Monthly Archives: March 2011

Running, running, running…

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Week 2 of the 5K training is on. It’s Thursday already (How in the WORLD did that happen?) and LA has cranked up the heat. 90 degrees is our high today, and it makes me glad today is  “rest” day.

Yesterday I meant to run in the morning. I packed my gym bag. I packed my things for work. I set my alarm. I knew I’d make myself add to my iPod’s playlist in the morning. Everything was ready. And I woke up…at 6:45. Too late to do ANYTHING about the fact that I was supposed to run. So I got up (at least I could be on time for work) and chastised myself the entire way to work, knowing this meant rushing to the gym after work to run before a scheduled meeting with MMC and Cor.

I left work on time, and got to the gym at 5:55. Not horrible, could be better. I stretched, cursed the fact that my jams were SO OLD. I got on the treadmill, already hot (damn 24hour fitness, please turn the air up, please) but determined. As I ran, I tried to keep my speed at 6.0 and above, as my sorella suggested, because it would help my legs not get tired as quickly because they were at my natural stride. I allowed myself less walks. My heart rate was around 180 the entire time, and I pushed, and pushed, and pushed. As I got to a mile, I was at less than 12:30, and I knew I was on to something. I allowed a quick walk, then was back at it. The result?

1.5 miles in 17:51. More than 90 seconds off my previous best time of 19:29. I am feeling good today. I think I need to work on pace (I am a sprinter, walker, sprinter, more so than a jogger) and figure out a way to run outside without falling flat on my face or getting run over in this crazy city. Also I’d like to avoid the loooooong hills that Hollywood specializes in. We’ll see how I do.

With this 90 degree weather today, I will be waiting until next week to see how the outside world is…meanwhile, tomorrow is another 1.75 run, so I will attempt to run that in the AM to allow myself a free Friday evening. This afternoon? A walk through the neighborhood to make up for my Tuesday rest day, possibly to Paula Deen’s book on tape or else some podcasts.

Meanwhile, if you could guys could send a mixed CD my way, and podcast suggestions for my walks, that’d be great.

The Original Hipster

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I downloaded “Instagram” on my phone a few nights ago. The PW told me to, and I mostly trust her in all things. I told Jeff about it, because I was tinkering around on my phone.

“That’s so hipster,” he exclaimed.

“No, it’s not! PW told me to get it, she’s not hipster!” So there, I thought.

“She lived in LA and then moved to the country. And writes a blog. About the country. That makes her like the original hipster.”

Well, maybe it does.

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Last night Corelyn and I went to Griffith Observatory to watch the sunset, something on her LA bucket list. I took this photo with my Instagram program. OK, so maybe there is a little hipster inside of me. A smidge.

A non-hipster photograph of the observatory, all lit up. More to come.

You’re so sad, and pathetic. So sad! So wilty!

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That is what I just exclaimed to the spinach I spied in my fridge. Home from running for the night (we’ll get to that in a minute) and now showered, and starving, I ate a few handfuls of “Trekking along with Cashews and Hibiscus” and realized I needed to figure out what to eat for dinner.

The kitchen left clues that suggested Jeff had pasta earlier in the day. “So I am guessing you won’t want pasta for dinner, too?” I asked. “No, I’ll do pasta again,” he says over the phone.

Do I have the ingredients for cheese sauce? Barely. The showing of the cheese in my fridge is distressing. Only parm, and a half-block of raw milk cheddar. Did we have any red sauce on the shelves? No. Now, to those of you who live in LA, I know this will shock you. Don’t worry – I have the supplies to make a sauce from scratch, but my stomach is rumbling NOW. Plus Jeff has to rush back out to work tonight, so that won’t do.

Jeff offers to stop at TJ’s for sauce and sausage – our favorite quick dinner. So now, to the kitchen to prepare the water for pasta (of which we’re dwindling close to less than 5 pounds. Jeff assures me we must use up our “random” pasta before we add to the collection. I am skeptical.) Spinach and chive linguine I must have bought once at TJs, although I don’t know what possessed me. I don’t like linguine. It must have been for something, but now it’s tonight’s dinner.

And now, a vegetable, which leads me to the conversation with the spinach. I opened the fridge, scared of what I’d fine in the vegetable drawer. The CSA from last week is half eaten, and I went to the farmer’s market yesterday and committed a cardinal sin of the farmer’s market. I was on my cell phone when purchasing. I also (sin number two) was in a time crunch, as yoga started at noon. This led to the purchase of a large bunch of spinach, a medium bunch of kale, two crowns of broccoli, an onion, some garlic, three lemons, and who knows what else.

This melody added to the Swiss chard, artichokes, beets, carrots, baby carrots, onion, and garlic I ALREADY had made for a very green fridge. Oh CSA, why can’t you teach me another way to each artichokes?

Anyways, back to tonight, and my kitchen. Like I said, I had a lot of veg. So I figured Jeff would prefer broccoli to say, chard. Opened the fridge, and spotted the sad, pathetic, ONE DAY OLD spinach. “Really? Really you look like that? I bought you yesterday. Pathetic.” So the spinach went in, and then the broccoli as planned, head shaking all the way.

Luckily Jeff knows that TJ’s for sausage and sauce also means garlic bread, so we have that to look forward to.

Meanwhile, I ran Friday and then again today. 1.75 miles today, 23:35. Not bad, says Nikki, and my feet. My body is so sore from yesterday’s yoga where I had a great aha! moment that involved really working my arms like I should have been all along from plank to up dog. Anyways, tangent. This run was the longest yet, probably the longest distance I’ve ever run just to run, and my feet did NOT blister over. They instead have callused. I take this as a good sign, despite that all this working out has led me to talk to spinach in my kitchen…

Probably started off like me…

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So we’re on Day 5 over here, and already I am learning about the blessings and curses of a scheduled training plan. So far, running has been fine, but not great and not bad. I’ve improved from Monday to Wednesday, but my blisters are that much more developed. In fact, after running Monday night then Wednesday morning I am giving myself until tomorrow after work to run so I can give my blisters that much more time to heal. We’ll see if it makes a difference…

Monday was running for the first time, which I did at Liz’s gym. This proved beneficial because having someone potentially seeing you run makes you push yourself harder, I find.

Tuesday was a rest day, so I chose to walk for 40 minutes to keep my body moving. This was to Trader Joe’s and back, where I purchased some Brussels for dinner. The walk was good, but I got a little bored, and it was a smidge cold. I think I’ll try to make sure I have a walking partner at least on my weekend walks, and maybe finally upload my Paula Deen book on tape or some podcasts to my iPhone so I can be interested while walking.

Wednesday was my second running day, but I knew I had to run in the morning because Liz and I had yoga that evening. I got up, lugged two bags/outfits to my car, and headed to the gym just before 7:00. 19:29 later, I was done. Shaved thirty seconds off my 1.5 miles, and I am happy to report my best mile time as of late of 12:49. Definitely an improvement. Seeing results so quickly is really great and satisfying, but don’t worry – I’m not getting used to it. The blisters did resurface, however, at full strength, which was nerve-racking as I had to run again on Friday.

Wednesday night it poured, just in time for Liz and I to head to yoga. We arrived soaked, disheveled, and out of place. It’s not that we don’t walk the walk – we came in with our mats, dressed in what could pass for legit yoga gear. We just don’t necessarily talk the talk, if you will. That is to say, when the instructor said, “Now it looks like sitting might not be the most comfortable for some of us, so why don’t you lie down,” I couldn’t look at Liz, for fear of bursting out laughing. Not to mention the point where the man in front of us fell asleep during savasana. There were definitely a few times that I was in tears laughing, holding it in for the sake of not letting Liz lose it. Needless to say, next time we go to yoga it will not be to the “gentle” class. No, L, it’ll be Level 1.

Thursday I spent recooping. It’s holiday hours at work, which means I get off an hour early. I headed down to Bella Bridesmaid to try on my dress for Nikki’s wedding and then headed home for an evening of hanging out with Jeff. A few house hunters and food network later, I’m gearing up for tomorrow’s run. I’ll be headed to the gym after work, then I will be ready for a weekend away from running. Knowing that the weekend requires walking but no running, per say, is a blessing, but the curse lies in a Monday run. But let’s get through Friday, first.

5k Training, Day 1: Rest (or run/walk)

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Yesterday was day 1 for my 5k training. (Day 1: rest, (or walk/run.)) Having my first day be a “rest” day wasn’t really amping me up for running a 5K.

Luckily, it was also the day of the LA Marathon, which my friends G and S ran in.

As my car was out of commission yesterday, I came up with a plan to cheer on friends at mile 11 and make it to the finish line in time to root them during their final stretch. With promises of a comfy couch, and coffee, I lured S’s brother R over at 6:00 am after dropping S at the marathon’s starting point. At about 8:30 I shuffled out of bed, opened my computer to the LA Marathon page, and realized that a) it was monsooning out and b) the website was down. So we decided to head up to mile 11 to cheer them on around 9:00, figuring we’d just about be on time.

Coffee and umbrellas in hand, we headed to the race. Turning the first corner of my street, I realized the race was a lot closer to home than I thought. There, on Sunset Boulevard, were dozens of people cheering on the runners. It was so heartening to see these people screaming for people, most of whom they didn’t know, would never see again. We only waited about fifteen minutes before R’s brother was running by, and we were yelling and cheering. The rain poured on as we waited for G to whiz by. I texted MMC to see what G was wearing.

“Now I feel like every guy in a blue tank is G…G!!!!! G!!!!!!!!!!” And there he was, not fifteen minutes behind S.

After high-fiving G, we headed back to the house for a little more coffee, and headed to Culver City to get Cor and move our party to the finish line. The rain was really coming down as we headed towards the ocean, and the wind was gradually picking up. Galoshes on, Cor in tow, we found our way to Santa Monica and all but pushed our way to the front of the marathon barriers.

By this point, R, Cor, and I were soaked. Umbrellas were no longer a help. The wind blowing, spitting salty rain into our faces, we kept our eyes on the runners.

“What’s he wearing?” Cor asked.
“Gray. And gray,” I replied, looking at every runner…
But there he was, running towards us!
“S!! S!! HEY S! HEY S!” we yelled. Head didn’t turn, but we saw him smile, figured he heard us.

The next hour was what really made the day. Rain, alternating between hard, harder, and THIS IS A HURRICANE, streaked down our faces. Our clothes were pasted to us, umbrellas lay useless at our sides. My hood shielded my eyes barely, and the taste of the ocean was on our lips. This, my friends, was rain. “THIS IS WORSE THAN FORKS!” Cor and I agreed. (In Forks, we hiked three miles, in the sleet. On a mountain, through the woods. This, this was worse.)

And so, to pass the time, Cor, R, and I took to screaming for people who were running. “YEA JOEY, GO JOEY, JOEY YOU’RE AWESOME, FINISH STRONG.” At first, people around us thought I knew a lot of people. Finally they realized I was just reading names off people’s bibs. “YEA BECKY, YOU ROCK!” I yelled. For an hour, we cheered and cheered and cheered. And then cheered some more. And still, cheered. I must have told five Jeffs, a dozen Johns, and several C(K)hristina’s to “pick it up, YOU’RE SO CLOSE, LET’S GO.”

Some people were genuinely thankful for our screaming, whereas some people were genuinely surprised someone knew their name. Either way, that hour was one of the most rewarding hours I’ve spent in a long time.

After we saw G run by (with a sprained ankle and he STILL finished!) we headed to find S, shivering, tired, but content. We headed back to R and Cor’s place, warmed up, and congratulated S on his job well done.

So what does this long, drawn out story have to do with my 5k? Besides the obvious inspiration drawn from S and G (if they can run a marathon then why can’t I run a 5k?) I felt inspired by the fans. Here were hundreds of people, cheering on thousands more, some people they knew, some they didn’t. Saying, you go, here you are, you’ve done it, you’ve finished it, you ROCK. Feeling the energy and support in the crowd made me realized that yea, I can do it. I can run this 5k. This is my moment.

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Today, day 2 of my training, I had to run 1.5 miles. This was further than I have ever consciously run at a time. And I hadn’t run in a few weeks, because work has been crazy. Liz and I headed to the gym together, and I kind of psyched myself out while waiting for the treadmill. After 1.5 miles on the recumbent bike, I was warmed up. I stretched, made a new playlist, hopped on.

20 minutes and 2 seconds later, I was done. I had stopped a few time to walk, but knew that I wouldn’t make my goal of a 13 minute mile if I walked any more. 13:00 came and I had gotten to 1 mile, and then spent the rest of the time trying to keep pace. I (almost) succeeded, and then spent 5 minutes cooling down.

After weight training and a heart to heart while strengthening my shoulders, I headed to my car and drove home. Taking my shoes off, I noticed two shiny, new blisters rising from the bottom of my feet.

Next step? Figuring out how to run my 1.5 miles on Wednesday with blistered feet.

Advice is always welcome.