All sorts of randomness

So how's life?

Mine feels like it has somehow gone bezerk, then ground to a halt.

And this is what has been going on:

• because I can't run, somehow, I thought I would just not exercise. at all. Very very bad idea. no exercise means very cranky Anneke.
• Eric and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on Saturday. I felt like I had not seen him for a month, and it was kind of weird "getting to know" him again. Seriously. Between the state fair, my trip to my sister's, his weekend trip to a fishing tourney in Brainerd, my work travel, his week of fishing in Canada.... You will be happy to know we still like each other!
• After figuring out what had made me so cranky last Friday, I went for a walk. 5 miles. It was really good - except for the guy who decided he needed to honk his horn and flip me off (and the person who was just ahead of me who was jogging) as we were both on the side of the road. Hello - show me where there is a sidewalk in that particular 50 feet, and I will use it....
• Friday at work was just a prize. I pretty much got into an argument with someone on a conference call, because he thought I should be doing something that is not my responsibility. Something that my boss has repeatedly told people that it is not my responsibility. It is a supplier issue. Not a safety issue. Yeah, I hate to admit it, but I threw a pretty good tantrum at work, slammed a door (and EVERYONE in the office heard it) and left early because I had horrible heartburn. I don't get mad real often, but I guess it is worth the price of admission.
• I had a job interview a couple of weeks ago. The hiring manager called me on Saturday to tell me that even though I was well qualified, and that I interviewed really well, I didn't get the job. Makes me wonder if they had someone already picked to fill the job before they did the interviews, because he asked that if they had a similar position open up elsewhere, would I consider relocating?
• Sunday was about a perfect day. We visited some friends of Eric's at their cabin, and I got to do my most favorite thing in the world - sit on the deck in the morning with a cup of coffee, looking over the lake.
• We had a friend of Eric's stay with us on Friday night, and he was doing the usual getting to know you thing, and he asked me if there was anything else that he should really know about me. I told him I was pretty much a homebody at heart. It makes me feel so good to have a clean house, laundry all done, and a fabulous dinner on the table for guests.
• I got rear-ended yesterday on my way home from work. I was stopping behind a line of cars that were stopped at a light, and knew the person behind me was going to hit me. I pretty much stood on the brakes after I got hit to avoid hitting the car in front of me - I was successful. So we pull off the road, and this guy comes over to say he saw the whole thing, he was a witness. The lady that hit me tried to say that I had stopped quickly in front of her, but both this guy and I said that she had been following to close/going too fast - her reply "so it's all my fault then?" Why yes, it was.... Even though she hit me, I did not hit the car in front of me. And she was the one that got the ticket, not me. It's my company vehicle, so now I get to deal with all of our company paperwork, and insurance, and repairs and such. Oh, yeah, and I'm fine.

So that's pretty much the update.

That, and I need to work on losing weight again, I can tell... my arms start going to sleep at night when I am in bed, and I am starting to have some heartburn issues. Good times. Now where on earth did I stash that motivation?

~a

Knee news

Well, there is nothing REALLY wrong.

It's kind of an irritation or something similar with the meniscus of my knee.

It's not torn, but with all of the pounding associating with the running I have been doing, the ortho said it was getting "spongy" and - the best description I can say is - wrinkled, and that is what is causing the pain. It is not torn. There is a surgery that can remove the portion of the cushioning (meniscus) which may alleviate the pain, if I was a "dedicated marathoner" but as I am just hoping to run one.... I don't want to have to go through the surgery.

The doctor said the marathon this fall is out - I should try and see if it heals by not running for anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months. He said that pretty much trying to run Grandma's in the spring is out, but I might be able to train up for the marathon next year.

I got a elecronic newsletter from the TC marathon today, and at the end of it is a picture of the finisher's medal. I looked at it, and teared up, knowing I will not be getting mine in October.

It sucks.

But, I need to accept it and move on. Better to be able to walk for the rest of my life, and to try again next year. It's not like I have not accomplished anything this year - have run further in one day than ever before. I just need to be smart, and not try to over do it.

And I need to drop some weight, so I don't have that much more on my knees.

So that's the plan. Walk, bike, lose weight, and aim for a marathon in a year.

~a

I would rather have my toenails pulled out

I was home last night, putzing on the computer when the phone rang.

I didn't recognize the number, but I picked it up anyway. The person on the other end of the phone asked for my husband.

Me: may I ask who is calling?
him: This is ---- from ---- I am calling about a entry form that Eric filled out at Bass Pro Shops.
me: Is this about a time share presentation?
him: yes, and a vacation
me: well, you already called, and we said we were not interested
him: what was the reason you were not interested in the vacation deal?
me: I told my husband that I would rather have my toenails pulled out than to sit through another timeshare presentation
him: okay then..... thanks

and then I hear him trying not to burst out laughing as he is disconnecting the call.

You would think they would take us off the list. How more point blank can I be?

And among other assorted news:

I had an MRI on my knee this morning. I have an appointment with the orthopaedist on Friday to go over the results. I also need to bring him my running shoes. At this point, I am kind of scared to go running, for fear of damaging something. I might go for a walk though. I love this time of year, when it's about 55 to 60 degrees in the morning, and it is just envigorating. It is quite sad that I won't be running tomorrow morning at 5am.

I talked to my brother-in-law tonight. I wanted to see if he had any words of wisdom, as I have a job interview tomorrow morning, with the company he currently works for (well, of course he is off on medical right now...). He had some good things to say, and I can really tell that he is making more progress. He got out of the inpatient rehab, and is now at home each night, and I think that is really good for him, and much better for my nieces. My parents are staying with them, so they have been driving him back and forth to the rehab each day, so my sister can work and take care of other things. He is still not back to what he was, and perhaps will never be completely back, but he is continuing to make good progress.

And that's what's up here.

~a

PSA - don't make regrets necessary

It's been kind of a shocking couple of days.

I found out on Friday that a friend of mine had killed himself on the 6th. It is just so sad.

The funeral service was today, and I am glad that I was able to make it. It was also sad, because I think one of the last few times I had seen my friend was when he had gotten married in the same church. I guess I had been closer to his wife/widow, but we had all kind of gone our own ways in the last couple of years.

The group of us knew each other from working in a haunted house that is no longer running. And we all talked about how we should have gotten together before this. It was nice seeing folks, but also so incredibly sad that we have not all seen each other in years, and have not kept touch.

The priest talked about how his family and friends would be thinking about the "could have, should have, would haves" but there is nothing to do but get past that, because what is done is done. But it still makes me wonder what would have happened if we had all stayed in touch and had that camaraderie and support that he evidently needed.

So, don't make those regrets necessary. Make sure you let the people that are important to you know they are important. In this day and age there is no excuse for not staying in touch... how much effort does it really take to sent an e-mail, or to make a phone call?

~a

Ouch.

A friend of mine sent me a note yesterday, to wish me a happy birthday (yes, I turned 37 yesterday) and to ask me if I was running on Saturday.

I'm not running for two reasons -

1. The group meets at 8, and I am volunteering at the Renaissance Festival, and need to be there at 9:30. With the hour drive, I would not be able to make it.
2. Because I'm not running. At all. It hurts. And it really makes me sad.

Do you know how much I would cry if I could not run any more? There is absolutely nothing like a runner's high, and the tired exhaultation you have after going for a long run. You have to be a runner to understand. I guess this means I am a runner.

So, here's the story... I went to the PT on Friday (8/31) and since I was still having pain, and worse than it was before, she said it was time to go to the Ortho. But, I should still do the activities (cardio) that did not hurt me, to keep in shape - if there was something simple I might still be able to attempt the marathon. So I got on the NordicTrack bright and early Saturday morning. 75 minutes, and 8 miles.

And the knee hurt. Not while I was exercising. But that day, just walking around. And it hurt the next day, to the point where I was walking without bending my knee at all, because it hurt. And the next day, it was giving me pain while I was driving.

Something is definately off.

I have an appointment with the Ortho on Monday. We'll have to see what happens.

MIA

I feel like I have been gone for weeks.

But, in reality, it has been only a week. I went to visit my sister in Oklahoma for a week, to help her around the house with the kids, and with my BIL. And he is doing much better. I helped to get him moved to a new facility on Friday. He's out of the hospital, and in a rehab place that specializes in treating people with brain injuries. He seems to be doing so much better, I won't be suprised if he gets "kicked out" in a few weeks... they say the "usual" length of stay there is 2 months, but I don't see him being there that long.

It will be good for him, but it's really kind of a depressing place - since it is for people who have had brain injuries, it's pretty much locked down, so people won't wander off, or try to "escape" as they put it. There are very strict visiting hours, and you are not allowed visitors outside of those hours. One of the main reasons he is staying, is that it would be about a 45 minute drive (one way) to get him there, and to pick him up, and my sister would have to drive since he can't do that yet. But, once they get him sorted out and evaluated, hopefully he will be able to be home on the weekends.

So that was a lot of my vacation. Sitting in the hospital. Taking my nieces to the movies (Underdog), cooking food for my sister, and other general laziness.

I drove down there on the 17th (well to Kansas City, and stayed with a friend). I went for a run Saturday morning - 3 miles, and it was awful. Hot, knee hurt, and I had to stop at a 7-11 to use the bathroom in the middle of my run. I planned to do a long run on Sunday... and I got out at 5:15am with my new Garmin (new toy!), and went 1/4 of a mile before my knee started screaming at me.

as in "bitch - what the hell are you trying to do to me?"

So I went back to the house and crawled into bed, and went back to sleep.

The only exercise I got all week, was a bike ride on Thursday. Okay, so I went 17.5 miles, and was out for about an hour and 20 minutes...

But that's it for the week. 'Cause my knee has been bad. Like hurts to walk down the hall bad. Not sure what's up.

Oh yeah, and I stepped on the scale this morning, and I gained 5 pounds. Happy vacation!

~a

She moves, she grooves...

Is it really Friday again?



I feel like I have been in over my head, a bit. Marathon training sure sucks up a lot of time!



Not that I am complaining. I love the way I just clear my head, and am able to really think about nothing when I run. It's definately a sanity check.



So an update on life... I actually talked to my BIL on the phone on Monday. I guess he babbles quite a bit! He told me that he gets confused if he has to think about a lot of things. He did remember that I work for the railroad, after I told him I had gone for a train ride. But, he also told me that he had gotten hit several times, (and I can hear my sister in the background say "No...."), then he revised it to, he got hit in several places, (and again my sister says "no...."), then he says, that he had many injuries.



After work, I met up with a friend of mine, and we went cruising around in the convertable - down Summit Ave, north on East River Road, across the river at Franklin, then south on West River Parkway to Minnehaha Falls. We had a great time enjoying the wind in our hair, looking at all of the houses, and just plain relaxing!



Tuesday was a pretty low-key day. Got up early and hopped on the NordicTrack for an hour, off to meetings at the yard, then back home to work on some reports. The evening was spent running some errands, and to bed early.



Wednesday, I got up at 4:45 am. Went for a 7.5 mile run. No earth shattering pace, but it was fun to be up and out of the house in the still of the morning, and I was able to see the sunrise over Lake Phalen. It was also a day of driving. I drove to Superior for a meeting, then headed to Fargo where I was staying the night. I had packed food with me, and for supper, I found a park, and ate my salad with turkey, parmesan and pine nuts at a picinic table. It was a nice break during my drive.



Thursday, meetings until noon or so in Fargo, then it was the drive back in the afternoon, so I could make it to my next physical therapy appointment. Things with the knee are going pretty well, actually. I am having a lot less pain, and as long as I am keeping up the exercises, I think I will be able to keep up the training.



And this morning was pretty good. Eric was up and out to work early (left the house at 5:30), so I got up and dressed, and was running at 6:00. 3 miles was on the schedule, so that's what I did... in 28:37. Yep, that's right! under 30 minutes for 3 miles. I wanted to push and see what I could do. I started the timer, and didn't look at it until after I had stopped it after my 3 miles. Yay me! It kind of makes me want to sign up for a 5K, to see if I can get a PR... but I have kind of decided that I will be sticking to the training schedule, and not running any races until the marathon.



Tomorrow, I will do 10 miles. Then, my mom will be here, we are going to get our hair cut, then go shopping.

Anyway, that's the skinny.
~a

Weekend running

I think I was dehydrated. Or under fueled. My run on Saturday knocked me on my ass.

Shall we start with: Friday night I went with my husband to his 30-year class reunion (yes, he's old...) There was no meal, so I ate quite a few slices of turkey wrap, mini-egg rolls, and shrimp on cucumber slices. And four glasses of wine. I was at a class reunion that was not mine after all.... I actually chatted quite a bit with another of the spouses. I kept telling her I was eating so I would be able to run the next morning. She, and others were impressed.

Anyway, we got home somewhere around midnight, and 5am came awfully early. I had planned to get in about 10 miles, then meet the running group, and do another 8 after that. Yeah. I was not able to get myself going that quickly... I ended up doing 6 miles (out and back) in about an hour and 10 minutes, then I did another 10. I'm glad I made the decision to turn around at the 5-mile mark instead of doing a 13-mile loop that I had considered.

It was hard. I sucked down all of the water I had brought with me, and went through 2 packages of sport beans. And at the end, my ass was dragging. but I did the 16. Further than I have ever run before! I thought it would be emotional, like my 15-miler, but I was honestly too tired to do anything but go home.

I ended up taking a 3-hour nap on Saturday, and never really woke up before heading to bed at 9pm.

Note to self: Better pre-run nutrition, and less pre-run alcohol.

I will get up to 20 miles sometime in this training... and I will finish the 26.

It all begins with the first step. And I have taken many.
~a

I wasn't on the bridge...

In case you were all wondering.

Instead, I was shopping for a dress. With my husband. We heard about it when we were making our purchase. We then went to get something to eat at Applebees, and to gawk at the television.

Yikes.

Otherwise, It was a pretty good day - I got up at 5 and ran my 8 miles, had work meetings, then stopped at my parents house and borrowed my dad's Mustang convertable, and got home to go shopping with my DH. The knee is a little sore, but not anything terrible or unbearable.

That's all I've got at this time. Kind of a watch and wait situation.
~a

5-second rule?

So looking through some of the assorted professional magazines etc. I have on my desk, I came across an article I wanted to share:

A new rule to let you "drop" your guard.

Relax: You no longer have to feel a responsibility to stop a worker before they eat that dropped Cheeto that's sat on the ground for longer than five seconds.

You now have 30 seconds to a minute before you have to worry about the worker catching e-coli and trying to get workers comp. As a part of a new university study, food was dropped at a snack bar and left for varous amounts of time.

The new verdict: Wet foods usually can stay on the floor for about 30 seconds before e-coli kicks in, and for dry foods, usually about a minute.

Of course, if you happen to be a klutz like me today, and spill dried oatmeal on the floor, you need to fight the ants for it. Seriously - I went to pick it up, and there was an ant, not 15 seconds after I dropped it, trying to drag off an oat.

~a

A week of crap...

Okay, it's official.

I am tired of traveling.

At work, it has been pretty much decided that I need to be out of the office (and out on the property) Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So I spent Monday afternoon and evening traveling to Minot, ND where I spent three nights.

The North Dakota State Fair was going on that week too, so it was a bit difficult to get a hotel room. I ended up in an okay place - it had no exercise room, but had a pool. I had also brought my bicycle along with me.

Well, Monday, I didn't exercise, since I got into Minot at about 9:45 pm. Road glazed and tired, and needing to meet up with the work crew at 6:30am, at a location 45 miles from where I was staying...

Tuesday, it was hot. And I mean hot. It hit 104 degrees in Minot. Being out with the work crew wiped me out but good. I fell asleep in my hotel room that afternoon, but knew I needed to do some exercise, so after I woke up, I headed for the pool. I enjoy swimming laps, but the pool was kind of cloudy, and it was hard to see where the end wall was to make my turns - I ended up jammimg my fingers into the wall a couple of times. Then there were the two girls who I think were making a game of seeing how close they could get to me, without having me run into them. Grrrrrrr. All I wanted was one stinkin' side of the pool. Plenty of other space, folks. I spent a couple of hours at the mall there, to wander a bit, to get out of my cracker-jack box of a room. The only good news was that the size 12 pants were fitting me...

Wednesday, it was hot. Not as hot as the day before, but still not that great. I had stopped at the grocery store on Tuesday (had a fridge in the room!) and had packed some drinks, a couple of whole wheat wraps with turkey and cheese, and some 100-calorie packs in a cooler for the day. We were going out on the rail, and they told me we would stop somewhere for lunch so I didn't need to bring the cooler. I should know better. At 2pm, when we finally got off the tracks, we stopped at a convenience store.... After getting back to the hotel, I went to swim laps again. ( I wanted to get out on my bicycle, but it was raining.) This time, swimming laps, it was some guy who kept getting in my way - he was not paying attention, and another girl was there, deciding she would try and swim under me to touch the wall underwater. Um, the pool, at it's deepest was 5 feet. I gave up after half an hour.

Thursday, out again on the rail. And talking with folks, etc. By the time I got on the road to drive home, it was after 1pm. I was tired after three nights in a little hotel room, where I kept waking up because the A/C kept cycling on and off. So what did I do to keep myslef amused and awake? Of course... I munched. After a stop in Fargo for a break at the DQ for dinner, I got home around 10:15.

I leave with the best of intentions, but they never seem to work out. I just want to be able to spend a week at home without feeling guilty.

And with all the driving, and static positions I was in... my knee has been bothering me all week. Fabulous.

Another thing that has been bothering me is I have these odd boil/blister itchy spots on the toes of my left foot. I think they might be stress related, or related to wearing socks and work boots all day, but they are not getting better. In fact, it started on one toe, and now four are affected.

I think I need a new lifestyle.
~a

Undiscovered Country

Friday, I had another appointment with the physical therapist. More ultrasound therapy on the hip and the knee. I have been able to do some really good stretches, and the hip is starting to feel more normal. And I think the taping technique I have been using on the knee is working too, so I will definately continue to do that.

Yesterday, my training schedule said 18 miles. I thought that was a little to daunting for me. So I headed out with 15 miles in mind - my plan was to run to Phalen, around twice, back near home, then run my 5-mile loop around Beaver Lake. And I did it. I walked about 4 times during the route, to eat some Sport Beans, and drink water. It took me 2 hours and 51 minutes. As I was hitting the point that was 2 miles from my house (so 13 miles into the run, about) I looked at my time: 2:28:00 or so. The furthest I have run has been my half-marathons (13.1 miles) and I finished last year in 2:29:00 or so.

Yesterday, I ran further than I have ever run before. 15 miles. I kept wanting to tell the people that were on the path exactly how far I had run that day.

And I admit it, I got kind of teary and emotional at the end of the run. I did it. Me. With the knee and hip pains that just were not so bad yesterday on the run.

When I was warming down, and stretching, my cell phone rang. My parents caled to tell me that my BIL had woken up that morning. It's the first time he has been awake since the accident on the 11th.

After bathing, and getting cooler etc. together, I headed up to my parent's house to deal with their garden, which needed some harvesting, since they have been gone to be with my sister and BIL. So I also got in about 2 hours of gardening yesterday... I picked raspberries, blueberries, cucumbers, beans, beets, lettuce, zucchini and tomatos. I just feel kind of bad that I will be gone 3 nights this week, so I won't be able to enjoy it all!

Today will be a day of some laundry, packing, and hopefully some relaxation! My knee is not painful, for the most part, but if I move wrong, it starts to tell me. Best to take it easy today.

ta!
~a

30 minutes in the morning

It sure makes me happy.

The alarm went off at 5:10 this morning. I stumbled out of bed, kind of wishing I had not had as much beer as I had last night, grabbed my running clothes I had set out last night, got dressed, taped my knee (I am finding that the tape works best - I can wrap it tight around the front of my knee, and then have it looser around the back, so those muscles/tendons don't start doing wonky things as I am running) , considered getting the mp3 player then decided against it, then I was out the door.

I wanted to set a good tempo, but not kill myself.

Started running, started my stopwatch.

It was a beautiful, crisp morning. I enjoyed being out by myself, before most of the world was moving. Noticed that the folks that have the house near my first turn had FINALLY trimmed the tree, so I could stay on the sidewalk! Nearing my landmark for 1 mile, I was thinking I was doing pretty well. Timer said I was at about 10:15 for the first mile. Not bad!

Around the next corner, up the first significant hill. No Fear! I lengthened my stride, and conquered the hills with style and panache. Rounded the next corner to all sorts of birds singing in the bushes. Worked on my runner's stride.

Heading into the home stretch, I was still feeling pretty good, running faster than during my long runs, but not to the point where I was straining. I gave a pretty good kick at the end, and stopped my watch when I crossed my starting point. 30:04. Sweet! (3 miles, Check!)

30 minutes in the morning, that's all it takes!
~a

Slacker

Admitting it is the first step.

That is me.

It's been kind of nutty with my schedule this week - that's my excuses and I am sticking to it. I went in to work Tuesday for the Midnight shift. And Wednesday I went in for 2nd shift.

I have exercised once this week. I did 60 minutes on the NordicTrack. I thought about going running this morning, as I am back to normal work hours, but somehow managed to put the alarm radio on AM rather than FM like it was supposed to be. I guess I might have needed the extra sleep.

My knee? Have not done my PT exercises this week either. Feeling twinges when I walk. But the good news is that it does not hurt. I am guessing it does not hurt since I have not run since Saturday. Although, I did run 8 miles on Saturday without much pain... I am hoping to get in at least 10, and hopefully 15 on Saturday. I am planning on going EARLY so I will be done before it gets too warm. That means I likely will not be running with my group again. And after that, I will be going to my parent's house to see how their garden is faring, and pick what I can - as they are in Olkahoma, and are not real sure when they are coming home.

My brother-in-law is still in intensive care. I guess my younger niece was having a bit of a melt-down last night. She does that, but this is probably related to the fact that she has not been able to see her father at all (they won't let children in the ICU, unless it is a "dire" circumstance.) They operated on his leg yesterday, and hopefully that is the only surgery he will have - so they can start weaning him off of the pain meds and remove some of the tubes and intubations. It's gonna be a long road to recovery for him.

Yikes, just yikes.

At least I can still run.
~a

he loves me...

So, finally the boat got sold. After much prodding and pushing, it got a "for sale" sign on it on the 7th of July. On the 12th, Eric got a call from a man that had seen the boat and was interested. 10 minutes later, he called back - asking if he could take the sign off of it, so nobody else would be able to call about it to purchase it!

So we went shopping on Friday afternoon. We had planning on getting a new ring (for me) because my original wedding band/engagement ring just had issues - the main one being that I am hard on rings, and had bent the prongs on my ring 6 or 7 times in the 3 1/2 years I had been wearing the engagement ring... so I got a new ring to go with the band I had been wearing.

I keep looking at it, it's beautiful!

The good, the bad, and the ugly

It's all there today...

the good: Looks like Eric has sold the boat! The one he was supposed to sell last year, the one that he wanted to "fix up" before he sold it, the one I told him mid-June that he could not go fishing until he had it up for sale...

the bad: Knee is still being cranky. Ran on the Treadmill Tuesday night, I was not able to do the 5 miles I had planned. Ran 3 this morning, and it is giving me "twinges" today, but not unbearable pain. I have a PT appointment tomorrow.

the ugly: I got a call from my mom and dad this morning, telling me that they were not going to be around this Saturday to go shopping like we had planned... They were on their way to Oklahoma... My brother-in-law got hit by a car while riding his bicycle yesterday. Someone found him laying by the side of the road. He has a broken leg and a broken hip. The MRI showed that he has what they suspect is a small bleed in his brain, but not big enough that they need to operate right away - they are monitoring him.

So if you pray, please do.
~a

Update: here's the story from the news station I also talked to my sister, who says he's responsive, but he had a collapsed lung most likely caused by the collision, and they are not sure what kind of surgery, if any he is going to need for his hip/leg.

Hot cha cha

Boy, it's been hot.

So the update on the hip/knee pain.... I went to the doctor on Monday, who referred me to the physical therapist.

Went biking Monday (11 miles), Tuesday (12 miles), and Wednesday (23 miles), and had no knee pain.

Saw the physical therapist on Friday. Still not really sure what it is - she does not think it's an IT band problem, since that type of problem is more prevalent in bicyclists than in runners. But the hip is definately stiff and less flexible than the other side. And since the knee pain is only showing itself during weight-bearing exercises, plus the weird "click" in my knee when it gets rotated, she suspects it is partly a cartilidge problem. Lovely.

Um, why exactly did I decide I wanted to run a marathon?

Anyway, she suggested that I contunue on the same type of program for the next couple of weeks... she even said that if the knee pain was showing up at the 6-8 mile mark, that I could do training runs for a while at that distance... then realized I said that it was noticable at the 3-mile mark. But... and this is my trying to push it... I might try and throw in a couple of shorter runs this week to see what happens, because I feel the knee, but it's not unbearable until after 8 miles or so.

Only 8 miles.

Would you listen to me? Sheesh.

So I decided with 15 miles on my schedule for Saturday, I would try running the three lakes (Harriet, Calhoun, Lake of the Isles) which is 11 miles, and see how I was feeling to decide if I was going to do another lap around Harriet. And it was HOT. Lordy lordy lordy. Anyway, I got about 9.5 miles in, before I had to walk. Shooting pain in my knee. Stretch, stretch. Sit down on the grass and rest for 5 minutes. And the whole thing just wiped me out. Seriously. I went home, and about fell asleep in the bathtub. So I got out and ate a bit of something, then laid down and took a two-hour nap. After waking up, I was still not well, having a rather low blood sugar moment. A handful of Golden Grahms, and some real Kool-Aid, and I was feeling a bit more human.

Sunday, I took the day off, and the good news is that it does not hurt to walk.

And traveling this week, I got on the bike at the hotel tonight after I checked in. I also have my bike in the back of my truck, but I am thinking about running tomorrow morning on the treadmill, to see how it goes. A glutton for punishment? Perhaps.

Wish me luck.
~a

Back in the country

Well, I got back on Friday, but that's neither here nor there...

It was suprisingly an okay week in Calgary. Usually, I get pissed off at the meetings, then I go out at night and get food that is bad for me, and I drink too much.

And yeah, I did some of that, but not that much - even at the dinner that they had for our group where the drinks were flowing freely... I had water to start, and only about 3 glasses of wine.

I stuck to my plan, and biked 10.5 miles on Tuesday, and 11.5 on Wednesday. Thursday, I just had no motivation, so I took the day off (but we did log a couple of miles walking after our meetings that evening) and Friday I got my rear out of bed and swam laps before I packed and met two of my co-workers to share a cab to the airport. Yep, we were planning on meeting in the lobby at 7:30 am. I managed to get up, swim for half an hour, sit in the jacuzzi for about 10 min, shower, pack, get ready, check out, and was in the lobby at 7am. Yikes.

This weekend was pretty good, actually. I met my running group on Saturday morning, and ran about 8 miles. There were points where my hip started screaming at me, but I stopped, and stretched, and worked on my running style to see what worked best, and I finished the distance. I also talked to the coach a bit about what I was doing for training, etc., and she seemed to think that I was taking the right approach. I am planning on doing more biking and swimming this week for exercise, and hopefully getting in to see the doctor. Although I do take it as a promising sign that even though I am somewhat sore and moving gingerly, my knee really does not bother me.

Also on Saturday, I met one of my friends, and we sat on the patio of a local establishment enjoying the weather, each other's company (we really needed to catch up), and some half-price tap beers. Oh, and she enjoyed the cigar I brought back from Canada... since you can actually purchase Cuban cig ars there.

Today, Eric and I went to a friend's house where he pruned a couple of trees for her. I sat and watched. And after we got home, I have managed to balance the checkbooks (sitting outside on the patio with a glass if iced tea), cement patch the fountain (I want to get it running this week), and weeded and watered the flower beds. Eric has the whole week off of work, and I have Wed, Thurs, and Friday off. He's planning on heading north for some fishing, provided he gets enough work done on the boat that needs to get sold...

That's about it. I'm looking forward to a nice long bike ride tomorrow!

~a

Taking a week off

Of running, that is.

Seems like this week is a good one - I am in Calgary for work meetings this week. The hotel actually has a pretty nice exercise room, and a pool in which I can swim laps.

The plan is to ride bicycle and to swim for exercise this week. And stretch, stretch, stretch.

I tried going out for a long run on Saturday, planning on some loops from my house in case the hip/knee started being cranky. About 3 miles in to the 5-mile loop, things were not good. I actually talked to someone at the grad open house I was at on Saturday about the troubles I am having (I think she's a physical therapist or running coach or something like that) but my description of where the pain is, and the pressure point in the front of my hip that alleviates the knee pain, she figured I have a pinched nerve. She also suggested that I needed to do some abdominal strength work. And I knew that, but was ignoring it.

So I biked this morning. About 10.5 miles in my 45 minutes.

Now I need to hop into the shower, and get ready for a day of training.

Woo hoo.
~a

What do you mean it's not Friday?

Sure feels like it should be Friday tomorrow. I hate it when that happens.

It has been a long week already.

I was at the rail yard until 10pm last night. And I was tired. And dusty. It was not as stressful as last year, I will have to say, but when you have to yell at volunteers for doing things that they should not be doing (and have been told to keep the parade participants from doing these things), you start to wonder why you are allowing these people on to your property. It is a working rail yard/intermodal yard - case in point, there was a train that departed a little after 5pm. People started showing up to line up at 4:30. Then there was the kid that I told him and his "adults" to cross the tracks or stay off of them. Then I find him LAYING in the middle of the tracks. Hello???? Yes ladies, you need to watch the children you are responsible for.

But, they have been finding more and more business for that yard, and I really think this is the last year that we are going to allow the parade to stage there. I just don't want to deal with the parade and truck and rail traffic. Too many kids, and not enough adults that care to supervise properly.

Anyhoo, I'm off to home, to grab my suit so I can swim laps/run in my friend's pool.

ta!
~a