... for the Alexandria Running Festival Half Marathon on May 29. Woo hoo! Only $55, they donate to local charities, and I am confident I have enough time to train and do fairly well.
Bring it on.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
You may have noticed a lack of reported workouts this week
That's because I managed to injure myself. Grrrr.
See where it says Weights under 4/11/2011? Yeah, apparently I thought it would be a brilliant idea to completely and totally overdo the chin-ups on Monday. I used the assisted dip/pull-up machine -- the one that has the pad you kneel on and then do either dips or pull-ups/chin-ups. You know which one I mean?
It's the only machine in the gym with an inverse weight ratio -- the less weight you select, the harder it is. That's because the weight represents how much of your body weight you are subtracting (or asking the machine to do for you).
The last few times I've done dips on that machine, I've put the pin at 50 (so I'm dipping 100 pounds). I thought it would be a good idea to do 70 for some chin-ups... so 80 pounds for me to hoist up. The first set went pretty well; I cranked out 10 reps and slowed down toward the end, so that was perfect. The second set, I managed only 8. And they were a tough 8. So I told myself to just do 7 in the third set so I'd end up with a pretty number of 25 total reps. Well, I did one better than that and again did 8 reps, but they were brutal.
But not as brutal as the pain I have caused since.
Holy. Hell.
My lats are so sore that it hurts when my clothes touch them. I can't reach over my head or forward. Try getting dressed or even putting on a raincoat under those circumstances. Yeah, not easy. Taking a deep breath hurts, as does leaning back on anything (even pillows). I can't straighten my arms all the way, particularly my left arm. By the end of the day yesterday, my left arm was bent at 90 degrees. I looked like I was wearing an invisible sling. Today I can straighten it about 75% of the way. Progress! D and I think I may have strained a ligament on the inside of my elbow.
But my back. Oh my goodness, my back!
Needless to say, I haven't done anything remotely resembling exercise since Monday night. You cannot imagine how much that pisses me off.
In other news, the playoffs may have started last night, technically speaking... but the real excitement begins tonight. GO FLYERS!
See where it says Weights under 4/11/2011? Yeah, apparently I thought it would be a brilliant idea to completely and totally overdo the chin-ups on Monday. I used the assisted dip/pull-up machine -- the one that has the pad you kneel on and then do either dips or pull-ups/chin-ups. You know which one I mean?
It's the only machine in the gym with an inverse weight ratio -- the less weight you select, the harder it is. That's because the weight represents how much of your body weight you are subtracting (or asking the machine to do for you).
The last few times I've done dips on that machine, I've put the pin at 50 (so I'm dipping 100 pounds). I thought it would be a good idea to do 70 for some chin-ups... so 80 pounds for me to hoist up. The first set went pretty well; I cranked out 10 reps and slowed down toward the end, so that was perfect. The second set, I managed only 8. And they were a tough 8. So I told myself to just do 7 in the third set so I'd end up with a pretty number of 25 total reps. Well, I did one better than that and again did 8 reps, but they were brutal.
But not as brutal as the pain I have caused since.
Holy. Hell.
My lats are so sore that it hurts when my clothes touch them. I can't reach over my head or forward. Try getting dressed or even putting on a raincoat under those circumstances. Yeah, not easy. Taking a deep breath hurts, as does leaning back on anything (even pillows). I can't straighten my arms all the way, particularly my left arm. By the end of the day yesterday, my left arm was bent at 90 degrees. I looked like I was wearing an invisible sling. Today I can straighten it about 75% of the way. Progress! D and I think I may have strained a ligament on the inside of my elbow.
But my back. Oh my goodness, my back!
Needless to say, I haven't done anything remotely resembling exercise since Monday night. You cannot imagine how much that pisses me off.
In other news, the playoffs may have started last night, technically speaking... but the real excitement begins tonight. GO FLYERS!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Catching up
Earlier this year I vowed to use this blog to hold myself accountable for my weight loss efforts. For a few weeks, I was good about posting my successes (or lack thereof), but when the scale totally got stuck I stopped posting. No need to repeat the same post week after week, right?
Well, the scale is still pretty much stuck. Inexplicably, I gained four pounds one week (huh????) and have been steadily losing a pound a week ever since, bringing me back to my starting weight.
At nearly 5'10" and 150 pounds, I know I don't need to lose a great deal of weight. I'm lucky; I'm tall and muscular, and I can carry a few extra lbs without too much trouble. The thing is, I really want to lose weight. Three summers ago I was 137. Was that too thin? Probably. Do I want to weigh that little again? Sort of... but not really. I mean, I had NO butt or boobs when I weighed that little. Seriously. They disappeared.
What I'd like is to keep my curves and get down to the low- to mid-140s -- and stay there.
Getting there isn't the hard part. Staying there is.
Anyone else on this journey with me?
Well, the scale is still pretty much stuck. Inexplicably, I gained four pounds one week (huh????) and have been steadily losing a pound a week ever since, bringing me back to my starting weight.
At nearly 5'10" and 150 pounds, I know I don't need to lose a great deal of weight. I'm lucky; I'm tall and muscular, and I can carry a few extra lbs without too much trouble. The thing is, I really want to lose weight. Three summers ago I was 137. Was that too thin? Probably. Do I want to weigh that little again? Sort of... but not really. I mean, I had NO butt or boobs when I weighed that little. Seriously. They disappeared.
What I'd like is to keep my curves and get down to the low- to mid-140s -- and stay there.
Getting there isn't the hard part. Staying there is.
Anyone else on this journey with me?
Monday, April 11, 2011
This is what happens after pretty much every bike ride
That is my right calf after yesterday's bike ride. What was funny was that I was wearing my awesome tattoo arm warmers, courtesy of SauconRunner. They make my arms look like I have full sleeve tattoos. For the record, I have none. Anyway, toward the end of the ride, my training partner M was behind me (a rarity, believe me! she's so strong) and said, "I like your tattoo!" Thinking she was making a joke about my arm warmers, I asked, "Which one?" She replied, "The one on your leg!" When I saw the chain imprint on my calf, I cracked up.
Seriously, though, how does this happen every time? I end up with grease all over my legs after a ride (not always in the awesome imprint of the bike chain, though... that was a first!). I'm guessing that I lean into my bike, or lean my bike into my leg, when I clip out at red lights or something? I always clip out with my right foot, and this is my right calf... and the chain is on the right.... Maybe I lean into the chain without realizing it?
Oh well, at least I know my chain is well lubricated! :)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
How about that? A setback gave me the motivation I was lacking.
For a few weeks I've been toying with the idea of doing a half marathon on May 15. I haven't done one since November 2009, and I'm due for a new PR (in anything, frankly, but the half marathon is one I think I can accomplish with relative ease). Toward the end of last week I realized I was coming up on the deadline for reduced registration fee, so I went to the website to sign up.
The race is sold out.
A few days earlier, a friend from my outdoor boot camp class had told me that one of the women who comes to class sporadically (once it got cold we stopped seeing her, but I expect her to return any week now) wanted to sell her bib for the Broad Street Run. While the prospect of running with 30,000 of my closest friends didn't exactly thrill me, I thought the popular 10-miler would be a good second choice.
Until my mother informed me that we have a one-year memorial service the same morning for my aunt who passed away last year.
OK, onto Plan C! There's an adventure race (mud, obstacles, etc.) in late April that I'd thought about doing, but with the half marathon looming -- or so I thought -- I didn't want to risk injury and therefore didn't sign up. So I went to that website to sign up. $50 for 600 yards of running with 12 obstacles? 600 yards? I can do basically the same workout -- with A LOT more running -- in my own classes. That seemed a bit steep, so I didn't register.
Plan D -- an early season sprint triathlon! There's one nearby in a few weeks that is 450 meters in a heated outdoor pool, 10 mile bike, 5K run. Perfect. Until I filled out the registration form on Friday and saw that it was $91 when you add in processing fees and etc. $91 for a SPRINT tri? In a POOL? That will take me about 1:15 or less to complete? You've gotta be kidding me.
But here's the good news. (Yes, there is a point to this post.) Instead of being down about all of this and worrying about floundering without a schedule or goal, I had one of the best treadmill runs of my life Friday after work. And a kickass workout in my bike trainer class Saturday. And 9.5 hilly miles with two friends who are much faster than me on Sunday.
Those workouts were wonderful. Outstanding. Fantabulous. Just what I needed to kick my own butt. Just what I needed to remind myself that racing is not the end all, be all. Sometimes working out just for the sake of working out is what you need after all.
The race is sold out.
A few days earlier, a friend from my outdoor boot camp class had told me that one of the women who comes to class sporadically (once it got cold we stopped seeing her, but I expect her to return any week now) wanted to sell her bib for the Broad Street Run. While the prospect of running with 30,000 of my closest friends didn't exactly thrill me, I thought the popular 10-miler would be a good second choice.
Until my mother informed me that we have a one-year memorial service the same morning for my aunt who passed away last year.
OK, onto Plan C! There's an adventure race (mud, obstacles, etc.) in late April that I'd thought about doing, but with the half marathon looming -- or so I thought -- I didn't want to risk injury and therefore didn't sign up. So I went to that website to sign up. $50 for 600 yards of running with 12 obstacles? 600 yards? I can do basically the same workout -- with A LOT more running -- in my own classes. That seemed a bit steep, so I didn't register.
Plan D -- an early season sprint triathlon! There's one nearby in a few weeks that is 450 meters in a heated outdoor pool, 10 mile bike, 5K run. Perfect. Until I filled out the registration form on Friday and saw that it was $91 when you add in processing fees and etc. $91 for a SPRINT tri? In a POOL? That will take me about 1:15 or less to complete? You've gotta be kidding me.
But here's the good news. (Yes, there is a point to this post.) Instead of being down about all of this and worrying about floundering without a schedule or goal, I had one of the best treadmill runs of my life Friday after work. And a kickass workout in my bike trainer class Saturday. And 9.5 hilly miles with two friends who are much faster than me on Sunday.
Those workouts were wonderful. Outstanding. Fantabulous. Just what I needed to kick my own butt. Just what I needed to remind myself that racing is not the end all, be all. Sometimes working out just for the sake of working out is what you need after all.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Cute pics from 3.31.11
Make sure you scroll down to see all of them... Trust me!
Before the game...
At the game...
The game!
And here's one from a different game last night (Kings/Canucks). I cannot stop laughing.
Before the game...
At the game...
The game!
And here's one from a different game last night (Kings/Canucks). I cannot stop laughing.
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