onepinkfuzzy

Goodness gracious, me oh my.

Well, too many low-fat brownie sundaes over the past two weeks led to a god-awful gallbladder attack yesterday afternoon. I ended up going home from work early, and just curled up in bed, willing it to pass quickly. I took some Tylenol, and by the time we were due at Johnny's uncle's house for St. Pattie's Day dinner, I was okay enough to attend. I spent most of the evening curled up in a chair, playing with a new-born cousin from New York. Thankfully, Johnny's nana saved some boiled potatoes for me, so I was able to eat some (completely fat-free) dinner.

This was a good reminder that too much food, even low-fat food, is not healthy for me. I had been eating too much food these last two weeks, and most of it was borderline low-fat. I will be paying much closer attention these next few months, making sure that I eat mostly fat-free, with the occasional low-fat treat thrown in.

This weekend is our local outdoor recreation store's annual Spring Parking Lot Sale. It's gigantic. You have to drive blocks away to find a parking spot. The prices this year seemed higher than in years past, but I still found a good deal on...NEW RUNNING SHOES!!!!Montrail Hardrocks - I liked my Montrail Masais, but they didn't have enough support for my over-pronating feet (yet another word pre-fixed with over- to describe me...).

Of course, I had to take them out pronto. So I went for a 4.2 mile run (my longest in about a month, woo hoo!) to test them out. Here's how the run went:

Boy, it sure is cold in this wind! Whew, turned the corner, much better. Boy, it sure is hot with a tailwind! I feel springy, bouncy. This is fun! I can run! Whew, my heart rate seems to be skyrocketing in this heat. I want it to be cold again. Can't wait to turn around and hit the head wind. My feet are hot. But, wow, I am running! The front of my knees hurt. I need to run more. I want a Garmin, I want to keep track of my heart rate. Boy, I sure am pushing it, I should back off. My lower back feels funny. Oh! The pedestrian bridge. Wait, what's that sign? I'll catch my breath while I read it. They are closing another section of the river path for "improvements?" But I like running on dirt! Okay, let's keep going. Over the pedestrian bridge, and back west on the river path. Oohh, a head wind. Oh, I'm finally drying and cooling off. I wonder how the shoes will do on this gravel path? Man, that wind is strong. Wait, there's gravel under my feet? These shoes are so stable! But my left leg and lower back feel funny. Ooohhhh, because the shoe is pushing my body into alignment. Wow. Cool. Keep breathing, in two three four, out two three four. Good job. Why are there horses on the river path? Grr. They have the entire river bed to themselves! Great, this one's antsy. It better not run me over. Damn that head wind. I'm tired, I want to go home. No, Angie, you need to get used to running again. Plus, these shoes are too cool. Don't turn around early. Good job! Keep it up, honey, doesn't this feel great? Mmmm, shade from trees. Stretch it out. This is only four miles, you can do it. Oh, the horses finally made it into the wash. I want to gallop like that! Okay, let's do it! Whheee!!!! The zone. I am in the zone. Mmmmmm. In two three four, out two three four. Stand up straight, suck in your abs. I wonder what good form is? I wonder how bad my form is? Hey, my knee isn't hurting and I've gone longer than three miles! Okay, almost home. I know you are tired, you can have a cool-down once you hit the front of the apt complex. Yeah, that's it! Pick up your speed up this last hill, woo hoo!!! Hey, what a great adrenaline rush! Keep it up, whoo-eee! Nah, skip the cool down, go faster, faster, run all the way to the back, you can trust these shoes, yay! Whew. Made it home. Good job. Take a walk. Okay, now stretch.

I cannot wait to get these suckers out onto an actual trail. The stability was incredible. I felt like these shoes were actually holding my feet, keeping them where they needed to be. I felt like they were supporting my body, and that it was okay to run - I wasn't pounding my body into the pavement. I ran for 4.2 miles in 47:41 - 11:21-minute-miles, woo hoo!!! Okay, I know that's slow to most of you RBFers, but I've been running really slow this last month, so this was an awesome pace! I was running about a minute per mile faster during my training for Pemberton, and I want to get back to that. Today, I was still recovering from the gallbladder attack, and am so happy that I got out to run.

Tomorrow morning, I will either be doing a spinning class or taking these suckers out on the trail. I mean, really, is there a choice there?! I had been planning on the spinning class all week, but I have got to hit the trail. Then maybe I'll hit up the hot tub at the community center...mmm...hot tub....

Oh! Speaking of the community center, on Thursday night, Johnny took me to show me their fitness facilities. I'm not one for working on machines (although I do like the workout spinning gave me, it was a little disconcerting to be a hamster in a wheel). But they have these cool machines to specifically work your hip ab/adductors!!! They were awesome! And so much easier than what I was doing at home. I didn't have to worry about being coordinated :p. I also ran about 15 minutes on a treadmill. It was fine for about the first 5 minutes. Then it sucked. I'll probably use the recumbant bike machines and/or the ellipticals in the future. What a great resource for cross-training, I am so excited. Plus, they have Pilates classes that I can attend...