Kelly and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

This past week I had a rotten day.  The ins and outs of what I found so disturbing are neither here nor there.  But what I thought was interesting was my method of coping:

• Came home, stripped off work clothes, put on big fuzzy pink bathrobe.
• Husband came home, told him about my day, cried, mascara full on running down my face.
• Lots of sympathetic hugs and snuggles from him and the pups.
• Ate leftovers in lieu of cooking dinner as planned, put on my running shoes and headed down to Town Lake.
• Upon getting out of my car a man came up to me and asked me to use his cell phone.  He'd somehow managed to lock his keys, cell phone, and wallet in his trunk and his alarm kept going off.  Assessed that his story was probably legit and that he was not an axe murder or phone stealer (I have an iPhone 3G anyways, if it got jacked, good excuse to get the next model right?) and he was in fact having a worse day than me.  I took pity on him, let him use my phone and wished him luck.
• Ran 3 miles while watching the sun set on the beautiful Austin downtown skyline.  God I love Austin.
• Might have inadvertently gotten into a foot race with an old man.  He kept running next to me, changing his pace to match mine.  So I sprinted up a hill and he totally did too?!  What.  The.  Heck?  By that point I was out of breath and stopped to walk, he ran 10 more paces, turned around and looked at me, and stopped and walked confirming my suspicion that it was TOTALLY INTENTIONAL.  And also I got my butt kicked in a race by some old dude. Was more amused than anything by this. 
• Totally sweated out all my anger/angst.
• Came home, played with the pups more, knocked out some stuff for work and responded to some of my blog comments, at which point my hubs came home from hanging out with friends.
• As I was responding to the comments, I guess I was smiling really big (love you guys that actually read this thing!) and he said "What are you smiling at?" and I responded, "Does it matter, I'm actually smiling!", he responded "yeah, it looks good on you".  Love him so much, what a stellar ending to a less than ideal day!

New Year Workout Mix

I've been updating my running/swimming workout mixes to freshen them up with some new material for 2011.  When I'm lifting in the gym I like to rock out to classic rock or rap on Pandora, but when I run the trail I like to have a pre-set running mix.  Swimming's a toss up, sometimes I just enjoy the silence of the pool and the sounds of my body moving through the water.  I'm also a ridiculously loud breather, I have to turn my swimming MP3 player up full blast to hear it over my own breathing.  But I digress, the purpose of this post is to share my new running mix.  I like to put lots of feel good songs in my running mix, because running is pleasant, I'm on the trail, I'm looking at happy exercising people, it feels nice, so my music should be also.  The swimming mix is still in the works.

1. Four Winds-Bright Eyes (warm up)
2. Beautiful Day-U2
3. AC/DC-Shook Me All Night Long
4. Ben Harper-Steal My Kisses
5. Bob Marley-Three Little Birds
6. Taio Cruz-Dynamite
7. Florence + The Machine-Dog Days Are Over
8. Wyclef Jean-Sweetest Girl
9. Led Zeppelin-D'yer Maker
10. Far East Movement-Like a G6
11. Taio Cruz-Break Your Heart
12. Katy Perry-Firework
13. Ke$ha-We R Who We R
14. Plain White T's-Rhythm of Love
15. TI-Live Your Life
16. 3OH!3-Double Vision
17. Foo Fighters-Wheels
18. Jay-Z- Young Forever (stretch track)
19. Bob Marley-Redemption Song (stretch track)

Dear Running, I Miss You, Love, Kelly

I have not been running.  I've been getting my cardio from swimming, it's too dang hot, but come October 1st, it's game on for running.  Here's what I'm so excited about, new kicks!  I bought new running shoes back when I first took up running in 2008.  They say you're supposed to change them out every 300-400 miles.  I don't really keep track and it seems like a terrible waste, but I would say it's about time for a replacement pair.  Sad though, those shoes have carried me through so much, it's like retiring a pair of old friends. Looking forward to cooler weather so I can start with my Saturday morning trail runs again! 

I also need to invest in a One More Mile shirt for race days.  I always end up behind one in races and they crack me up and sum up my sentiments EXACTLY.

My personal favorite: "Dear God, please let there be someone behind me to read this."

On the back it says "If you can read this, it means I'm not last". 

Longhorn football, cooler weather, running the trail, Halloween, sweaters, dressing little doggies up in cable knit sweaters, hanging around the house in jeans and an old sweatshirt or flannel shirt, pumpkin spice latte runs to Starbucks, pleasant hikes in the hill country with my husband!  What am I forgetting?

I Am Not A Runner

We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

I used to work at Space Center Houston as a teen teaching space camp and almost 3 times a week I'd be subjected to Kennedy's famous speech at Rice University declaring we would go to the moon.  It's a quote that resonates in my brain on a regular basis even today.  As many of my real life friends and long time readers know, I was diagnosed with avascular necrosis in my hip in 2003 and had a bone transplant from within my own body to rebuild my hip.  I've always known arthritis would set in someday.  I'd like to chalk up my recent constant ache in that hip to my training program for the Cap 10k, but the reality is, maybe that joint damage is catching up with me. 

The night before the race this year Darryl posed a question to me "maybe you're just not a runner."  At first I was insulted because who says that the night before a big race?  But he had a point.  I have a lot of things working against me.  I have asthma.  I have a bum hip.  I don't have a fibula in my left leg.  I have a lot of tissue and nerve damage from my surgery.  I'm not the most cardiovascularly fit person.  I'm just not designed to be a runner.  But that's okay, I'm going to do it anyways, because if it came easily to me, I don't think I'd want to do it.  I do things because they are hard.  Because I like the challenge. 

And maybe I'm the sorest person in Austin tonight (it took me a full month to recover last year) and maybe my goals are ridiculous given my condition, but someday, hopefully when I'm super old and can barely walk (please God let me be super old when that happens) I'll be able to look back and know that I made the most of my body while it was young and healthy.  Because once upon a time I had to wheel myself to class in a wheelchair.  After that, a 12:30 mile is about as big a deal to you personally as landing on the moon...

Weekend Recap

Friday:  Went to HH with coworkers, then went over to a friend's house for more food and drinks.  Called it a night early while Darryl went to a fraternity alumni event downtown.

Saturday:  Worked on my garden some more.  I planted another bed of corn (the first bed is already sprouting, how exciting!) and planted some flower seeds in the other beds.  I'm planting lots of flowers all over to hopefully give me a good supply of cuttable flowers all summer.  I love fresh cut flowers, but they're too dang expensive!  We also built some mesh fences around the gardens.  Some of my corn failed to sprout and there was a lot of disturbance in the soil.  I suspect the terriers had a hand in stomping my little seedlings.  I'll give those areas another week before I replant.  Saturday night we went down to Cannoli Joe's (where I got a free t-shirt) to carb load before the Cap 10k.  It's not a very diet friendly place, but it sure it delicious!  I really enjoyed eating there with all our friends!

Sunday:  Christine and Parker picked Darryl and I up and dropped me at the starting line.  They cheered for me after the first mile and at the finish chute.  Those were really well chosen places because the first was just before the major hill climbing sequence that the race is so famous for and the second was after I had just hit the 6 mile mark and was starting my sprint to the finish line.  Lately my hip flexors have been killing me at the end of and after my runs (anyone got advice?) and this event was no exception.  But I managed to finish in 78 minutes and 21 seconds.  And I had a lot more energy throughout the race and my calf which ached for an entire month (I had surgery on it years ago) after last year's race isn't really sore at all.  So I would say that I finished the race with a faster time and a much better endurance than last year.  My goal is to shave a minute off my time each year :). 

After the race we went to Sagra and downed lots of mimosas and brunch. I came home, soaked my tired legs in a fantastic eucalyptis scented epsom salt bath that my friend Janet gave me for my birthday and relaxed.  Tonight Darryl came and helped me grocery shop (I feel good but am admittadly more sore, tired, cranky, than usual so having him help was great) and then we made dinner, whole wheat quinoa with asparagus and chicken sausage.  Now he's doing P90X, I'm eating Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia and considering if it's acceptable to chase it with a beer.  The diet of an elite athlete?  Not so much with the booze and the dairy, but I am going to enjoy the fruits of my labor today.  Then it's back in the saddle tomorrow.  Step one.  Get a bike.  It's triathalon season.

   

Weekend Recap

Friday
Headed over to Darryl's brother's house for a meal with the family.  The parents-in-law were there as well as some aunts so we had a nice little evening hanging out with everyone.

Saturday
Took both dogs to obedience training, grabbed some lunch with the hubs, ran errands, and had a fantastic legs work out at the gym.  Spent the evening playing poker at a friend's house.  I probably played the best game of my life, stayed in for about 3 hours and won some good hands with nice pots.  Alas, I went home with my wallet $10 lighter.

Sunday
Talked myself out of bed and onto the trail.  Ran a 5 mile loop, nearly perished in the wind tunnel that is the pedestrian bridge under Mopac.  My Nike+ chip said I ran 5.5, maybe some extra milage from me weaving around?  Hard to tell, probably could stand to re-calibrate the thing.  But it was my longest and fastest Cap 10k training run, so I was happy.  Met up with Darryl's family again for lunch at Hoover's (Hamsteak with Jezabel sauce, order it and thank me later).  The rest of Sunday was spent on yard work, grocery shopping, and resting my tired little legs!

Running Fail and Things to Put in Your iPod Whilst Tearing Holes in Your Feets

Tonight I did my 2.5 miles, I was staying loose, hanging tough, feeling good.  Like I could go all the way to 5k even though I wasn't planning to go that far and at a faster pace than usual.  Then around mile 1.75 I started feeling chafing in my left arch.  Since I was running on the treadmill and was too stupid, lazy, etc to stop and adjust my shoe, I got a nice blister right on my arch. 

I run with custom made orthotics and I think the one in my left shoe slipped forward, not sure what happened, same shoes and socks I've had for a year, same orthotics I've had for like 12 years.  So I called my friend Kristen who is the best runner I know for advice.  I think I'm going to stick to my training plan but hunt down some Spyroflex at REI before my next run scheduled on Friday.  Hopefully they have some, last time I went, they were out and I had to special order it from some backpacking shop in effing Utah.

So in case you were wondering what's blasting in my headphones while I rip my feet to shreds, here's my recent play list:

Major Tom-Shiny Toy Guns
Don't Stop Believing-Glee Soundtrack
Cappuccino-The Knux
Carry Out-Timbaland and Justin Timberlake
Hard-Rihanna
Evacuate the Dancefloor-Cascadia
Bulletproof-La Roux
Stronger-Kanye West
Crazy Bitch-Buckcherry
Wheels-Foo Fighters
Do You Remember-Jack Johnson

Try it out, I think you'll enjoy it!

The Rundown

So I finally did it on Monday, I signed up for the Statesman Capital 10K.  Time to get serious!  Here's my training plan for the week:

Tuesday: Upper Body Workout
Wednesday: Run 2.5 miles
Thursday: Body Pump
Friday: Early AM run before work, 2 miles
Saturday: Outdoor run, 5k

Apparently I already blew my rest days on Sunday and Monday.  Oh well, the runs are short, recovery will be easy, already restarted my glucosamine and flaxseed oil suppliments.  The key I find is very slowly working up my milage, otherwise my muscles and ligaments start to give me problems, setting back my training. 

I'm going to try and do 2 treadmill runs a week and one trail run on the weekend, keep up with my strength training on the 2 other days of the week allowing for one day of yoga and one day of total rest.  We'll see how this goes...

Run Austin Run!

I did Run Austin Run with Janet this past weekend and had a fabulous time. Janet was a great running/breakfast partner and I believe I posted my best time ever in a 5K.

See them here.

Weekend Recap

Friday I ran down to RunTex after a long day at the office to pick up Jill at Confessions of an Enginerd and my packets for the Keep Austin Weird 5K. I had a lengthy conversation about the guy there about a compression sleeve for my calf since it hurts so badly during and post run, mostly because I don't have a fibula. The dude looked pretty high. First he made me show me my scar, then he tried to convince me to get some knee high compression socks, then he saw that I was not giving into his sock idea, so he was like, "just go to Academy." Whatever. Later the hubs and I checked out a new car we're considering purchasing for me, it was shot down due to my hubbys hatred of black leather ::sigh::. Thus, car shopping was followed by a crankypants trip to Kerbey Lane where I had their yummy tomato pie and a glass of sangria.

(source: http://twitter.com/keepaustinwierd)

Saturday Jill and I did the run, in the freaking rain. If she hadn't been my partner in crime, there would be no way I would have gone, so I'm glad she was there. She recaps it nicely in her blog. Note that there are no photos of us because my hubs had FORBIDDEN me from taking my iPhone out in the rain. I, of course, defied that, but I put it in a case, inside an arm band, wrapped in a baggie, under a poncho. So getting it out to take a photo would have been quite a production.

Also Saturday, we visited with Darryl's parents and family to celebrate our nieces' birthdays with plenty of pizza, cupcakes and ice cream. Afterwards I went home and lay in bed for about 3 hours, I had been up since 6 AM an that was my first chance to relax since the race, on such a rainy day, it felt goooood. Met up with the hubs again for dinner at Trudy's.

Sunday was a whole lot of nothing, gym, grocery store, cooking, studying for my PG exam, etc. I love rainy fall weekends....And I'm looking forward to my next 5k. My goal is to run the whole dang thing without walking, hills and all.

Cap 10K Photos!

Since none of the SEVEN people waiting for me at the finish line saw me finish or took a photo, all I have is the pic above (FYI, race photo prices = highway robbery). For more pics go to this link. The finisher clock in the pics says 87.5 min, but I crossed the starting line after 2.5 min, just in case you thought I was fudging my time :).

Wooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I just met with my personal trainer tonight and she's awesome. I am already feeling sore. AND after my session I ran for 25 minutes without stopping, walked a bit and then ran for 5 more minutes. Then I walked some more, total distance put down, 5K. A personal best, in your face FAT! Celebrating with Godiva chocolates and red wine, because I have points left over. Also, I am officially ghetto. I had a pot full of used cooking oil I used to fry some tempura in on our sushi night and didn't know what to do with it. So I just found a discreet/already crappy looking portion of the front yard and dumped it there. Under the cover of darkness of course...

What the eff Joe's Jeans?

So I mail ordered some new Joe's Jeans, same style as before, same jean to spandex ratio. I opted to go one size larger, thinking they would be just a bit roomier than the ass tight previous pair I had. Inexplicably, the new larger pair could barely zip. And I would just like to point out that I am down 6 lbs (frustratingly, I have plateaued, but we will get it done, even if I have to do 2 hours of cardio a day). So I say, WTF? This is not the first pair of pants where I've experienced this phenomenon. Is it possible my pant stretched over the years? Tomorrow we go to Nordie's to make an exchange and then spend 2 hours in the gym trying to make those jeans too big some day soon. Ugh.

Tomorrow I do my second work out of Week 4 on the Couch to 5K plan. Next week I'll start eliminating the walking from my repitoire. And I've been thinking, this whole 5K program has been kind of a piece of cake. Granted I'm only half way through, but it makes me wonder if a 10k or perhaps a half marathon is in my future?

Dinner this Week and Running Update

This week I enter week 4 of the Couch to 5K running plan, almost half way through! I am not looking forward to my run later today, however. I am not feeling stellar and think a cold is on its way. Sore throat, headache, general mild body aches, and sinus pressure. I want to not run, but I also want to not lose my momentum, so I'm telling myself if I can just get my 3 runs in this week, I will give myself a free pass as far as the other exercise is concerned. In other news, I am rather excited about some of the meals I have planned this week.

Tonight:
Honey Balsamic Lamb Chops (holy hell lamb chops are expensive, if this goes well, this will be for special occasions only)
Cous Cous
Brocclini

Wednesday:
Pumpernickel Pastrami Panini with Rosemary-Ale Jus
Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic, Gorgonzola, and Herbs
Green Salad

Thursday:
Chicken Tostadas
Black Beans
Mexican Rice

I'm trying to stick to a healthy eating plan, my panini won't be the healthiest thing in the world, I know, but with portion control we should be okay. Darryl doesn't like pastrami so I'm going to make his with roast beef. I don't have a panini maker, so I was thinking of using my George Forman grill and just propping it up so it's level and the juices don't run out of the sammys, I think this might be genius, no?George Forman above, panini maker below.

Couch to 5k, I bid you adieu

Well, it looks like I've given up on running for a while. My ankle is still hurting and I did a little interweb diagnosing and I'm convinced it's a phase I posterior tibial tendon issue. My new insurance card is on the way, and I'm contemplating going to see a podiatrist when it comes in. I'm just dreading it because I've read with phase I you can be put in a cast for 6-8 weeks (which is still better than surgery in the later phases). While I am no stranger to being physically disabled, in fact, I am one of the most experienced people I know and it is technically a good time for me to be laid up, I am pretty gun shy about being wrapped in plaster any time soon. But I guess I should go get it sorted out so I'm out of the cast in time for my bachelorette party in early March. And hey, I've heard they just put some people in walking casts and such, that wouldn't be so bad at all.

Yes, the card will be in at the end of the week and by the weekend I'll be 2 weeks in pain despite a reduced exercise load. Ugh.

Owie Ow Ow!?!

I went for a run today and somehow managed to sprain my ankle? Who sprains their ankle and doesn't notice? I spent a good 2 hours at the gym today in the words of Fergie "workin' on my fitness". I started out with the last run of my Couch to 5K plan for week 3 (note that it is technically week 4 but I missed my last run last week for a variety of reasons I have not decided if I shall discuss in this forum, but those of you I know in real life know why). So I get off the treadmill and I notice my left ankle feels all weird and hurty. I stretched it a little bit, the one hour of weight training I did immediately following (yes, I find it easier to do cardio first, then weights, I am aware that I am a freak) strangely made it worse. It wasn't until I got home and took my sneakers off and felt how tender the inside of my ankle was until I realized what was going on here. My ankle is clearly rebelling against my plan to get a body like Madonna's by spending copious time in the gym and slowly starving myself at home (Note: I consider subsisting off of Lean Cuisines and fruit "starvation").

So runners, what do you do in this situation? I've got an ace bandage on it, taken the maximum recommended dosage of Advil and plan on icing it before bed while keeping it elevated whenever possible. I guess the plan for tomorrow is to try and catch a spin class in lieu of a run, give the ole dogs a break? Fricking, frick. Just when I was getting somewhere with the running....

Confession Monday

They say you have to really hit rock bottom before you start to climb your way back up to the top. Saturday, I found rock bottom. I went to Academy to get some running tights (my reward for being good and not shopping all month) and in the dressing room I finally came to terms with my non-washboard abs. It was ugly, I immediately spiraled into nail biting and nearly called Darryl crying and apologizing for letting myself go so badly. Seriously, I was like, how awful for him to have to see me naked.

Then, when I thought things couldn't get any worse we went to a bar near my house in Houston and just after we paid cover, the top button on my jeans popped off. Rock bottom.

So today I started my diet/exercise plan for the month of December. We are at DEFCON 1 people. In lieu of stating my actual weight on my blog, I have devised a system for you to follow my weight loss without giving TMI. Here is my scale, each letter represents a position in the tens place of my weight:

W-Oh shit, I'm fat.
X-I am not ghastly, but I am not happy with my physique.
Y-I am looking good.
Z-I am a skinny bitch.

Today the scale read 1W1. My goal by the end of December is to get to 1X8. Does that make sense? My goal for my wedding is to be at 1Z8, but that's a ways away. Has anyone tried Weight Watchers? What do you think?

Here is my plan:

• Gym every day to do a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio


• No fried foods


• No cream sauces


• No alcohol Sunday-Thursday, Fri and Sat will be wine only or perhaps a martini


• Avoid all things white like pastas, potatoes, etc.


• Log calories


• Cheat days due to holiday parties are Dec 11, 13, 20, and 24-26. Cheating will be confined to the actual parties, so no lunch binge outs.


• No holiday treats outside of holiday parties and 24-26.


• Final weigh in will be on NYE