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November 17, 2005

Owwwwwww

My legs? Are still ridiculously sore. I planned on running yesterday, but never got around to it. My original plan was to run outside during my lunch hour (I work from home on Wednesdays, so going to the gym isn't especially practical), but I took one step out side, felt the cold and wind (40 mph gusts! single-degree wind chill!), and wussed out. I know I'll have to get used to that sort of weather someday, but not right now. (I normally don't mind cold, but when it goes from 60 to 20 over the course of 3 days? It's a little hard to adjust.) I figured I'd go to the gym after work, but wound up picking my boyfriend up from the train and then venturing with him to the north part of town looking for cross-training/walking-around-town shoes. (The shoes I'm wearing now are.... ancient. And starting to look it.) I could have gone after I dropped him off at the train station, but I'd just eaten and, well, by then it was Just Too Late.

Now? I'm wondering if even those 3 easy miles were such a good plan. Not only is my butt still sore, it almost feels worse. Going from standing to sitting (and vice versa) is harder than it should be, and I'm starting to feel like I'm walking funny. I was planning on hitting a spinning class tomorrow afternoon, but we'll see how I feel. I'm thinking that, aside from the sitting, the butt muscles aren't used too much in spinning, so I should be OK, right? However, I also don't want to wake up Saturday morning with rock-butt.

Now? I'm wondering if even those 3 easy miles were such a good plan. Not only is my butt still sore, it almost feels worse. I was planning on hitting a spinning class tomorrow afternoon, but we'll see how I feel. I'm thinking that, aside from the sitting, the butt muscles aren't used too much in spinning, so I should be OK, right? However, I also don't want to wake up Saturday morning with rock-butt.

The one good piece of news I got today is that despite my insanely sore tush, I'm not a total wuss. Why? Because I'm not the only one with this extreme soreness. Apparently, the instructor we had on Tuesday is not the regular instructor - the one we had today is. And she opened class by saying, "So, I hear some of you are still pretty sore from Tuesday's class," to which half the class said, "YES." While the extent of my soreness is likely due to first-timerness and overdoing it a bit, at least the regulars were also feeling pretty beat up after that workout as well.

Will I feel up to a "long" run (6-8 miles) on Saturday? We shall see.

Posted by Dawn at 03:51 PM | Comments (2)

November 16, 2005

Brilliant! Not Brilliant!

My brilliant plan to do a strength workout in the morning and then run in the evening yesterday? Turned out to not be so brilliant. By the time I left work (late... again...), my legs were starting to feel a little tight, and were definitely tired. Plus, my heart was so not into going to the gym. I'd had a long afternoon, and at that point just wanted to go home and curl up on the couch with the TiVo. But, I told myself I'd feel better if I went and ran, so I did.

Ugh. My legs were tired, so I had to slow down the pace a bit, but no matter how I tried, I just couldn't get into it. After 2 miles, I gave up. My legs might have had another 2 miles in them, but I just didn't care that deeply, and didn't see the sense in killing myself just to get them out. So I didn't. I did a lot of stretching (which felt really good, actually), then packed it up, went home, and got comfy on my couch.

It looks like as much as I want to resist it, I really am better off just getting up early and getting to the gym before work. The few times I've planned on going after work, I've had mixed results - if the afternoon goes well and I can leave on time? No problem. If I have a stressful afternoon and/or get stuck at work later than I'd like? I have trouble getting myself to to the gym, and then have trouble staying focused while I'm there. In the mornings, though? As long as I get out of bed on time, it's no problem. So, there you go.

With regards to my legs and how they're reacting to the beating they took yesterday... they're a little sore, but nothing dramatic. My butt has the worst of it - it feels like most of the muscles that are sore aren't my major "running" muscles. This is probably a good thing, since it means they're finally being worked. I wanted to do 6 miles today, and I think I should be able to. My only concern is I'm working at home today, so the plan is to run outside, and it's cold and windy. Ugh. But it's weather I'll have to get used to eventually, so I might as well start now.

Posted by Dawn at 08:37 AM | Comments (1)

November 15, 2005

Weekly Summary: 11/7 - 11/13

Monday: 1 hour workout with trainer. Kickboxing; upper and lower body strength exercises.
Tuesday: 3 miles on treadmill
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 3 miles on treadmill
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 6 miles outside
Sunday: Rest

Total: 12 miles

Plan for next week, 11/14 - 11/20:

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 4 miles; lower body workout
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: 4 miles; upper body workout
Friday: Spinning
Saturday: 8 miles
Sunday: Swim

Planned Total: 21 miles

Posted by Dawn at 01:30 PM

The New Stomping Grounds

Saturday was a big day for me. Not only was it my longest run, post-marathon (a whopping 6 miles!), but it was my first run outside after moving to the Big City. I only had to do a 3-mile out-and-back, but I live in a tiny neighborhood, and so I was surprised at just how far 3 miles would get me. Then again, maybe it's because I now live in a neighborhood where I can walk to a ton of different places within a half-mile, as opposed to the suburbs where a half-mile might get you to the next shopping center. Cities are much more compact.

Anyhow, after pondering the different ways I could go, I finally decided to head towards the lakefront. The gmap pedometer told me it was about 2.25 miles from my place, give or take. I wanted to confirm that, and also confirm that I actually could get to the path from 31st street like I thought. So, Saturday morning, I woke up, checked the weather, and then headed east.

The run itself started off unremarkably. I was trying to take it easy, but it just felt hard. I finally decided to use my old long run trick of stopping and stretching at the halfway point. I caught my breath, stretched out, and then stopped and looked around me. My 3-mile jog out had taken me onto the lakefront path, and about a half-mile south. The path isn't as crowded down there as it is on the north end of the city, and there are a lot less beaches, so it's just you, the grass, some trees, and the lake. It was a cool morning, and the sun was coming out. Looking south and east, it was Lake Michigan as far as the eye could see. Looking north, you could see the skyline of the city and Navy Pier. It was just beautiful. It hit me that I live here now, and these sorts of sights are going to be part of my regular run. Before, I only got to see them when I drove downtown to run on the lakefront as a treat to myself. Even then, I usually only ran on the northern part of the path, so I never saw the city from this angle.

When it was time to turn back down 31st and head home, I was a little sad. Until I had to wait for the traffic light on an overpass. I happened to look north, and, again, I had a stunning view of the city, just 4 miles directly south of downtown. The overpass was over train tracks, so there was nothing in the way between me and the buildings. I very seriously wished I had a camera, and I just may take one with me when I go out and run this weekend.

The run back home was much better than the run out - I was warmed up, I was feeling good, and before I knew it, I was back in Bridgeport. What I didn't notice on my way out was that as soon as I crossed over the Dan Ryan, it was immediately obvious I was back in my neighborhood. Bridgeport is very "neighborhoody" - it doesn't look so much like a city as, well, a neighborhood. After passing by a very "city" looking part of town, and then the ball park, the rows and rows of houses and stores were a sudden change in scenery.

For the last half-mile, I decided to mix it up a bit. I did short little intervals - sprint to the next lightpole, walk to the one after that, sprint, walk, etc, etc. Each sprint interval couldn't have been more than 5 or 10 seconds, but I was feeling it. (Probably because my recovery wasn't much more than 10 or 15 seconds, either.) I arrived home a little more than an hour after I left, ready to face another day of cleaning and unpacking.

Sunday was a day of recovery after celebrating a little too enthusiastically Saturday night (it was my neighbor's birthday party), and Monday is my scheduled Day of Rest. I toyed with the idea of going running, but just couldn't get myself motivated, so I let it go.

This morning was a "Rock Bottom" class at the gym. The idea was to get to the gym a little before 6, run my 4 miles, then do the class (lower-body strengthening/toning). Unfortunately, the train conspired against me, and I didn't have enough time before the class started. So, I spent 15 minutes walking on the treadmill, another 15 stretching, and then did the class. The instructor? Is Hard. Core. She's not messing around, and she isn't tolerating any wimpiness. I like it. Of course, the product of that is my butt now feels like jelly, and will probably be super-sore tomorrow. I am going back to the gym after work to get my run in, so I'm hoping that'll help things from getting too tight and sore. We shall see.

This is also the beginning of my Plan - there's a similar class for the upper body on Thursday mornings, so those days will be easy running days combined with whatever class is available. I think it's a good way for me to get some strength training in (since I'll never do it on my own). The down side is that I'll have to hit the gym twice on those days, since a girl can only get up so early. We'll see how it goes.... and if I can walk tomorrow.

Posted by Dawn at 10:56 AM | Comments (1)

November 10, 2005

Catching Up

Well, it's been a very slow couple of weeks around Ye Olde Running blog, hasn't it? A lot of that is because I just haven't been doing that much running, then you factor in the move this past weekend and... well, yeah. It's been a little busy.

However, just because I haven't been running a whole lot or posting, doesn't mean I'm just sitting on my butt and watching it grow! Well, maybe I'm doing a wee little bit of that, but not all the time. I've been rounding out my weeks with some cycling - on the days I don't run, I either hit the bike for 45 minutes or, if it works with my schedule, I take a spinning class. I prefer the spinning class, since I get a better workout and push myself a little harder. Plus, I don't have to think about anything - I've got someone telling me what to do, how hard to go, when to turn it up and when to turn it down. I went to a spinning class last Friday morning, and, unlike the last time I tried it, I took it easy on the resistance. I focused on getting a decent cardio workout, and taking it easy on the legs. While I didn't get as much of a workout as I probably could have, I still got my heartrate up, worked up a good sweat, and felt it in my legs here and there. I was a little achy the next day, but nothing major, so it was good.

And nothing follows up spinning like moving! Especially when one is moving into a 3rd floor walk-up, and gets to carry a lot of her (surprisingly heavy) stuff up to the 3rd floor. Wow. Also, I realized that while my legs were taking the abuse like champs, I have absolutely no upper body strength and/or staying power (my arms were "done" long before all of my stuff was in the apartment). Something to work on.

Sunday was a day of relative rest - there was the Ikea trip with walking and heavy lifting, but nothing major. Monday, though, was awesome. When I signed up with the gym, I got a free session with one of the trainers. We talked a bit about my goals, and what I'd been doing, and I said, "I've pretty much only been running for the past 8 months - I want to work on cross-training and maybe some strength training." To which he said, "Duh. You need variety!" So we made an appointment, and he promised to deliver an hour of ass-kicking variety.

Monday afternoon, I showed up at the gym, ready to go. We started off with some kickboxing - nothing fancy like Billy Blanks-esque moves or anything. We did a few sets of different kinds of kicks, then a few sets of different kinds of punches. The idea was to have some anaerobic work, and I think we accomplished that. Plus, it was way fun. He had these pads on his hands that I was punching and kicking, and they made a very satisfying noise on contact. It was pretty awesome.

From there, it was off to do some strength training. We didn't use any actual weights - it was all with resistance bands or body weight (i.e., squats and push-ups). Plus, they were all done on some sort of ball or BOSU, so there was a balance aspect involved. They were hard, but they were fun, mostly because they were different. However, the next day? Muscles in my abs I didn't even know I had hurt.

Then, we were done! As far as my arms and shoulders were concerned, I was spent. However, aerobically, I felt like I was just getting started, despite the fact that I was covered in sweat. When Brian, the trainer, informed me we'd been working for 53 minutes? I was shocked. It couldn't have been more than half an hour! 53 minutes? Really? Wow.

We ended with stretching, and, wow. The stretching alone would almost be worth the money it would cost me to work with him on a regular basis. I lied down on a table, and he moved my legs around, stretching out my legs and back and it was just fantastic. With a few exceptions (*ahem*hamstrings*ahem*), I'm fairly flexible, so it can be hard for me to get a really good stretch going by myself. However, when all I have to do is relax and someone else does the work? Wonderful. I haven't been that stretched out in years. If I had the extra money, I would almost pay him just to stretch me out like that once a week.

Overall, it was a good workout. He said I did pretty well for someone who hasn't really done anything besides running, and was definitely impressed by my kicking and punching ability. (So, if I ever wanted to kick someone's ass, I totally could. Or something.) Sadly, until I win the lotto, I'll have to settle for working out on my own. But it was good while it lasted.

Tuesday was a brief 3-mile run at the gym, and Wednesday involved more "lifting", as I assembled my new IKEA desk. Today and tomorrow will be 3-mile runs at the gym after work, and I'm going to try and get a 6-miler in over the weekend. That'll give me 15 for the week, which will be the most I've run since the marathon! We'll see how it goes.

Posted by Dawn at 03:46 PM | Comments (1)

November 08, 2005

Moving vs. Marathoning

This weekend, I moved. I decided to save a few dollars and just rent a truck, moving myself. Me, Tall Asian Man, my friend L and her husband were the moving crew. I didn't have much, but a lot of what I had was heavy. And I moved into a third floor walkup. It sucked, and by the end of the day, we were all wiped.

As TAM and I were walking to L's place for showers and dinner, he turned to me and said, "You know, as much as that sucked, I think running a marathon would have to be harder. Now I'm really impressed."

And, you know what? I had to agree with him, that hauling all my crap up to the third floor, while tiring, was nothing compared to my day in Detroit. He had a whole new appreciation for what I did that day, and, I must say, it felt good.

Posted by Dawn at 08:38 PM | Comments (2)

November 03, 2005

Random Observation

A year ago, googling my name would get you a few hits from my sorority's web page, a few from my site, and a bunch of miscellaneous stuff, most of which was regarding people that aren't me.

Yesterday, I googled myself to see what would pop up - the sorority web page is still the first thing listed, there's still the random court ruling that isn't me, but most of that miscellaneous stuff? Has been replaced by online race results.

On one hand, if someone that knew me in high school or college googled me to see what I've been up to lately, their first thought would be, "that must be a different Dawn." On the other, I think it's pretty darn cool. Even the internet thinks that I'm a Real Runner now.

Posted by Dawn at 04:18 PM | Comments (1)

Pace Goals

Today's plan was to run two miles. The tentative plan was to run outside before work, but when the alarm went off at 6:30, I said, "ugh", despite the fact that it was light out, and rolled over to go back to sleep until 7 or so.

When I woke up at 7, I realized something: it was light now. By the time my workday was over at 5, it would be dark. If I was going to run outside, it was now or never. I stopped my whining about how cold it was outside of my nice, warm, bed, and got my butt out there.

And you know what? I had a great run. Just two miles, around my neighborhood, nothing fancy. But I plowed through it in 19:30. 19:30! That's under 10:00/mile! It may not seem like much to a lot of people, but for me to run that fast after sitting on my behind for a week and a half... well, it's a lot. I was feeling a little out-of-shape while I was running, and now I see why. I was flying! I even managed to run the second mile faster than the first, despite the fact that I thought I slowed down. (I finished the first mile in 9:54, which means I did the second one in 9:36. Excellent!)

So this brings me to my new training goal: as I rebuild my mileage, I want to try to keep my pace at or under 10:00/mile. Right now, I'll just worry about runs of less than 5 miles, as I think I can do that without pushing myself too hard. I'm going to trust that, eventually, I'll see my pace for longer runs come down as well, but we'll get to that later.

Also, as hard as it was to get out of that warm, cozy bed and get out into the chilly morning air? It was worth it. I'm looking forward to Saturday, when I'll get to run for twice as long as I did today.

Posted by Dawn at 04:12 PM

November 01, 2005

I'm Back!

I went to the gym this morning to try that whole "running" thing again. The goal was 1.5 miles, but I was mentally prepared to scrap it and spend some quality time with the cool internet bikes if it was Not To Be.

Got there, got changed, got to the treadmill. 20 minutes, speed 6.0, incline 1.0, ready to rock and roll. And you know what? It was great. No problems, no issues, felt great.

I spent some extra time stretching out afterwards, paying extra attention to my ankles and knees. I could have run further, but I didn't. I'm excited to be getting back to running, but I want to make sure I take it easy and don't overdo it quite yet. (I'm using the recovery plan outlined in the November issue of Runner's World as a guide - this week's upper limit is 7.5 miles, as I'm still on Week 1 of that plan.)

Tomorrow is more biking, and then we'll go for 2 on Thursday.

Posted by Dawn at 02:41 PM