Two Days in a Row!

Wednesday I ran 4.5 miles when it was 22º but sunny outside. Thursday I ran 3.4 miles when it was considerably warmer (but cloudy. meh, it's winter). I met a friend at Winton Woods and we did the loop twice. I was surprised by how ok I felt! I've had no energy lately, feeling pretty bad after 10 minutes into any workout. So this was a very nice change. It's always good to start feeling like yourself again.


And now a little bit about the week:

Monday: swam 100 yards. Yes 100, and it wasn't really swimming. Hurt my back while sleeping and ended up having spasms. Went to an awesome massage therapist and it's on the mend.

Tuesday: no spinning because school was cancelled (and therefor the classes at the Comm Center). Plus, my back. I did hop on the trainer for 40 minutes though. That was all my back could take. Also, it was so cold (50º in the garage) that I brought everything into the living room because I hate the cold!

Wednesday: couldn't take it in the house anymore, so I got outside with my balaclava and ran 4.5 slow miles. It was 22º which is way warmer than it's been and tolerable, but I was definitely getting cold by the end. I could have stayed in the hot shower for an hour.

Thursday: ran 3.4 miles at Winton Woods. It went surprisingly well. I could breathe ok too. Last run at WW was very bad.

Friday- today!  I'm planning to swim today. I have pretty high hopes that my back will be fine. It's still sore, but there is no more tweaky jerks when moving into a certain position. Maybe now I'm at the point where the swim will help loosen me up.

Saturday: I will be playing two broomball games - our team and subbing for another team. And I think it's going to be pretty slick since it has gotten warmer and there may be rain. Ug.

Sunday: Indoor triathlon!!!!!! Looking at it as a kick-off workout to the season. I'm in terrible shape but whatever. Here goes nothing.


And smoothies. I've been making smoothies. So far banana peanut butter with some chocolate powder is my go-to one. I should experiment more though and try some new ones. I'd like to be able to recreate Bolthouse Farms mocha one. Yum....

Here's one I tried with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, yogurt, and....chocolate powder. Because I have to have chocolate powder in everything.

It's Been Cold

Alright. Back to things. January has been cold. I am always cold except when I'm 1) in the shower, 2) sleeping, or (godforbid) 3) running on the indoor track at the Community Center.

I've been getting back to swimming pretty well, except for this week because I hurt my back. Some time in the middle of the night on Sunday, I moved and tweaked a muscle. It got worse and worse and eventually started to spasm. Luckily, having been through this before, I called a massage center and got a quick deep tissue massage that helped. It's still sore in certain positions, but no spasming. Maybe I'm chronically dehydrated and that's why this keeps happening.

Anyway, biking has been rough. Three spinning classes have been cancelled now because of the weather. And running has been not often enough. But I'm working on changing all of this.

This Sunday I'm doing a mini indoor triathlon. I'll swim for 10 minutes as far as I can, bike for 20 minutes as far as I can and run for 15 minutes as far as I can. Not sure about the details of it all yet. I am not expecting anything stellar from a performance outlook. I'm playing two broomball games on Saturday and I still have the hurt back and haven't swam this week at all. Buuuuuut it will at least be a good workout! Maybe I'll look at it as a short suffer fest to start off some great training.

I am so tired of being inside, so today I got out. I'm sure it's not healthy for me to run when it's 1 or -5 outside, but today it got to a balmy 22º and it was sunny. So I found my balaclava and went for 4.5 blissful cold miles. The sky was really blue.

Here's to a warmer February.

First Swim of the New Year! Finally!

It's been stupid cold here in Cincinnati. Negative temperatures for highs kind of cold. Kids were supposed to go back to school on Monday but didn't until today (Wednesday) due to the cold.

So far all we suffered was a frozen drain trap from the bathtub. Hot water fixed it after a morning of boiling water, pouring it into the drain and then syphoning it out of the drain so new hot water could be poured in again.

I had the best intentions to "get back to it" on Monday, looking forward to a regular schedule again. I had no idea I was such a schedule-needer. But I didn't even leave the house Monday. (!)  I developed a bad case of F It It's Too Cold To Do Anything. I had intentions of riding my bike, but dinner and motivation got in the way of that.

Then Tuesday, the Community Center was closed. I had my bag packed for running and swimming, but saw the message right before I left the house. And no. I'm just not hard core enough to run outside when it's -7º. Actually I fear my lungs would crack and break.

But today....TODAY I WENT TO THE GYM!!!!! Finally. Now that I'm officially back into it (because, yes, one day makes me officially back into it) there won't be anymore excuses.

I swam. I knew it would be terrible (I haven't swam since December 11th) but you gotta start somewhere. Technique-wise I was better than I thought I'd be. I had the same times, I just couldn't go far without needing to rest, chest heaving, out of breath. I only did 1100 yards, with probably 450 of that kicking. But hey, my shoulders are achy, so it's ok. It was a start and a pretty good workout.

Tonight I'm going to go for a run at French Park with R. I have this "resolution" of sorts to run in every Cincinnati area park this year...and write about it, of course, here. Maybe I'll come up with some sort of rating scale or something. I'd like there to be some kind of consistency to what I write about them...maybe the terrain, the miles, the scenery, stuff like that. Saturday we ran at Sharon Woods, which I've ran at countless times. French Park will be new.

Yay training! I feel so happy and myself again. I've had a ton of energy this morning that I've been using to work at breakneck speed.

Happy New Year

I am watching the Bengals in playoff game number 1 and hoping for a win! While watching some pretty awesome plays, I was again awestruck by the example of football players' athleticism. Say what you want about their pampered lifestyles, criminal records, etc – I probably won't argue any of that. But when they're on the field playing, it's a reminder of how amazing bodies can be. And that got me thinking about my plans for the year and how I hope to experience some amazingness from my body as well.

The holidays and some crazy crazy work projects with crazier deadlines were pretty rough on the training schedule. After the Jingle Bell run on my birthday (which was cold, wet but fun), I only ran sporadically. The last day I've swam was December 11th. So it hasn't been a month yet, but wow. It's ok though - now things are going back to routines of work and also working out. I love the new year and planning!

Here are some highlights of the past month and what's to come.

1. Dec 14th Jingle Bell Run. Me, Greg, Casey and Richard ran the race. It was a cold wet morning, but it was still pretty fun. I didn't do nearly as well as I had been running about a month before...but that's because my running was already dwindling some. I managed a 9:36 pace and it was difficult. Meh. Since then, it's been sporadic runs outside.

2. Signed up for an indoor triathlon. The Mason Community Center is hosting an indoor triathlon on Feb 2nd. It's a goofy sounding kind of thing, but I think it will be fun and it has certainly motivated me. I signed up for a 10:15 time slot. I will swim as far as I can for 10 minutes. Then, I have 8 minutes to change clothes and get to what I guess is a spinning bike somewhere. I ride as far as I can for 20 minutes. Then I run as far as I can on a treadmill for 15 minutes. Sounds like a good time!

3. Strength. I'm doing planks a bunch now. Only 30 seconds at a time, but my shoulders have been very tweaky and sore, so it's enough. I'm also planning to do weights 2 - 3 times a week at the gym for a while. I need power/strength.

4. Swimming starts again Monday! I may take lessons in February or March. But for now I'm going to just get back into the water and try to get some swimming fitness back (the little I had).


I think that's it for now. Goals are simple. Get in real shape and enjoy the year.