was only 148 for my 10K, and total time was a respectable 1:05:19 (considering I'm coming off illness and all).

My 5-lap times were (ave HR if I have it): 6:48 (130-something?), 6:49 (143), 6:52 (145), 6:55 (148), 6:55 (148), 6:56 (151), 6:59 (152), 6:53 (154), 6:48 (158), last 2.4 laps 3:17 (158). Got a bit sluggish in the middle there, but pulled it out with a harder effort at the end. I felt good when I finished, though I did have a fair amount of dry coughing.

Hopefully I will be able to walk outside tomorrow!

Garmin connect data here.

new-to-us car

Drum roll...and here it is...2002 PT Cruiser with low miles and in pristine condition. We bought it from the family of one of my piano students. I spent a while today getting the emission and safety inspections and getting it registered (i.e. forking over lots of money in sales taxes, reg fees, etc.) at the DMV. Our mechanic says it looks very well taken care of :).

3+K fartlek (indoor 211m track)

In a hurry so just reporting the results for my coach. I felt great this morning! Times are 1055m fast, 527.5m med, then 527.5m fast, 527.5m med, 527.5m fast.

211m track times: 5:56.3, 3:20.5, 2:59.2, 3:24.5, 2:59.6, total 18:40.1 (19 sec faster than last week!).
Converted to 1K/500/500/500/500: 5:37.8, 3:10.1, 2:49.9, 3:13.8, 2:50.2 for 17:41.8.

Average HR 164 (higher than last week, but about the same as 2 wk ago).

I'm quite happy with this :).

Garmin connect data here.

banished to the bike for a day

My coach banished me to the bike for the day. After the sluggish performance of the last two days, he thought a day of cross-training would be a good thing, and I agreed. It was kind of nice to just hit the bike and the elliptical (30 min each) and read Runner's World, listen to some tunes, people-watch, and have a relaxing workout. The weather was really nice today though - about 41F (4C) and sunny, and it was beckoning me to be outside. Weird that 41 feels so warm, but after the cold weather of about 10 days ago, it really does feel nice, especially in the sun. Anyway, thought I was tempted to racewalk outside, I dutifully hit the gym and did my thing.

Tomorrow: another 3K fartlek. Hoping for good things!

look what I got in the mail today :)!!!!

 

6 years!

I apologize in advance if this seems weird to celebrate, but today, February 5th, is my 6th anniversary of joining Weight Watchers. My life has not been the same since joining, and it is so much better that I really can't help but celebrate. Thinking of all the cool racewalking things I've gotten to do, never mind the hiking and biking and so much more, makes me truly grateful and in a celebratory mood.
This photo is of me and Calvin at a Christmas party in December 2004, just 2 months before I joined Weight Watchers.


Me this summer at the start of our club 5K. Look how happy I am to be out there! The joy on my face is unmistakable. The joy that I feel from the confidence and strength my sport has given me is hard to describe. But this is why I can stay on the program and eat (more or less! lol!) the way that is healthy for me. Before I was miserable & didn't like the person I'd become. Now I revel in the strength racewalking gives me. Sure, right now I'm not as strong as I could be, due to illness and other factors. But that is unimportant. I'm out there, I'm healthy, and I'm content.

sluggish 12K

Forgot to mention this but now it seems germane, possibly. I went to the doctor on Wednesday 2/2 for a follow up from my 1/7 visit re: the possible asthma. My peak flows have not improved at all on the FloVent medication (low dose inhaled steroid) and so the doctor and I wondered 1) do I really have asthma (aside from the exercise-induced kind, which I definitely do have), or 2) I have it and the dose is too low of the FloVent? The doc was thinking some pulmonary function tests might be indicated, but then again, maybe not. I am still coughing quite a bit though - the dry non-productive kind, and it gets worse w/exercise. If it wasn't for the continuing cough, the doc said he wouldn't be concerned. However, the cough gives both of us pause.

In order to have pulmonary function tests, you have to be off the FloVent for at least 2 weeks. So, since I was thinking it wasn't doing any good anyway, we decided that I should stop taking it and see how my cough is. If it is not better in a few weeks, or if it worsens, then we will get pulmonary function tests. If it gets better, we'll assume that I'm fine. All this means that Wednesday morning was my last dose of FloVent.

Obviously the stuff stays in your system for a while, but yesterday and today's workouts were a bit subpar by recent standards. Is this related to the FloVent? Probably not...but I'm going to keep tabs on it and see how things go.

On to today's workout. I had planned to do 12k, and that's what I did, even though I knew after about 4k that it was going to be a bit slower than last week. I started off well enough but just didn't have it today. I felt OK, so I'm not sure what the deal was! The only complaint going in was that I was a bit sleep-deprived (up an hour later than I'd have liked) and my abductors are slightly sore from the PT exercises I did yesterday (IT band preventive maintenance). Other than that, I felt fine, and the weather was even pretty nice by February standards at 33F (1C) and calm; the air quality wasn't bad at 16 (PM2.5).

The one bit of good news is that my legs felt less tired than last week. This week they didn't get too tired until about 10K, and the last 2K was not too fun (uphill...). Last week the last 4K was hard, so there's some improvement.

My time was slower though. Today I went 1:20:41 for 6:43/k, with ave HR 152. Garmin connect data here.

6K on treadmill

I woke up a bit late today...so it was the treadmill for me, as I was to meet Lisa at the gym at 6:55. I had planned to go outside for 40-45 min and then go to the gym to lift, but instead I got to the gym and on the treadmill around 6:35. I really don't like the treadmill, but honestly, I'm also tired of the dark and the cold in the mornings, so I didn't mind quite as much today.

Well, I was on the treadmill, so I kept it at a constant speed, but my HR got pretty high for the speed that it was set on. I had it set for 5.7 mph (10:31/mile), which is about a 6:32/km pace. My HR started out pretty low, ave 132 for the first km, but it went up fast averaging 147, 151, 155, 158, then 160 for the last km...hmmm...sluggish today I guess. I did keep the 5.7 mph for the whole 6K though, which is one of the advantages of the treadmill I suppose. It felt like a pretty hard workout. Sigh...still pretty out-of-shape.

Tomorrow will be a longer workout - another 12km, probably. I hope it is a bit easier than it was last week, but I'm not so sure it will be. Long ways to go in the fitness department, but I have lots of time before my next serious race, so I must be patient. I'm just glad I can train again.

rest day

I took a rest day today from exercising. It felt good to relax longer in bed and read a bit before going to work. Ahhhhh...

Back to the regular routine tomorrow. Probably some walking and some weight training.

6.119K on indoor track

It was cold this morning, but not as cold as predicted. It was only 7F, but that was better than 0F (-18C)! It was supposed to be windy, too, but it wasn't. Had I known it would be 7F and calm, I would have walked outside. I still could have, but I was all packed & ready for the gym followed by heading straight up to work, so that's what I did. Actually, the indoor track is at the gym at the U, and I meet Lisa at the county recreation facility nearby, so I went to two gyms this morning. Yeah, I have two gym memberships. Kinda funny since I used to be a couch potato. I could just have one, but I talked Lisa into the membership first, and then when the weather turned nasty in the fall I realized it would be good to have one at the field house at the U so that I could use the indoor track rather than always having to do the treadmill. Besides, the county facility is much nicer and more comfortable in the summer (better air conditioning), so it's better year-round for weight training. I only need the U membership in the winter, and as part-time staff I can only buy 6 months at a time anyway, so it all works out.

Enough digression. I felt tired this morning (sleepy tired) after not enough sleep for a couple nights in a row. My legs were a tad sore (upper hamstrings/glutes) but other than that I felt OK. I was sluggish this morning, though. On the 211m track, 6:30/km is equivalent to 1:22/lap. I tried to keep that pace, but my body just wasn't into it this morning. Most laps were 1:23-1:24, and I settled into that rhythm because it felt right this morning. I finished 29 laps before it was time to go lift weights with Lisa. It took 40:24 for the 6.119K (211m * 29 laps), so I averaged 6:36/km with an ave HR of 150.

***

When I got to the other gym I didn't have a lot of time to lift weights because I chatted with Lisa too long (she was riding the stationary bike...should have hopped on the one next to her, but felt lazy!). I still got in a couple sets of stuff to help with my various weak spots, plus abs and stretching. I did walking lunges with 17.5lb in each hand/bench press w/30lb dumbbells then rowing machine (70 lb)/multi-hip abductors (80 lb), and finally some one-legged calf raises (body weight)/lateral raises (10 lb). Then core exercises that Lisa and I did together, plus stretching.

cold but good

It was cold this morning. And it got colder while I was out there! It was 20F (-6.7C) when I started, but only 15F (-9.4C) when I finished, and now it's only 14F (-10C). It was just slightly breezy when I started, but the last 2.5km (uphill slightly) it was windy, gusting in my face. That was SO very, very cold!!! I was actually warm enough in my fleece except for the very end with the wind in my face.

Obviously a cold front just came through, and it's supposed to get colder - only 1F (-17.2C) tonight, they say, and windy. I think that tomorrow might be an indoor workout day. Even I have my limits. I love being outside, but not if I'm freezing. At least we don't have several feet of snow like the Midwest. Winters here are cold, but they are definitely warmer than Midwest winters. I lived in Wisconsin until I was 10 years old, and winter there is brutal.

Thankfully, winter is half over now I figure, so warmer weather is at least on the horizon now. One bright spot this morning was that it wasn't pitch black outside when I finished - it's getting lighter earlier :).

Anyway, I have to get to work, so I'll be brief: I had a great workout. I started a bit slow down the hill (1st km in 6:24) and felt that I didn't want to move faster, but managed to pick it up and did the 2nd km in 6:06. I kept a good pace for the next few km, and even managed to be pretty fast up the hill, at 6:42 and 6:40 for the uphill km. Even when I'm in good shape I tend to do those at about 6:37-6:38, so I am very happy with this.

Apparently I'm well recovered from yesterday's 3K fartlek. Total time 54:57 for the 8.5 km, for 6:28/km with ave HR of just 148. Not bad, not bad at all.

Garmin connect data here.

3+K fartlek (indoor 211m track)

I didn't get enough sleep last night, because I was up a bit late working on the family finances (we're considering buying a car from a friend to replace our 20-year-old Buick Century, and I wanted to see how that might work out). So I didn't feel so great when I got up, but as usual, a good hard racewalking workout made me feel much better. It still amazes me how much exercise improves my mood. I'd probably be in a psych ward by now if not for racewalking ;).

I chose the indoor track due to snow overnight. I probably could have walked on the street, as they weren't so bad, but the cold and dark were an additional deterrent. I guess I'm pretty tired of them by now. I was in the mood to walk in shorts, so I went to the field house at the U.

I warmed up with 8 laps on the 211m track, in 10:48, for 6:24/km with ave HR 141. I was feeling ready to go! I did a few dynamic flexibility drills and then started the 3K fartlek (3.165K fartlek, to be exact!).

I was faster than last week! Not on the first 1K, but on the subsequent kms. My endurance is just a little better, and I didn't feel I was tiring so much on the last 500m like I did last week. My recoveries were a bit better too, though my fast segments were slightly slower. I think I didn't push quite as hard - my ave HR was 159 vs 165 last week. I pushed to 90% instead of maybe 95% last week.

Here are my times (adjusted to 1K/500m in parentheses):
1055m fast 6:05.3 (5:46.3)
527.5m med 3:21.0 (3:10.6)
527.5m fast 3:04.9 (2:55.3)
527.5m med 3:23.8 (3:13.2)
527.5m fast 3:03.9 (2:54.3)
TOTAL 18:59.0 (17:59.7)

Hey, I even finished the equivalent of under 18 min for the 3K! Slow by my in-shape standards, but it is 22 seconds faster than last week. I'll take it. It's going to take a while for me to get back in shape, but at least I'm finally making progress and I'm feeling so much better.

Edited to add: I also got a kick out of passing several runners who were using the track :). I love passing runners! Of course, there were some fast runners passing me, too.

short hilly workout

After the 12K yesterday I opted for a shorter workout today - just 5.8K, with hills though. I did the SugarHouse Park route, which I really enjoy a lot. That first hill is a killer, though. I only managed 7:20 for the first km, though the last bit coming down I did at 5:54/k!

I was sore when I started off, but it helped to walk and get the blood flowing through the affected muscles: glutes and hamstrings for the most part. After the uphill I was able to pick up the pace and do the second km in 6:07. During the second km I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a while (from our walking club) and stopped to chat with her for a few minutes. It was good to see her! Like me, she has lost a lot of weight on Weight Watchers, though she has just done it in the past year. I did my best to encourage her in her maintenance efforts. I almost didn't recognize her because of all the weight she has lost (about 65 lb?). And actually, that happened to me this morning as well - we visited my parents' church this morning and I ran into a guy I worked with 10 years ago, and he wasn't sure who I was until I introduced myself. That was fun!

Total time for 5.78k was 37:55, for 6:33/km with ave HR 150. Pretty good for all those hills and with the pre-fatiguing of yesterday's workout. I haven't done this route that fast in a long time.

Tomorrow I am supposed to do another 3K fartlek. That should be fun. It might snow, so I might end up doing it on the indoor track, which will make it a 3.165K fartlek :).

Garmin connect data here.

12K - a long way to go, but a good start

I did 12K this morning in 1:19:35, for 6:38/k. That's the longest I've gone since Dec 24, and it was also definitely the fastest I've done that distance since the half marathon in November. (Right after the half marathon was when I got sick).

I was going very well through 6k, aside from a bothersome side stitch from 3-4k. Up to that point I averaged 6:30/k. However, my endurance is not at all where it will be after some training, and the last 6k was much slower. In fact, my legs got very tired around 8K and 9-12K hurt, to be quite honest. I wasn't surprised by this at all, but it does show just how far I have to go to get back in good shape again. When I'm healthy and well-trained, 12K in 1:18 is nothing, typically. But you know what? For where I am right now, after being sick for 2 months, the 12K this morning was very good. I expected it might be more like 6:45/k, so to do 6:38/k was quite nice. Admittedly, I pushed a bit and my average HR was 153 for the whole 12K. Still - I'm pleased with where I am for the moment.

I also think that I'm going to have to stay at 12K max for another week. I was thinking 15K might be on the agenda for next weekend, but I think ramping up the mileage more slowly right now might be better. Of course, this is all up to my coach as well, but if I don't think I'm up to 15K yet he probably won't have me do it. Probably we'll do some speed work and keep the distance at a similar level for now.

It's going to be a long road back - but I'm glad to finally be ON that road :).

Garmin connect data here.

Liberty Park again

I did the 6.3K Liberty Park route again this morning. It was 33F (1C) and foggy, but the air quality was good (9) so off I went. It went well this morning again, so I think I am really on the mend :). I did it in 41:28 for 6:34/k with ave HR 150. Garmin connect data here.

***

Then I hit the gym for some weights. 1) bench press w/30 lb dumbbells/walking lunges 15 lb each arm; 2) abductor on multi-hip (80 lb)/lat pull-down w/70 lb; 3) calf raises, one-legged, body weight/lateral raises (10 lb); 4) bicep curls (15 lb)/tricep pull-downs w/rope (25 lb). Then a bunch of core stuff: ball sit-ups, rows, ski exercise, plank 90 sec, and straight leg raises/lowering.

a little break

After 4 days walking in a row I needed a little respite, just to make sure I don't overdo. So yesterday I did the bike and elliptical for a total of 45 min, and skipped the weight training because Loren had to get to the dentist, so I had to be home early.

***

Today I took a rest day. I was up late last night doing a hypoxia experiment (24-36 hours post-fertilization for my zebrafish embryos), so I was pretty tired today even with the rest. I'm going to bed early tonight, and hoping to feel a bit more alert tomorrow.

3 in a row!

I've now had 3 good workouts in a row! Yay!

Today I did the same route as yesterday - 6.3K to Liberty Park. I pushed harder today, wanting to go faster than yesterday :). I finished the route almost a minute faster, in 41:05, for 6:29/km, with ave HR 152 (only a little higher than yesterday). I felt stronger today, and though I did tire on the last 2k uphill, I still felt good - even better than I felt yesterday, despite waking early (husband's alarm clock - grrrr!) and another round of dog puke this morning (but that's another story...).

It was warmish this morning, about 33F (1C) and I actually got a bit hot in my fleece. Nice weather for January...I'll take it! I know it will change and get cold or polluted again soon, so might as well enjoy it.

Garmin connect data here.

Liberty Park route

I was hoping for a good workout today, after yesterday. I did feel a bit fatigued last night but went to bed on the early side and felt good this morning when I got up.

I told my coach I wouldn't push too hard, but I did get a bit excited to work out and went faster than I should have at the start (2:55 for 500m, but on a good downhill). I settled in with 3:15 for the next 500m and the workout was great until 4K (25:xx) but by then it was uphill quite a bit and I was tired. Still, I finished with 6.3k in 41:54, which is 6:38/km, the fastest I've done this route in a long time, with ave HR 149.

After that I skipped weight training (sorry, Lisa!) because I decided I'd pushed too hard.

Late for work so no more details now.

Garmin connect data here.

3K fartlek

I have been feeling a bit less fatigued, so my coach wondered if I was just in a slow rhythm and needed to mix in some short speed work to get things back in gear. He is a genius...I think he was right.

I drove to the track and was going to walk there, but it was way too icy. No snow, but it had snowed yesterday, melted a bit and then refrozen overnight. It was 25F (-4C) this morning, not too cold, but cold enough to make the track icy. So I drove home and decided to do my fartlek on 800E instead.

I figured I'd be lucky to break 19:00 for a 3K fartlek (1K fast, 500m med/500 fast, 500m med/500 fast). I warmed up with a mile downhill in about 10:45, nice & easy. I did a few dynamic drills to stretch out, especially my hamstrings. Then I got going. I was SO surprised when I got to 500m in 2:51! I figured that I didn't have the stamina to keep that pace, but the 2nd 500m was 2:53 for 5:44 for the 1K! Now if I was in good shape, that might be 5:30-5:35, but I was VERY happy with 5:44 in my current condition. Amazed, even.

My recoveries were slow, not surprisingly, since my conditioning is lousy at the moment. That will only take a few months of training to fix, though, assuming I recover decently from this workout and can continue doing some speed work. And I did tire easily, with the last 500m pretty slow (though on this route it is just the slightest uphill, so that makes it harder).

Here are my times for each 500m:
2:51 fast
2:53 fast
3:20 med
2:55 fast
3:18 med
3:01 fast

Garmin connect data with heart rates, etc. here.

Oh, and total time was 18:22.

last 3 days

Thursday: Rest day. I'm trying to make sure I take one in hopes it will speed my recovery.

***

Friday: I was going to do weights at the gym and didn't feel like changing from outdoor wear to indoor wear, so I did 5k on the treadmill in 32:56. Not bad, as my HR was about 150 at most. That particular brand of treadmill seems to run a bit faster than some of the other ones at the gym; however, I did 5K last weeks sometime at the same pace and HR was up to 160, so this is a bit better. After the 5K, I switched to the elliptical and did 1.5 miles on that.

Then weight training: supersets of 1) abductor machine (#9)/bench press w/30lb dumbbells each arm; 2) hamstring machine (60 lb)/lat pull-down (70 lb); 3) calf raises, one-legged, body weight/lateral raises (10lb each arm); 4) tricep dips on assisted machine (70 lb)/sissy squats. Then core: sit-ups passing 8 lb medicine ball to Lisa (not sure of #, to fatigue), oblique crunches on ball (20 each side), back extensions on ball (20), ball passes from feet to hands (15).

***

Today: I decided to do 10K outside. The weather was nice for this time of year; 33F (1C) and partly cloudy. Despite the fact that it was 33F, there were a few icy spots on the roads, but not enough to slow me appreciably.

I decided that because I'm feeling a little bit more energetic lately that I'm going to gradually increase my mileage so that I can do a half marathon in April. I might be slow, but at least I will be out there doing it. I was slow today, and knew it after the first km downhill was around 6:45 or so. I spent about the first 5K mourning the fact that I was slow and thinking of all the stuff I can't do unless I get better, but then I realized this was stupid and unproductive. So for the last 5K, I planned all the things that I can still do this year even if I'm slow. I can still do distance stuff locally to my heart's content, and there are lots of nice races. I haven't given up on feeling better and doing the World Masters, but if I don't get better, it's not really worth dragging myself and my family there for it. And because I need to have goals, well, for the moment I'm going to think about doing some longer distances at nice easy paces, since I think I can at least do that much.

With that in mind, I plan to do 12K next weekend, and 15K the following weekend, with corresponding increases in weekly mileage so that at least I'm doing SOMETHING productive. If I feel lousy at any point, I'll back off. It's not worth sacrificing my recovery for!

So, I finished the 10K today in 1:10:45 with ave HR 143. About par for the course lately, at 7:04/km. I'll take it - it was nice to be out there, and beats the heck out of last year, when I was injured and didn't know how long I'd be out of commission.

Garmin connect data here.

still here, still slow, still going

Yesterday I did 8.5K very slowly. I think it was about 7:15/k, with ave HR 141. I just went slow and easy, and kept it very comfortable. I would have done 10K but time was too short. I was also starting to cough quite a bit so I figured it was time to quit.

Today I did 1 mile on the treadmill (snowing/raining outside) and then 4 miles on the elliptical, followed by weight training. 1) chest fly (60 lb)/walking lunges (15 lb each hand), 2) hamstring curls on ball/row (65 lb), 3) abductor on multi-hip (80 lb)/calf raises (one-legged, body weight), 4) tricep dips on bench/leg extensions.

Tonight I am really, really tired. At 6 pm I was ready to be in bed. Maybe the fact that the kids were difficult this afternoon (Calvin especially) has a lot to do with this. In any event, I'm still fatiguing easily. I think that the fatigue is residual from the virus I had, and the slow racewalking seems to have to do with my lungs (the coughing). I suspect that there was some damage to the bronchi from the virus, and it's going to take a while to repair itself. Eventually I should be up to speed again if this is true, but meanwhile, well, I must be patient, which I am not good at!

another slow 5K

This morning it was 35:30 instead of 35:50, but it's all the same...slow! I enjoyed my walk, though, so it doesn't really matter. I have started to wonder what I will do if I never get better (i.e. back to my old speedier self). I know that it's still very likely I will recover in a few months, but what if I don't? If I can't be competitive, I am sure I will still racewalk. I'll still do half marathons, and even a marathon this fall with my friend Sarah (she's going to do her first one this fall). I've actually enjoyed the extended respite from training in some ways, though I do miss it a lot at the same time. Weird. Anyway, for the moment I'm trying to be content with where I am, which involves watching my diet carefully, racewalking as much as is comfortable, strength training to keep up my muscle mass, and some cross-training and a day of rest each week. I've lost a few pounds since the holidays, and I'm doing well with keeping my eating pretty carefully in check, even at restaurants. I don't eat out very often (once per week on average?) but it's easy to overdo there. In any case, I'm just biding my time and seeing what happens.

***

After my slow 5K, I went to the gym and lifted. I usually do 4 sets of supersets (alternating 2 exercises on different muscle groups, usually 3x10-12 reps each) plus core. Today my supersets were: 1) bench press (85 lb, Smith machine)/leg press (130 lb - low for me; tired legs!) 2) hamstring machine (60 lb)/military press (20 lb each arm) 3) calf raises (one-legged; body weight)/lat pull-downs (70 lb) 4) bicep curls (15 lb each arm)/tricep skull-crushers (12 lb each arm). Then core: 50 sit-ups on exercise ball, then 20 oblique crunches/side on the ball, then isometric exercises for lower abs, and finally bicycles (30 per side). Then stretching...ahhhhh.

PNO Scan

My acoustic piano (a Steinway grand) is now also a digital piano, thanks to the magic of PNO Scan. It's basically a sensor strip that goes under the keys of the piano (and to the sustain pedal) and senses the amount and duration of the pressure on the keys. I also got a mute rail installed, so that I can mute the natural piano sound, and a pair of speakers installed under the piano that plugs into my computer to transmit the computer-generated sounds. The result is that you can play the piano and have another sound come out; for example, a trumpet sound, like Calvin is demonstrating. Another very handy result is that I can play after the kids go to bed by plugging some headphones into the computer. Nice! Finally, it does a bunch of other stuff like recording music (in Garage Band on my Mac) or accompanying students, even slowing down or speeding up to stay with them (using the Home Concert Xtreme software). In a nutshell, it's awesome.

Here's a duet I recorded with myself in about 15 min of work...yeah, it's not perfect but it's just a quick and dirty project to demonstrate the concept. Fun!

Schumann Beim Kranzewinden