9 miles (instead of 15) 3.4.12

I met Adrienne to run today.  We were going to run 15. I knew my knee was going to be the deciding factor for how far I ran. It was. I stopped after the first 9 mile loop. Adrienne went on to run without me to finish the run.

We walked once on the downhill. It was quite a steep hill and I knew my knee wouldn't appreciate trying to run down it. That was our slowest split.

Around the 4 mile mark, Adrienne stashed waters for us under some leaves. She was too good to me.  We drank that water at 4 miles and I think passed it again near 7 and picked it up and ran with it. We threw away the bottles closer to mile 8. I had never been to Sewickley before and the houses were so nice. I kept admiring the houses and forgetting about how challenging it might be to run.

The first 3 miles or so were pretty rough. I felt like there was no way I'd finish the workout. Then after 3, it felt so much easier.  That has been the case recently too.   The first few miles just feel like they take an eternity to run and once I get past those, then everything flies by.  Perhaps this is why sometimes short runs are so challenging.

My knee had a constant pain the entire time I was running so I considered running more than 9.  But I knew as soon as I was done it would be bad. I was right. As soon as I was done running, I stretched. Then walking the 20 feet to my car was torture. My knee hurt so bad.

It felt pretty cold running. I only warmed up around mile 8 to think I would get rid of my hat and just wear my ear warmers.  I had on a tank, long sleeve shirt, plus light jacket. It's amazing how other days with the same temperature, I have on fewer layers and am hotter. It is so hard to judge what to wear anymore. The more I run, the better I thought I'd be at judging, but the more I run, the more I realize that it varies so much.   While we were running, we saw a runner in shorts. She was wearing a hot and a coat but was just in shorts.

A few times Adrienne said she was pulling me back but each time she said that I thought how I was speeding up to keep up with her pace.  Running groups are so good because I always push myself more than I thought and it feels like less of a struggle than when I go slower on my own. 

2.24

 

I got to work bright and early so I could leave at 3:30 PM.  That didn't happen. I didn't finish all the work I needed to do too.   Dave and I got Chick Fil A for dinner but I didn't even eat half of it because I was still full from lunch.

For lunch we went to BRGR and on our way out of the restaurant I mentioned to Dave that I'm down to $17/wear on these shoes.  Dave got very confused. He made it out like that's not a normal occurrence.  I still need to wear these a bunch more to feel like I got my money's worth.  I wore them 3 times in February and 2 times in October.

Dave and I watched Dexter. I would watch it all day and night but Dave won't let me.  He already watched it all too but claims I need to watch it in moderation.  It is such a good show.

We watched Rachel Maddow and ended up falling asleep while watching it.  We are happening people falling asleep before 10 on a Friday.

2.23

I wore my new shirt and was proud of the outfit I picked out. I didn't just do a black cardigan or black skirt. I branched out.

I worked. I didn't work out. I watched TV.  Same old stuff.

I've really been slacking at taking pictures of Poly lately.

2.29 - Sick

 

I was still sick. It was telecommuting day so I could work in peace at home. I was not productive but hopefully it wasn't negative productivity.

Do I look pretty miserable?

Also Poly loves sleeping on my coat. I leave it on the floor for her. I find her sleeping or sitting or just resting there all the time.

2.28 - Sick

I picked out this outfit then later realized it is the exact same way I wore the vest before. I really need to branch out. I guess at least I have on a different necklace and earrings.

I got up still semi sick with my cold. I got ready and went to work. I had 2 meetings to be there for in person and I figured I might not be that sick.

I got to work and within 45 minutes both meetings I had ended up moved.  So after I did a little bit, I packed up and went home to work.  There was no sense getting everyone else sick. Also I was a little annoying with all my sneezing.

Working was hard at home. Thinking was difficult.  I went through a ton of kleenexes.  It was nice to be able to sit at home with a kleenex in my nose. Can't do that at work.   At home, I kept drinking OJ. I opened the Simply Orange and finished it.  I never knew I could drink so much. (I didn't even change out of my work clothes. I just kept working in my work clothes.)

I worked all day but probably only got what I'd normally get done in 5 hours.  Now I feel behind.  Oh being sick is awful.  (Taking a picture of myself on the way to work with a kleenex just in my nose should have been a sign I was too sick to go into work.)

Then after work, I went to the YPE function.  It was a little different than normal. I didn't mingle as much. I was afraid to because of my cold.  A few people tried to talk to me and I was meeting Dave right then so I said I'd be back. But then I never ended up getting back with them. That bothers me.  I keep thinking about it.

By the time it was over at 9, I was exhausted.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

12:05:08 PM - Using an exercise bike at the gym is miserable. It is taking restraint not to try to run.
12:11:44 PM - @mikecherepko bikes are scary when you can fall off them.
07:32:19 PM - I want to watch more Dexter but Dave put a stop to that. There is nothing wrong with watching 8 hours of a show every day.
09:36:04 PM - @reedaboutme 4 minutes. 1 minute. Galloway method.
11:18:08 PM - @mikecherepko I thought shamrock shakes were nationwide.
11:19:08 PM - @mikecherepko oh I better quit eating milkshakes or I'll get fat.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

2.18

The plan was to wake up early and go to the gym and then go to Giant Eagle. We were still home at 10:30 and I was getting mad.  May parents were supposed to visit so I couldn't just delay everything.  We just went to Giant Eagle instead of the gym plus Giant Eagle.

We only bought food for 1 meal and the rest was random stuff and we still spent almost $200.

My parents visited but on their way we met at Applebee's for lunch.  Then once they came over we just hung out in the family room with Poly.  Poly loves company.  She didn't sit on anyone's laps but just slept on her red bag or rested on the ottoman. She still liked it. She wants more company. Too bad people barely ever come to visit her.

As soon as my parents left, we cooked.  We made this pasta dish with hot sausage and green peppers. There was no red sauce involved.  It was very good. But it was very spicy. I can't believe that is what I suggested to make. The pasta had soaked up the hot sausage flavor and that was even hot, but it was still good.  The trick to the recipe was grilling the pasta first before boiling it. That helped it get the hot sausage flavor.  Dave and I both liked it but I still packed up the leftovers to give away.

2.17

The day started with volunteering at the Carnegie Science Center for Engineers Week. We worked the Westinghouse booth and explained some stuff and did an activity.

Then we headed to Haufbrahaus. We met my parents there. It sure was fun.

After we got home we sure were tired from all the extraversion.  Poly also was a little baby and just wanted to be held. She was mad we ditched her most of the day.  She was mad since Tuesday since we were out so late.  She caused me to not go running until almost dark so I didn't have enough time to run as long as I wanted to.  Poly even let me hold her when I walked around and when I sat down. She just wanted my attention. Poor baby. I was sitting on the chair in Dave's room and there was even junk on the chair that I was sitting on.

Weekday Runs - 3/26-3/30

On Monday, March 26, Dave and I went to the track after work.  It was so cold. It was around 40 degrees. We only did a little over a half mile because it was just too cold.  I forgot how to dress when it was cold because of our warm weather before.  Just remember a short workout is better than no workout at all.  Every time we went to walk, I would cover my ears with my hands to try to warm them up.  The wind was rough too.

On Wednesday, I went to the track after work because I wanted to go to Body Pump and I didn't have enough time to do the 2.5 mile loop near my house.  I went straight from the track to Body Pump.  After I ran 1 mile, I thought I had time to do 1.5 more miles but as I was running, I realized my time was off and I rechecked the clock and I just had time for 2 miles and I had to keep my pace quick.    Originally I was thinking of doing intervals where I'd run a lap around a 2 minute pace and then do a slower lap and repeat. Looks like I did all the laps at that fast pace. I guess I have to come up with new times for intervals.  It has been so long since I did them, I didn't realize.

I barely made it to body pump on time.  I was pretty consistent with my laps.  I ran in lane 5 then 3 but the distance doesn't accurately reflect that.

March 28 - Track

On Thursday, I went to the gym after work. I didn't end up running with Jen so it wasn't going to be 5 miles. I had to struggle to just get myself to go to the gym.  It was so hot in there. I hated that so I only did 2.5 miles.  If i would have ran 4.4 miles, I would have a new mileage total for the month if you counted my race on Saturday.

For the first mile I ran 6.6 mph for 2 minutes, 7.4 mph for 1 minute and repeat.  I stopped at 1 mile and got some water. Man was I dripping in sweat.  The last 1.5 miles I ran 6.6 mph for 2 minutes, 7.4 mph for 1 minute, 7.8 mph for 1 minute, and repeat.  Treadmills should be easy because it is flat but I was struggling more than I was on Wednesday and I was even going slower.

On Friday, March 30 Dave and I headed to the track to run. There was some sort of sporting event going on so we left and headed to a different track.  I ran 1.5 laps by myself and the rest was with Dave.  We ran the straights and walked the bends. We did this in lane 5 so really it was more than 2 miles.  Dave's right ankle hurt again but his left ankle didn't hurt this time. I think he did a pretty good job.   It started to rain on our last lap. I didn't run super fast on my own since the day before a race, I usually don't even workout. 

When we were running, I felt like we were going slow but when I hovered we were going close to a 10 minute pace and sometimes better. The walk was much slower than our normal walk though.  Sometimes Dave even jogged an extra 10 yards or so.

March 30 - Track

I can't believe I went to the track 3 times in one week. I'm still pretty shocked 2 of those times were running with Dave. It also makes sense that my distances were so short each time because a track gets pretty boring.

 Workout outfit on Wednesday

March Workout Goals

I'm injured so these will be different than previous months.  I feel old and washed up.

1. Complete 18 cardio workouts (running, exercise bike, or elliptical)  (February = 18, not met; January = 19, met; December = 18, met; November = 18, met) [This month I will allow 10 minutes on the bike to count if it is a warmup to knee exercises. Usually 15 minutes is the minimum.]
2. Complete 13 core workouts (February = 13, not met; January = 13, met; December = 12, met; November = 12, not met) [Usually 5 minutes is the minimum or I won't count it. I will aim for more 6 minute workouts or longer.]
3. Frequency: Run 8 times. (February = 12, met; January = 14, met; December = 10, met, November = 12, met with 15) [I have 2 races this month and am injured so plan to run fewer times.]
4. Distance: Run 60 total miles [Reach goal = 70 miles] (February = 60, met; January = 13, met; December = 40, November = 65, met) - Goal created without comparing it to my training plan but with my 2012 mileage goal to be 700 which averages to a little less than 60 a month. 
5. Workout with Dave 5 times. (February = 9, not met; January = 10, met; December = 12, but with all other activities it is hard to also workout with Dave, November = 8, met) 
6. Lift weights 8 times on my own. (February = 5, not met; January = 5 met; December = 5, not met; November = 4, met with 5) [Increased this because I need to strengthen the muscles in my legs more so I need to increase the lifting.  Lately running has increased but everything else has decreased.]
7. Perform yoga or a similar group fitness class 2 times. (February = 2, not met; January = 2, met; December = 2, met; November = 3, not met) - I hate this goal. I know yoga is good though.
8. Attend Body Pump 4 times. (February = 4, not met; January = 3, met; December = 3, not met; November = 4, not met)
9. Have 2 double workout days (morning + evening, lunch + evening, etc) (February = 2, met; January = 2, met)
10. Stretch for 10 consecutive minutes 2 times  (February = 2, not met; January = 2, met)
11. Do foam roller exercises 8 times [New]

I have a few other goals that are related to exercise but aren't me working out.

1. Have another photo shoot to get some athletic pictures for at the top of this post.
2. No more than 8 rest days all month (sitting at stretching or doing foam roller exercises means it is not a rest day)
3. Put my monthly workout goals in excel or some program so I have them all together and can pull some data based on that.
4. Make more collages with exercise photos and add them to my exercise gallery

Why is that when you are injured you want to work out even more. I should make a goal not to gain 10 lbs while my knee is injured this year. It's the same injury that I had last year and during that time I gained 10 lbs and none of my clothes fit. Even after I started running again, it still took sometime to get the weight off. 

A Day's Worth of Twitter

11:50:14 AM - Sucks. I had to cut an 8 mile run short because of knee pain. The same pain as last year that caused me to not run the marathon.
01:55:40 PM - @DaizyCh yes
07:12:33 PM - I never saw lightning so bright. I didn't even know it was storming. The thunder was pretty loud too.
07:15:12 PM - @reedaboutme Do-si-dos are delicious
10:39:03 PM - I used to love Glee. Now it is so boring. (Now being the episode from January 31)
11:12:40 PM - @mikecherepko @lisafilipek I didn't notice the missing "to be" in a single tweet :(
11:13:43 PM - @angelineevans what recent legal questions about pininterest?
11:14:44 PM - It is hard to hide under the covers to use my phone when it is so hot in here.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

7.5 mile run (3.2.12)

Jen and I met at North Park to run today.  The plan was 8 miles.  This was my first run or workout since Sunday. I got sick and did absolutely nothing. (I did so much of nothing I had 996 total steps Wednesday and 1350 on Thursday.)

Jen and I did intervals the entire time.   We decided to run 4 miles and turn around and run 4 back so we couldn't cut it short or stop at 5.  My knee was bothering me on the way out.  On the way back it was really bothering me.  With each walk interval the first few steps were worse than the previous first steps of the run.

In the 7th mile, I was starting to run with a limp.  The pain got pretty bad. I thought I could suck it up. I mean back in the day I might have quit 2 miles in when it started to hurt but a few miles isn't much at all.  But when I started to run with a limp, I decided I should take the short cut road and make it 7.5 miles. (Jen didn't take the shortcut road so she'd get her full 8 miles in.)

The last half mile I ran the entire way instead of doing intervals. Running continuously felt better than going from walking to running. I also had a desire to finish it sooner so that I wouldn't have to run on it anymore.  Once I stopped at the end, my knee hurt even worse.

A picture after our run with the camera balanced on the car.

After I ran, I set the timer on my camera to try to get a picture of me running.

I took a picture of Jen coming in.

Jen took off her long sleeve shirt before our 4 mile turn around. I took mine off around mile 5.  I was in a tank top and it was 40 degrees. I think the real feel was a few degrees warmer by the end of the run. We were the only ones w/o long sleeves on.  Some people even had on hats and gloves.  I mean some people had on shorts + long sleeves.  Boy was I hot. I wished I was wearing shorts or at least capris.

2.16

I wore my pink shoes again. 2nd time in a week.

Traffic was awful on my way to work and I learned it was because a truck hit another truck.  I failed at getting good pictures. I guess what's what happens when you pay attention to the road.

After work I had a Stampin' Up party at Dawn's. It was a fun time. Some new people were there too and they ordered. It's all exciting.

2.15 - Uneventful

I telecommuted so I didn't have to get dressed.  I went for a run after work at the track with Dave.  Then I went to Body Pump after that.  My run was distance was limited so I could make it to Body Pump on time and I was actually a little late.   I watched some TV after all that.   Not an eventful day but a good workout day.

A Day's Worth of Twitter

08:54:16 AM - Registering for so many races is going to put me in the poor house.
02:07:42 PM - I'm hoping if I actually take some sick time today that maybe I'll get some rest and get healthy. This cold sucks.
09:43:57 PM - @angelineevans I keep thinking I should take a photo class. I never get around to it though :(
09:44:48 PM - @angelineevans picasa is awesome.
10:00:50 PM - @reedaboutme that sure is a lot of thin mints. Why so many?

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

2.27

Shirt: F21, Pants: VS, Shoes: Famous Footwear, Necklace: Sears
My pants felt so big. They were down lower on my hips so then they are too long. I need to wash them to shrink them back up I guess.

I was surprisingly wide awake. I drank coffee at work. The last time I had coffee at work was June 16.

I was able to prep for my meetings and have my meetings just fine with less than an hours sleep.   I started feeling sick.

I had a doctor appointment after work so I couldn't even get home to go to sleep.  The doctor's office wasn't busy this time. They weren't more than 5 minutes late. It was great.

I got home and ate dinner. After that I watched TV from bed. I ended up staying up until 10:30 PM which was later than Dave stayed up.

2.26 - TV

Dave and I woke up pretty early.  We decided to make breakfast.  I had eggs and toast. Dave also made hashbrowns but mine got soggy so I didn't eat them.  He also made bacon but then burnt it so I didn't eat that either.

Then we watched TV. We watched some Dexter. Then I started watching One Tree Hill.  Before that was over, I got a text from Jen and it was time to go running. So I hurried up and got ready and headed there to run.

After running, I analyzed data a bit, ran, then analyzed more.  I did some taxes for Stampin' Up.  Then at 3:30 we went downstairs to eat. We watched more Dexter. Now at 10PM, Dave claimed it was bed time and didn't want to watch any more. We ended up watching until 10:20 and stopped mid episode. I watched the rest of One Tree Hill after that. Now clearly it was already bedtime but I thought I'd watch one more show. I was going to watch one of the shows I don't super love but decided to watch Gossip Girl.  I had 11 episodes stock piling after all.

source

I remember deciding to start 1more episode thinking it would be done at 12:30 and that's not too late. Well it ended at 12:26 so that was early so I decided to watch one more.  I kept doing this until 3am when the computer broke.  The computer reboots automatically at 3am each night. Well this breaks the program that we use to watch TV. I did not know how to start it back up.  This happened last time too. Someone might have gone to bed if this happened but instead I tried to figure it out for 20 minutes.  Then finally gave up and decided to watch the rest of the episode on Hulu. I got Dave's laptop since the screen is larger. Well it wouldn't work because he disables ads and I don't know how to enable them at a 3am tired state (or maybe at a normal time).  So then I went to my laptop and figured out where I was in the episode. I had 5 minutes left in it.  I had to watch multiple commercials to get that far.  After all that effort I decided to watch one more episode. Hulu has commercials so it takes longer.  Well the TV shows on our computer have commercials but they automatically skip.

Well anyway next thing I new it was 6 am. I had to immediately close my computer and rush up to bed before Dave's alarm went off.   His alarm went off at 6:10ish and I was still awake.  I told him I was going to sleep in a bit so he was quiet for me.  My alarm went off at 6:30 and I changed that to 6:55. At 6:45 Dave talked to me since he was about to leave.  I hit snooze on my alarm at 6:55 and eventually got up at 7:13.  What a night. What a night.   That is a new record for how late I've stayed up on a work night.  (BTW I got to work around 8:05 and core hours don't even start until 9. I should have slept in longer.)

I bet there has not been a Day you watched more TV.  I was up 23 hours and think I watched TV for about 17 hours. It might have been even longer, but I forgot how long I spent watching it earlier in the day.

XOXO Gossip Girl

Ahh that's all that goes through my head since I had watched 6 straight hours of it.  Do you watch Gossip Girl? Do you find that the show is even better when you can watch multiple episodes in a row?

A Day's Worth of Twitter

04:53:58 PM - @MarnieCarlson I have a @BodyMediaFIT armband. I highly recommend it. I have posts on my blog about it.
07:56:01 PM - @MarnieCarlson Look at this http://t.co/XZvziNsb Amazon has them. or their website. They are hardcore onsale right now. I can email you more
08:35:24 PM - You can tell I'm sick. My @BodyMediaFIT is even warning me that I'm on a low calorie burn for the day.
08:36:00 PM - @MarnieCarlson i can email you about it. A few of my friends have them too. The company is Pittsburgh based too.
09:18:41 PM - Rachel Maddow is full of graphs I love graphs.
10:57:09 PM - @mikecherepko elementary school made me like math. But now I hate subtraction.
10:59:18 PM - @MarnieCarlson where is the gym you belong to? Have you thought of joining at work?
11:01:57 PM - @MarnieCarlson I don't know why. I look official. Sitting in a waiting room with a laptop. Shopping wearing express clothes head to toe.

You can find me as @smilincolleen on Twitter.

February Workout Goals - Overall

Week 3 didn't go so well for anything but the running. Almost being sick and fighting it the 4th week sucked. Being sick the last week sucked.  I only met 3 goals.  I would have had 3 more if I got sick.  I forgot to work on my additional goals. 

1. Complete 18 cardio workouts (running, exercise bike, or elliptical)  (January = 19, met; December = 18, met, November = 18, met)
1. 2/2 Run
2. 2/3 Run
3. 2/5 Run
4. 2/7 Bike
5. 2/8 Run
6. 2/9 Run
7. 2/12 Run
8. 2/15 Run
9. 2/17 Run
10. 2/19 Run 
11. 2/20 Bike
12. 2/21 Run
13. 2/21 Bodyfire
14. 2/25 Run
15. 2/26 Run
2. Complete 13 core workouts (January = 13, met; December = 12, met; November = 12, not met) 
1. 2/2 - 5 minutes
2. 2/5 - 5 minutes
3. 2/8 - During Body Pump
4. 2/15 - During Body Pump
5. 2/17 - 5 minutes
6. 2/19 - 5 minutes (Need 7 in 10 days)
7. 2/20 - During Body Pump
8. 2/21 During Bodyfire (6 minutes)
9. 2/21 During Bodyfire (a 2nd core song so it counts)
10. 2/26 5 minutes (really 5:30)
3. Frequency: Run 12 times. (January = 14, met; December = 10, met, November = 12, met with 15) 
1. 2/2
2. 2/3
3. 2/5
4. 2/8
5. 2/9
6. 2/12
7. 2/15
8. 2/17
9. 2/19  
10. 2/21
11. 2/25
12. 2/26
4. Distance: Run 60 total miles [Reach goal = 70 miles (15, 15, 15, 20, 5)] (January = 13, met; December = 40, November = 65, met) 
1. 5.12 (2/2) + 12.3 (2/3) + 12.04 (2/5) = 29.46
2. 3.01 (2/8) + 3.25 (2/9) + 5.03 (2/12) = 11.29 {40.75 mi}
3. 5.11 (2/15) + 5.51 (2/17) + 18.43 (2/19) = 29.05 {69.8 mi}   
4. 1.53 (2/21) +20.22 (2/25) + 5.02 (2/26) = 26.77 {96.57} - This is my 2nd highest mileage ever. Pretty good for a short month and getting sick!
5. Workout with Dave 9 times. (January = 10, met; December = 12, but with all other activities it is hard to also workout with Dave, November = 8, met) 
1. 2/1 - 2 mile walk after work
2. 2/15 - at the track 
3. 2/27 - Walk loop at work.
6. Lift weights 5 times on my own. (January = 5 met; December = 5, not met; November = 4, met with 5) 
1. Bodyfire (lots of squats, lunges, and pushups so I say it counts)
7. Perform yoga/BodyFlow 2 times. (January = 2, met; December = 2, met; November = 3, not met) 
1. None!
8. Attend Body Pump 4 times. (January = 3, met; December = 3, not met; November = 4, not met)
1. 2/8
2. 2/15  (Need 2 in 10 days)
3. 2/20
9. Have 2 double workout days (morning + evening, lunch + evening, etc) [New] (January = 2, met)
1. 2/5 - Run (12 miles) + abs & foam roller (12 minutes total)
2. 2/8 - Run (3 miles) + Body Pump
3. 2/15 - Run + Body Pump
4. 2/17 Run + core and stretch
5. 2/20 Body Pump + Bike
6. 2/21 Run + Bodyfire
10. Stretch for 10 consecutive minutes 2 times (January = 2, met)
1. 2/17 (also did foam roller) 

I have a few other goals that are related to exercise but aren't me working out.

1. Have another photo shoot to get some athletic pictures for at the top of this post.
2. Have at least 4 nonconsecutive rest days. I have been bad at resting and fear overuse injuries coming.
1. 1, 4, 10, 11 (and more) 
3. Put my monthly workout goals in excel or some program so I have them all together and can pull some data based on that.
4. Make more collages with exercise photos and add them to my exercise gallery

Feb 1 = rest day so only a walk with Dave

Feb 2 = 5 mile run + abs
Feb 3 = Run
Feb 4 = rest day

2.19

I woke up to run. I had a lot of trouble sleeping because I was so afraid I'd be late. I also stayed up late watching TV. So I started my day off tired.

I ran 18 miles.  I went to brunch.

I got home and said I'd shower within 5 minutes but an hour later I was still looking at my data.

I finally showered then gave Dave a hair cut.  By this time it was 3:30 PM.

Then it was off to the mall.  I shopped forever. I wrote about that in a separate post.  Before I knew it the mall closed. I have no idea how 6pm came so fast.   Then we went to Campecinos. I ordered a meal that included a taco. Everyone should be proud of me. It also came with 2 enchiladas.   I got my normal nachos and cheese but this time that was just an appetizer. We went to Yum after.

By the time we got home, I was so tired and thought it was bed time, but I had to write my blog post about my run and analyze some more data.   I was also emailing too. I ended up staying up until 11pm.  What a tiring day.

I've been wanting a new hoodie for a few years but I never actually look for one at stores. Well right before bed Dave notices a hole in the hoodie I was wearing.