Today's theme for Take It and Run Thursday is the Secret to How To Qualify for Boston.
Ummm...
Yeah, I got nothing.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Slave to the Garmin...
Got my new shooz!!!Just wanted to thank everyone for your comments on my last post. Like me, it sounds like most of your readers are the blogger community as well and not necessarily your "real-life" friends (and sometimes that's intentional). (And just to clarify, of course we are all *friends* out here in blogger land!)
I also opened accounts on Buckeye Outdoors, Map My Fitness, Daily Mile, and Breaking the Tape. Now I'm not bored or crazy enough to update all of them but I still need to play around with the tools and see what I like best. I'll let you know what I come up with.
*****
I didn't really have a stellar week in terms of workouts but I did squeeze a few in.
On Wednesday night, I totally procrastinated in getting to the gym. I stayed late at work to finish up a few things (that's when you know I'm really getting desperate.) The gym is close to one of the malls so I decided to stop by there first to get some gifts for friends and ended up getting some things myself. Does anyone else do this? For example, when I hit the mall during Christmas season, it usually ends up with me buying one thing for dad, one thing for me, one thing for my brother, one thing for me, one thing for my sister, one thing for me... and so on. It's very dangerous for me to be at the mall.
Anyway, it's now after 7:30PM and I know there's an 8PM cardio dance class that I used to go to all the time. Sometimes parking at this gym can be tricky during the evenings because it's right in the middle of all these popular restaurants/bars. So I tell myself that I will at least venture over there and if I find parking pretty easily, I will go to class. If I can't find parking, then I'll leave. (And yes, I have actually driven there and if the parking is a nightmare, I'll just head home.) I'm just one of those people that has a serious motivation issue. When I'm there, it's cool. It's just getting there that is really challenging for me.
And luckily enough, I found a parking spot right at the front! Even I can't deny that it was meant to be and that the workout gods were reaching out to me. "Join us, Audrey, get off your lazy butt... your DVR will record American Idol for you."
So off I went... lots of step touch and single, single, double and grapevines and mambos and body rolls, etc. It actually was a pretty decent workout for me as I noticed my heart rate monitor blinking at me every now and then if I went over my max aerobic rate which I think is 162 or something. Of course, if I used this watch while running, it would be blinking constantly. But this was my Polar one which I only use for the gym. I use my Garmin strictly for biking and running.
Anyway, I decided to record these workout numbers as well. Note that I turned off the HRM when we started our cooldown.
OSYBN*:
0:52:13
Avg hr: 152bpm
*SYB = Shake Yo Booty
I went for a 4 mile run on Saturday and I don't know what my deal was but I was so sluggish! Things finally fell into place by the last mile and I felt I had a more comfortable rhythm going on. I know I just need to keep up with my runs and it will eventually get easier.
ORN:
4.0mi
0:42:49
Avg pace: 10:42min/mi
Avg hr: 171bpm
1: 10:44
2: 11:05
3: 10:50
4: 10:10
On Sunday, I went for a three mile run in between making Puppy Chow Mix and Chocolate Chip cookies for Superbowl Sunday.
I would have thought my numbers would be slower since the sun was out more and it was kind of warm plus I had to deal with a bit of a side cramp for part of the run. But I actually did OK overall.
ORN:
3.0mi
0:30:46
Avg pace: 10:15min/mi
Avg hr: 169bpm
1: 10:17
2: 10:22
3: 10:07
Is anyone else a slave to their Garmin? Lately, mine hasn't been doing too well with quickly grabbing a signal. And since I am really interested in tracking my progress as I rebuild my running base, I can't bear to run without having the data behind it. So I will just stand there on the sidewalk staring at the little black bar on my watch as it slowly locates the satellites. Sometimes I'm waiting for a while, too. Does anyone else do this? Or maybe everyone else's Garmins are far superior to mine?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Obsession tag and a question for you
A hodgepodge of updates for today... first, I did get in a quick run over the weekend - nothing too exciting:
ORN:
3.0mi
0:31:27
Avg pace: 10:29min/mi
Avg hr: 169bpm
I've also seen a fun tag floating around and I wanted to play along. Here are my five latest obsessions / addictions:
1. Lint shaver
This came in real handy yesterday for a particularly fuzzy coat of mine - what a great invention!
2. MAC Viva Glam V lipstick
I've almost finished the entire tube - that never happens!
3. Anti-glare screen for my iPhone
Now you don't see my messy fingerprints anymore!
4. Rimshot & Crickets iPhone application
This thing continues to crack me up to the point of tears! It's a free app that gives you a big red button for four different sound effects - a rimshot (to punctuate the end of a joke), crickets (if someone is telling a really long and boring story), trombone (waa-waa-waaaaaaaa sound ideal for pity parties), and golf claps. I've used it during a staff meeting (only once!) and a dinner party and it is hysterical!
5. Rock Band drums
Because I rock.
*****
Do any of your non-running/blogging (also known as non-virtual, haha) friends read your blog? Most of my friends know I have blogs, but hardly any of them read them unless I specifically email them a link for a particularly interesting post, like a marathon race report or something. Not all of them run so I can understand that but they don't even read my pop culture one, either. But then again, most of my friends aren't really "blog readers"... they don't even know what Google Reader is. For example, I know one of my good friends thought I literally visited over a hundred different websites a day. Please!
I do have two good "non-virtual" friends that faithfully read both of my blogs. These very dear friends of mine both recently had their first babies this week - welcome baby Alex and Sahana to the world!!!
*****
On a final note, I am thinking about using one of those online logs to track my runs and bike rides. I have most of the data in my Garmin but it might be cool to have a tracker on my blog as well. Do any of you have any recommendations? I looked at a couple... I am wondering if there was one that also allowed you to enter shoe data so that you could monitor how many miles you had on a specific pair. Let me know if you have any scoop!
ORN:
3.0mi
0:31:27
Avg pace: 10:29min/mi
Avg hr: 169bpm
I've also seen a fun tag floating around and I wanted to play along. Here are my five latest obsessions / addictions:
1. Lint shaver
This came in real handy yesterday for a particularly fuzzy coat of mine - what a great invention!
2. MAC Viva Glam V lipstick
I've almost finished the entire tube - that never happens!
3. Anti-glare screen for my iPhone
Now you don't see my messy fingerprints anymore!
4. Rimshot & Crickets iPhone application
This thing continues to crack me up to the point of tears! It's a free app that gives you a big red button for four different sound effects - a rimshot (to punctuate the end of a joke), crickets (if someone is telling a really long and boring story), trombone (waa-waa-waaaaaaaa sound ideal for pity parties), and golf claps. I've used it during a staff meeting (only once!) and a dinner party and it is hysterical!
5. Rock Band drums
Because I rock.
*****
Do any of your non-running/blogging (also known as non-virtual, haha) friends read your blog? Most of my friends know I have blogs, but hardly any of them read them unless I specifically email them a link for a particularly interesting post, like a marathon race report or something. Not all of them run so I can understand that but they don't even read my pop culture one, either. But then again, most of my friends aren't really "blog readers"... they don't even know what Google Reader is. For example, I know one of my good friends thought I literally visited over a hundred different websites a day. Please!
I do have two good "non-virtual" friends that faithfully read both of my blogs. These very dear friends of mine both recently had their first babies this week - welcome baby Alex and Sahana to the world!!!
*****
On a final note, I am thinking about using one of those online logs to track my runs and bike rides. I have most of the data in my Garmin but it might be cool to have a tracker on my blog as well. Do any of you have any recommendations? I looked at a couple... I am wondering if there was one that also allowed you to enter shoe data so that you could monitor how many miles you had on a specific pair. Let me know if you have any scoop!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Dazed and confused at the gym
With my nice "kick start" from last week, I feel like I'm slowly getting back into a routine. Here's a recap of this week's workouts so far :
Tuesday
On Tuesday night, I headed to the gym. I was going to take one of those "Body Conditioning" classes but didn't get out of work in time so I decided to do my own thing instead. Now I don't know enough about strength training or basic anatomy in general to come up with own routine so I usually do one of the two workout routines that were "prescribed" to me during those free sessions you get when you first sign up at the gym.
I decided to do the newer one which I got last summer when I first started training for my half marathons. Luckily, I was able to find my workout card (you know - the one that has a big grid where they list out the routine step by step with the number of reps / amount of weight, etc) in the massive file cabinet. I'm one of those nerds that takes my card with me to the floor because I have a horrible memory. I think I'm pretty good with documenting all my workouts on the card as well. Last recorded workout was on September 4th. Oops. But I guess that makes sense because that's right about when all the races started to kick in and I didn't have time for such nonsense like having a well-balanced and strong body.
Anyway, with the four months that had gone by, I realized I could no longer decipher my trainer's codes for the different exercises and for the ones I could understand - I couldn't remember the proper form. Double oops. Luckily my trainer was there that night, who promptly greeted me with a "Where have you been???" Busted! Anyway, he was nice enough to give me a quick refresher. But after all that, I still ended up doing one of the exercises wrong which I didn't figure out until I got home that night. (I was supposed to do an upright row using one of those pulley things, but I had the pulley at the top instead of the bottom so I ended up doing something like a lateral pull instead which was ridiculously effortless given the amount of weight I had on it.)
It is such a nice feeling to have your workout out of the way first thing in the morning! We'll see if I can keep it up next week. Hopefully, I can squeeze in some running and biking over the weekend.
Happy Friday!
Tuesday
On Tuesday night, I headed to the gym. I was going to take one of those "Body Conditioning" classes but didn't get out of work in time so I decided to do my own thing instead. Now I don't know enough about strength training or basic anatomy in general to come up with own routine so I usually do one of the two workout routines that were "prescribed" to me during those free sessions you get when you first sign up at the gym.
I decided to do the newer one which I got last summer when I first started training for my half marathons. Luckily, I was able to find my workout card (you know - the one that has a big grid where they list out the routine step by step with the number of reps / amount of weight, etc) in the massive file cabinet. I'm one of those nerds that takes my card with me to the floor because I have a horrible memory. I think I'm pretty good with documenting all my workouts on the card as well. Last recorded workout was on September 4th. Oops. But I guess that makes sense because that's right about when all the races started to kick in and I didn't have time for such nonsense like having a well-balanced and strong body.
Anyway, with the four months that had gone by, I realized I could no longer decipher my trainer's codes for the different exercises and for the ones I could understand - I couldn't remember the proper form. Double oops. Luckily my trainer was there that night, who promptly greeted me with a "Where have you been???" Busted! Anyway, he was nice enough to give me a quick refresher. But after all that, I still ended up doing one of the exercises wrong which I didn't figure out until I got home that night. (I was supposed to do an upright row using one of those pulley things, but I had the pulley at the top instead of the bottom so I ended up doing something like a lateral pull instead which was ridiculously effortless given the amount of weight I had on it.)
The whole thing was pretty uneventful. I mean, I got a good workout in and was sore the next day but it's not like I left the gym on an endorphin high or anything. If nothing else, it helped to ease my guilt for neglecting my gym all this time.
Wednesday
I had plans with my friends Wednesday evening so I actually got up early and got a quick run in before work that day. That's right, morning exercise!!!
ORN:
3.0mi
0:30:40
Avg pace: 10:14min/mi
Avr hr: 174bpm
Even though I stayed up way too late Thursday night watching all sorts of TV (Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, 30 Rock, bits and pieces of America's Best Dance Crew) - I still managed to make it to the gym Friday morning. I did weights again (part of my plan to do strength training at least 2x/week) with a quick run on the treadmill for a warm up.
ORN:
1.5mi
0:14:53
Avg pace: 9:55min/mi
It is such a nice feeling to have your workout out of the way first thing in the morning! We'll see if I can keep it up next week. Hopefully, I can squeeze in some running and biking over the weekend.
Happy Friday!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Mission Success!
We've had some really beautiful weather over here in northern Cali so I had to take advantage of it. (I'm so sorry for those of you in the freezing cold temperatures - I've been there!)
I went for a short run on Saturday morning. I planned to do 3 miles but ended up sticking it out for just a little bit longer. My pace is still kind of slow but I didn't take any walk breaks so yay for that.
ORN:
3.5mi
0:36:46
Avg pace: 10:31min/mi
Avg hr: 173bpm
On Sunday, I decided to go for a real bike ride. Normally, I just do 12-13 miles on my local trail since it's so close to my home but there's so much traffic on that trail, it's hard to just get "in the zone". I decided to take my bike out on the Coyote Creek trail which is similar to the one I normally use but with a lot less people. There were some other bikers and a few runners, but for the most part, it was nice and open. It was really pretty out there today! The course is pretty flat for the most part so it wasn't all that challenging or exciting, but it was nice to get some solid miles in. I definitely want to continue to explore new routes for my bike rides.
OBN:
27.16mi
1:49:07
Avg pace: 14.9mph
Avg hr: 149bpm
(By the way, I'm not really sure what the O and N stand for in those notes above. I'm just copying the other bloggers - heehee. I think it stands for Obligatory and Note, but I'm not really sure. If you know, fill me in!)
Anyway, my little game worked! I did my four workouts for the week, so now I get my reward :) Off to the MAC store for my goodies:
I got a couple of eye shadows, a lipstick, and a paint pot for a smokey eye/nude lip look. As I soon as I got home, I had to try it out (even though I was going to be parked on my couch for the rest of the day, haha.) I still need to play with them a little more, but here's a before/after peek at my first try of the "look":
I made another fun new purchase while at the mall - new running shoes! I've been wearing Nike Vomero's for the last couple of years so I decided to get a new pair but this time in orange:
I looked online and they were $125. I had just received one of those Nike coupons for 25% off any purchase of $125 or more so I thought, perfect! I headed to my local Nike store where I was thrilled to discover that the orange Vomero's were actually on sale at the store for $74.99!!! SWEET! But alas, they were sold out in my size. No worries - they went ahead and ordered me a pair from online but at the store's sale price - yay! Also, I assumed that I would just pick them up from the store when they arrived but no, they had them shipped to my home instead. I was a happy camper for sure.
With my four day streak, I think I'm going to take Monday off as a rest day. But I also plan to review all the class schedules at my gym network to pick out some classes for the rest of the week :)
I went for a short run on Saturday morning. I planned to do 3 miles but ended up sticking it out for just a little bit longer. My pace is still kind of slow but I didn't take any walk breaks so yay for that.
ORN:
3.5mi
0:36:46
Avg pace: 10:31min/mi
Avg hr: 173bpm
On Sunday, I decided to go for a real bike ride. Normally, I just do 12-13 miles on my local trail since it's so close to my home but there's so much traffic on that trail, it's hard to just get "in the zone". I decided to take my bike out on the Coyote Creek trail which is similar to the one I normally use but with a lot less people. There were some other bikers and a few runners, but for the most part, it was nice and open. It was really pretty out there today! The course is pretty flat for the most part so it wasn't all that challenging or exciting, but it was nice to get some solid miles in. I definitely want to continue to explore new routes for my bike rides.
OBN:
27.16mi
1:49:07
Avg pace: 14.9mph
Avg hr: 149bpm
(By the way, I'm not really sure what the O and N stand for in those notes above. I'm just copying the other bloggers - heehee. I think it stands for Obligatory and Note, but I'm not really sure. If you know, fill me in!)
Anyway, my little game worked! I did my four workouts for the week, so now I get my reward :) Off to the MAC store for my goodies:
I got a couple of eye shadows, a lipstick, and a paint pot for a smokey eye/nude lip look. As I soon as I got home, I had to try it out (even though I was going to be parked on my couch for the rest of the day, haha.) I still need to play with them a little more, but here's a before/after peek at my first try of the "look":
I made another fun new purchase while at the mall - new running shoes! I've been wearing Nike Vomero's for the last couple of years so I decided to get a new pair but this time in orange:
I looked online and they were $125. I had just received one of those Nike coupons for 25% off any purchase of $125 or more so I thought, perfect! I headed to my local Nike store where I was thrilled to discover that the orange Vomero's were actually on sale at the store for $74.99!!! SWEET! But alas, they were sold out in my size. No worries - they went ahead and ordered me a pair from online but at the store's sale price - yay! Also, I assumed that I would just pick them up from the store when they arrived but no, they had them shipped to my home instead. I was a happy camper for sure.
With my four day streak, I think I'm going to take Monday off as a rest day. But I also plan to review all the class schedules at my gym network to pick out some classes for the rest of the week :)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
My sore booty and other random tidbits
Random tidbit #1: My triumphant return to the gym in the pursuit of new MAC goodies
Thursday night I went to my gym for the first time in I don't know how long (probably a few months). The problem is that I've been out of a routine for so long that it's hard to get back into one. I think about going to the gym and even pack my bag at times, but it's just so easy for me to come up with a million and one reasons to skip it. And so I do. (I *wish* I could be a 5AM gym girl like these gals!)
So this week I'm trying something new. And by posting it on my blog, I'm hoping I will be more faithful to it. I'm trying a rewards thing. See, I love to shop - all in the name of helping the economy, of course. (Not having kids or a mortgage help enable this bad habit of mine as well.) And there's some new make-up that I want to try out. Normally, I would just go straight to the mall and buy it but on Thursday I decided that I would only buy the three things I want if I work out 4 times this week. Note my exercise week runs from Monday to Sunday so basically that meant I would have to do something every day until Sunday to earn my award.
And I'm not claiming victory yet or anything but so far it has been working! After work on Thursday, I finally made my way to the gym. I did some easy cardio on the elliptical and then took one of those strength training classes with one of my favorite teachers. Yikes. It's been months since I've done any kind of weights or push ups or abs or any of that stuff. It was definitely rough but it was nice to be in there again.
I was expecting to be really sore the next morning but that wasn't the case. I was kind of disappointed. But as the day went on, the pain slowly creeped up on me. Well, not really pain, that good soreness kind of feeling. Especially in my booty from all those lunges and squats she had us do.
I headed to the gym again on Friday after work - did some cardio while watching The Rachel Maddow show. I will admit that I am not much of a news person (at all) but I've heard a lot of buzz about Maddow so I was excited to finally watch her show. She's pretty entertaining... I may just tune into her show again.
So I'm off to a good start! Hopefully, on Sunday I'll be headed to the mall for my goodies :)
Random tidbit #2: Going Goofy in 2010
When I ran the Disney marathon in 2008, I quickly learned who the real superstars were... the Goofy runners! When I first heard about the challenge - running the half on Saturday and the full on Sunday - I thought it was an absolutely insane idea that only elites would attempt. But then I started talking to some of the Goofy runners that weekend and realized "normal" runners run it, too. The idea slowly became more and more appealing. By the time I left Orlando, I had announced to my family that I would be back in 2010 to take on the Goofy race and a half challenge myself. (I knew I wouldn't be ready to tackle it a year later.) So this week I took the plunge and registered! I'm pretty excited although I know that means I have to be a lot more diligent with my training than I have been in the past.
Random tidbit #3: Race excitement is contagious!
I've really been enjoying all the blog posts from the runners tackling the RnR Arizona marathon and half marathon this weekend. I love race weekends - even when I'm not running. I love the energy of having so many people gathered together in one place who had all spent months and months training for the same big event. I remember getting so excited when I attended the SFM expo last year, even though I was just registering for the 5K! Anyway - to all those running races this weekend (special shout out to Alisa and Eileen) - good luck and remember to have lots of fun! You've done all the training - time to enjoy it!
Thursday night I went to my gym for the first time in I don't know how long (probably a few months). The problem is that I've been out of a routine for so long that it's hard to get back into one. I think about going to the gym and even pack my bag at times, but it's just so easy for me to come up with a million and one reasons to skip it. And so I do. (I *wish* I could be a 5AM gym girl like these gals!)
So this week I'm trying something new. And by posting it on my blog, I'm hoping I will be more faithful to it. I'm trying a rewards thing. See, I love to shop - all in the name of helping the economy, of course. (Not having kids or a mortgage help enable this bad habit of mine as well.) And there's some new make-up that I want to try out. Normally, I would just go straight to the mall and buy it but on Thursday I decided that I would only buy the three things I want if I work out 4 times this week. Note my exercise week runs from Monday to Sunday so basically that meant I would have to do something every day until Sunday to earn my award.
And I'm not claiming victory yet or anything but so far it has been working! After work on Thursday, I finally made my way to the gym. I did some easy cardio on the elliptical and then took one of those strength training classes with one of my favorite teachers. Yikes. It's been months since I've done any kind of weights or push ups or abs or any of that stuff. It was definitely rough but it was nice to be in there again.
I was expecting to be really sore the next morning but that wasn't the case. I was kind of disappointed. But as the day went on, the pain slowly creeped up on me. Well, not really pain, that good soreness kind of feeling. Especially in my booty from all those lunges and squats she had us do.
I headed to the gym again on Friday after work - did some cardio while watching The Rachel Maddow show. I will admit that I am not much of a news person (at all) but I've heard a lot of buzz about Maddow so I was excited to finally watch her show. She's pretty entertaining... I may just tune into her show again.
So I'm off to a good start! Hopefully, on Sunday I'll be headed to the mall for my goodies :)
Random tidbit #2: Going Goofy in 2010
When I ran the Disney marathon in 2008, I quickly learned who the real superstars were... the Goofy runners! When I first heard about the challenge - running the half on Saturday and the full on Sunday - I thought it was an absolutely insane idea that only elites would attempt. But then I started talking to some of the Goofy runners that weekend and realized "normal" runners run it, too. The idea slowly became more and more appealing. By the time I left Orlando, I had announced to my family that I would be back in 2010 to take on the Goofy race and a half challenge myself. (I knew I wouldn't be ready to tackle it a year later.) So this week I took the plunge and registered! I'm pretty excited although I know that means I have to be a lot more diligent with my training than I have been in the past.
Random tidbit #3: Race excitement is contagious!
I've really been enjoying all the blog posts from the runners tackling the RnR Arizona marathon and half marathon this weekend. I love race weekends - even when I'm not running. I love the energy of having so many people gathered together in one place who had all spent months and months training for the same big event. I remember getting so excited when I attended the SFM expo last year, even though I was just registering for the 5K! Anyway - to all those running races this weekend (special shout out to Alisa and Eileen) - good luck and remember to have lots of fun! You've done all the training - time to enjoy it!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Bike ride in pictures
I really liked how joyRun posted pics from her runs so I thought I'd take some today during my bike ride this morning.
My go-to route for both running and biking is the Los Gatos Creek trail - it's really pretty and very close to where I live. Today was a gorgeous day (in the 70's!) so I decided to take the bike out (although it requires more preparation, it seems easier to motivate myself to bike vs run - these days at least). It was actually kind of chilly when I first started so it was interesting to see the wide assortment of apparel on the trail. Some runners were bundled up with long sleeves, running tights, gloves, and hats while I also spotted at least two men that were running in just shorts and no shirt!
Anyway, back to the trail... (pics courtesy of my iPhone)
A great view of Vasona Lake - one of the reasons I love living in this area!
This one isn't that interesting, just one of the many annoying mini hills on the trail that are short but inclined enough to get my heart rate up and to test my maneuvering skills as I weave in and out of gates and whatnot.
Hope you all had a good weekend!
My go-to route for both running and biking is the Los Gatos Creek trail - it's really pretty and very close to where I live. Today was a gorgeous day (in the 70's!) so I decided to take the bike out (although it requires more preparation, it seems easier to motivate myself to bike vs run - these days at least). It was actually kind of chilly when I first started so it was interesting to see the wide assortment of apparel on the trail. Some runners were bundled up with long sleeves, running tights, gloves, and hats while I also spotted at least two men that were running in just shorts and no shirt!
Anyway, back to the trail... (pics courtesy of my iPhone)
A great view of Vasona Lake - one of the reasons I love living in this area!
This one isn't that interesting, just one of the many annoying mini hills on the trail that are short but inclined enough to get my heart rate up and to test my maneuvering skills as I weave in and out of gates and whatnot.
Hope you all had a good weekend!
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