I did four miles indoors at the track yesterday afternoon. It was nice, though the last mile was a fight (to try and make it more interesting I went from counting up to counting down and was sort of chanting by the end "one to go! one to go! one to go!" Its hard to go in circles for that long, really. It does a number on your mind after a while).
When I got home I dutifully put my miles on the calendar I keep for that purpose in my room, and added the two miles from Sunday as well as I'd forgotten to do it then. The I added up the miles for each week of the month and then in total, and its pathetic. I have yet to hit the magical threshold of 10 miles a week and as a result my month is pretty lackluster. As of right now I am 1/2 mile behind last month. Gah. But today is the last day of the month, so if I get in a couple of miles this afternoon (which, until I looked at the calendar, I hadn't planned on, since I ran yesterday and I've been giving myself a one-day buffer between runs) then I can still beat the mileage from last month. So thats the plan as it stands right now, to try and do 2 miles and just barely squeak(1.5 + hahaha) out last month's mileage total.
Here's to March going way better, running wise!
28 February 2007
26 February 2007
now in technicolor
Have not written in awhile due to a week long battle with a sinus infection (which I mistakenly called a nasal infection at every given opportunity, causing many a confused glance). Not something I would recommend to anyone.
I managed to go running on Sunday though, in the out of doors and everything, with the ever illustrious JLB. He just got new running shoes (at the fantastic Running Company, always a good place to go with running questions and concerns) and would not take no for an answer, so we went for a nice mild 2 miler through the warm and uncrowded streets of Portland. It was really nice, and I am jazzed to get back into it this week.
I have an odd almost strain-like pain in the back of my left knee. I am sort of half wondering if it is from the little lift I've been wearing in my left shoe since this fall, if it is possible that that is causing some sort of excess pressure on the knee joint. But it doesn't hurt so much as ache as though I haven't stretched properly, even though I have.
And its Lent! Those who are unfamiliar, its this freaky little Catholic thing, where crazy little catholic types do something particular to mark the time between the day Jesus (allegedly) died and the day Jesus (allegedly) rose again. It is a good time, really. I was never much for it as a kid (the usual things to give up around my house then were candy and snacking between meals, pretty boring really) but as an adult it is a little different, sort of a strings-free time to try something new or give yourself a little much needed discipline boost.
I've gone Vegan for lent this year, more because I have been toying with it for over a year now, going dairy-free one day a week or trying to have a Vegan meal once a day, things like that, and the lure of cheese is generally too strong to do much more. I will admit I am being "sunshine catholic" about it and allowing myself Sundays as a sort of "break", but so far its not so bad--really not difficult and it feels nothing like deprivation. I'm actually enjoying it a lot. I has just given me a new frame to look at food through, which takes a little more creativity, given the unfamiliar territory--but a little extra creativity is not a bad thing, if you ask me!
I managed to go running on Sunday though, in the out of doors and everything, with the ever illustrious JLB. He just got new running shoes (at the fantastic Running Company, always a good place to go with running questions and concerns) and would not take no for an answer, so we went for a nice mild 2 miler through the warm and uncrowded streets of Portland. It was really nice, and I am jazzed to get back into it this week.
I have an odd almost strain-like pain in the back of my left knee. I am sort of half wondering if it is from the little lift I've been wearing in my left shoe since this fall, if it is possible that that is causing some sort of excess pressure on the knee joint. But it doesn't hurt so much as ache as though I haven't stretched properly, even though I have.
And its Lent! Those who are unfamiliar, its this freaky little Catholic thing, where crazy little catholic types do something particular to mark the time between the day Jesus (allegedly) died and the day Jesus (allegedly) rose again. It is a good time, really. I was never much for it as a kid (the usual things to give up around my house then were candy and snacking between meals, pretty boring really) but as an adult it is a little different, sort of a strings-free time to try something new or give yourself a little much needed discipline boost.
I've gone Vegan for lent this year, more because I have been toying with it for over a year now, going dairy-free one day a week or trying to have a Vegan meal once a day, things like that, and the lure of cheese is generally too strong to do much more. I will admit I am being "sunshine catholic" about it and allowing myself Sundays as a sort of "break", but so far its not so bad--really not difficult and it feels nothing like deprivation. I'm actually enjoying it a lot. I has just given me a new frame to look at food through, which takes a little more creativity, given the unfamiliar territory--but a little extra creativity is not a bad thing, if you ask me!
12 February 2007
windmill windmill fall apart
I am apparently having a problem with commitment: I think, at the beginning of each week that I am going to break the 10-mile a week mark (it is a pathetically low bar I have set for myself, and still I fall short. Damn it). Again this past week, things were looking good: I was one 4-mile run away from hitting the mark. But then the weekend hit, and with it all of the unforeseen complications that weekends bring: my sister's car went on the fritz, and she had a friend (a long-staying house guest of ours actually) to get to the airport in Boston(and we do not want her to miss her flight and be stranded on our couch forever. No no no), so then I am without a car (which, you would think, would lead to running, but no: in my head it was too cold outside for that, and only the gym would do--but it was too far away without a car: pathetic, I tell you). And there are also events: $1 beer night was Friday, so there was a great deal of fuss surrounding that--early evening drinking (it starts at 5:09! get there early!) and then the happy friendliness of sweet beer (5 and a half! a new record for me!) caused me to invite all these swell people back to my house, where there was much carrying on and some eating and more beers were drunk (though not by me, actually I was too busy talking I guess) and late night fun was had by all. On Saturday I got up and realized what a royal mess my house was, and how it had been that way even before there had been people drinking beer in it. Rather unfortunate, honestly (and it doesn't help when JLB, who you're making breakfast with, punctuates every movement of spatula or spoon with "its just so dirty. How does your house get so dirty?" Thanks guy, really, thanks) So I spent Saturday avoiding the interior of my house(Ice skating! is there anything better?), and then Sunday I gave in and cleaned it up. On Sunday the cleaning was what I did while I told myself I should be out running. So thats how this all relates, if you're wondering. So here we are again, at the beginning of a new week, with the hope that we make it to ten this time. Really what I need is some more mileage in a single run. That would make things so much easier.
06 February 2007
helping the helpless
None of us ever want any help. Am I right?
In my experience, it is a difficult thing to ask for help, and help that is offered without asking is , well, asking to be drop-kicked into next week. I Am Doing Just Fine, Thanks. Thats all you need to know.
That being said, it is hard to be on the other side of the coin. To see someone that you know and like struggling with something, to worry for them and want to offer the advice you personally would never take.
Life is such a funny thing, isn't it?
I had a nice time yesterday, did a good three miles going around in circles in the upper reaches of the gym. It is fun to be there, sometimes. Looking down on the Lacrosse practice is very amusing (they do such weird things to get in shape for lacrosse: lots of shimmy-shimmy movements and grape-vine type things: all in unison, about 40 people all shimmy-shimmy grapevine! stop then shimmy-shimmy the other way. With sticks, and wearing helmets. It is like watching the cast of West Side Story getting ready to do battle with Braveheart or something. Awesome) while listening to Aimee Mann sing softly as I pound around in my little circle.
In my experience, it is a difficult thing to ask for help, and help that is offered without asking is , well, asking to be drop-kicked into next week. I Am Doing Just Fine, Thanks. Thats all you need to know.
That being said, it is hard to be on the other side of the coin. To see someone that you know and like struggling with something, to worry for them and want to offer the advice you personally would never take.
Life is such a funny thing, isn't it?
I had a nice time yesterday, did a good three miles going around in circles in the upper reaches of the gym. It is fun to be there, sometimes. Looking down on the Lacrosse practice is very amusing (they do such weird things to get in shape for lacrosse: lots of shimmy-shimmy movements and grape-vine type things: all in unison, about 40 people all shimmy-shimmy grapevine! stop then shimmy-shimmy the other way. With sticks, and wearing helmets. It is like watching the cast of West Side Story getting ready to do battle with Braveheart or something. Awesome) while listening to Aimee Mann sing softly as I pound around in my little circle.
05 February 2007
roller skate jams
Had a very lazy layabout weekend. It was super nice. Lots of hanging out with the cats and reading and some pleasantly low key hanging out with friends in the evening.
I did an approximate 4-miler on Saturday, in the out-of-doors, although it had snowed all night on Friday and as a result I ran on the roads and probably pissed off a lot of passing motorists. But, sorry folks. You are more than welcome to go slowly but surely around me, but I am not risking my ankles on snow-covered ice and buried side walks. Not happening.
It is different, when you're out on the edge of a country road (which doesn't have a sidewalk to begin with). Plows seem to make some sort of allowance out there: typically the banking is several feet from the edge of the road unless there is a gully or something, so in the winter there is plenty of space for running in the breakdown lane.
In town (or "city" if you will) the plows stick pretty close to the traffic lanes, to avoid the little hump of asphalt that signals sidewalk I think (I would have to imagine that would do a pretty decent job on a plow blade, were the two to meet unexpectedly). So the traffic lanes are narrower because of the bounds of snow, and very often (at least in my town) the sidewalks are inconsistently cleared, if at all. So the run becomes something of a battle, against the snow, and the cars and the elements in general. But its still better than a treadmill.
Speaking of, I am going into the gym today, to the indoor track again I think. I really really want to be upping my mileage. a 4 miler is a good way to kick the month off I think, but I need to be pushing it up and out. I would like to get back into the habit of 6, 7, 8 miles being the "default" length of a run, rather than the piddly 2 and 3 mile "speed" sessions I keep doing lately.
Its the beginning of a plan, anyway.
I did an approximate 4-miler on Saturday, in the out-of-doors, although it had snowed all night on Friday and as a result I ran on the roads and probably pissed off a lot of passing motorists. But, sorry folks. You are more than welcome to go slowly but surely around me, but I am not risking my ankles on snow-covered ice and buried side walks. Not happening.
It is different, when you're out on the edge of a country road (which doesn't have a sidewalk to begin with). Plows seem to make some sort of allowance out there: typically the banking is several feet from the edge of the road unless there is a gully or something, so in the winter there is plenty of space for running in the breakdown lane.
In town (or "city" if you will) the plows stick pretty close to the traffic lanes, to avoid the little hump of asphalt that signals sidewalk I think (I would have to imagine that would do a pretty decent job on a plow blade, were the two to meet unexpectedly). So the traffic lanes are narrower because of the bounds of snow, and very often (at least in my town) the sidewalks are inconsistently cleared, if at all. So the run becomes something of a battle, against the snow, and the cars and the elements in general. But its still better than a treadmill.
Speaking of, I am going into the gym today, to the indoor track again I think. I really really want to be upping my mileage. a 4 miler is a good way to kick the month off I think, but I need to be pushing it up and out. I would like to get back into the habit of 6, 7, 8 miles being the "default" length of a run, rather than the piddly 2 and 3 mile "speed" sessions I keep doing lately.
Its the beginning of a plan, anyway.
02 February 2007
one bad mother!
My two miler yesterday (I know, it was supposed to be three. Didn't happen.) was filled with etiquette questions. Some running related, track usage related and others more general in nature.
1. When running on a track, is it polite or impolite to let someone know you are going to pass close to them? As in saying "on your left" as we did in 2-track skiing in high school, so that you wouldn't accidentally pole someone in the face or something.
I am ambivalent about this. Part of me is like "Yes! I want to know, so that if I need to I can move over" and the other part of me feels like "The asshole is passing me! And being all smug about it! Jerk! Jerky jerk jerk!"
2. When you are walking (or doing lunges, say, with two of your least athletic girl friends) on the track, does it ever occur to you that other people, who were using the track before you got there, might become annoyed by your presence in the middle of the track, or spread completely across the track so that weaving through your group becomes a necessary navigation procedure?
I would think that someone might realize that they do not have a claim to the entire width of the track, and that really things like lunges should perhaps be done in single-file, especially around narrowing parts like corners. And walkers? At my Alma Mater The indoor track at the field house had a sign by the entrance that said "walkers inside lane, runners outside lane" and that was how it was. But this track doesn't have two lanes. Its not divided up at all. And the only sign by the door tells you how many laps it takes to equal a mile. So its a little more free-for-all anarchy in sports action than I am used to.
3. If you are a guest at a person's house, do you spread your shit all over the living room and act like it is your personal bedroom if you're staying for a week? And do you never, ever pick anything up (as in plates glasses cutlery after someone has fed you dinner, or putting away food after you've made a meal out of someone else's fridge) ?
The answer it turns out(if you are the girl from Texas who came to visit my sister this week) is no, you don't pick up anything, and yes, you do move into the living room, appropriate the couch (only comfortable piece of furniture in the room) open your luggage and spread the insides about wildly, and then decline offers to leave the room, preferring instead to sit on the couch with your laptop and IM people. Its been going on for a week now, and I am fairly outraged. I think if you're imposing upon another person to feed and house you for a week or more then it is only right that you pick up after yourself, or offer to help occasionally with... something...anything, really. Seriously.
1. When running on a track, is it polite or impolite to let someone know you are going to pass close to them? As in saying "on your left" as we did in 2-track skiing in high school, so that you wouldn't accidentally pole someone in the face or something.
I am ambivalent about this. Part of me is like "Yes! I want to know, so that if I need to I can move over" and the other part of me feels like "The asshole is passing me! And being all smug about it! Jerk! Jerky jerk jerk!"
2. When you are walking (or doing lunges, say, with two of your least athletic girl friends) on the track, does it ever occur to you that other people, who were using the track before you got there, might become annoyed by your presence in the middle of the track, or spread completely across the track so that weaving through your group becomes a necessary navigation procedure?
I would think that someone might realize that they do not have a claim to the entire width of the track, and that really things like lunges should perhaps be done in single-file, especially around narrowing parts like corners. And walkers? At my Alma Mater The indoor track at the field house had a sign by the entrance that said "walkers inside lane, runners outside lane" and that was how it was. But this track doesn't have two lanes. Its not divided up at all. And the only sign by the door tells you how many laps it takes to equal a mile. So its a little more free-for-all anarchy in sports action than I am used to.
3. If you are a guest at a person's house, do you spread your shit all over the living room and act like it is your personal bedroom if you're staying for a week? And do you never, ever pick anything up (as in plates glasses cutlery after someone has fed you dinner, or putting away food after you've made a meal out of someone else's fridge) ?
The answer it turns out(if you are the girl from Texas who came to visit my sister this week) is no, you don't pick up anything, and yes, you do move into the living room, appropriate the couch (only comfortable piece of furniture in the room) open your luggage and spread the insides about wildly, and then decline offers to leave the room, preferring instead to sit on the couch with your laptop and IM people. Its been going on for a week now, and I am fairly outraged. I think if you're imposing upon another person to feed and house you for a week or more then it is only right that you pick up after yourself, or offer to help occasionally with... something...anything, really. Seriously.
01 February 2007
exercize the guilt
A long time ago, we used to be friends, but lately we have been strangers. And I was a total ass, I'm willing to admit. I know nothing and shouldn't have offered opinions the way I did. Sorry.
Thats just a dry run folks, I am actually going to say that to the person. Never fear, I will not deepen my offence by apologising anonymously online and calling it good. I may be an ass, but I'm not that big an ass.
Didn't make it running yesterday,on account of laziness and knitting (rocked a nice little hat out though, the roll-top one from knitting for peace. Pretty pretty for my little sister for V-day) But today will be better. I'm hoping for some length on this one, but running in circles (or on treadmills) is something I can only do for so long. So it remains to be seen, what will get called "length" today.
Thats just a dry run folks, I am actually going to say that to the person. Never fear, I will not deepen my offence by apologising anonymously online and calling it good. I may be an ass, but I'm not that big an ass.
Didn't make it running yesterday,on account of laziness and knitting (rocked a nice little hat out though, the roll-top one from knitting for peace. Pretty pretty for my little sister for V-day) But today will be better. I'm hoping for some length on this one, but running in circles (or on treadmills) is something I can only do for so long. So it remains to be seen, what will get called "length" today.