Attitude adjusted.

I was not at all happy about running this morning, for many reasons.

I have a list:

• Legs have been sluggish and heavy since the marathon three weeks ago. And, I tire easily. It's like I have nothing in reserve.
• Since taking the short runs up to 7 miles, and the medium/long routes to 12-20 miles during marathon training, it now takes me 2-3 miles just to get warmed up and into a good rhythm. I only had time for a 3 mile run today, which is frustrating.
• It's peak pollen season around here. Runny nose. Itchy eyes. Scratchy throat.
• I've been playing with kids & gardening during spring break, so it's been over a week since my last real cardio workout.

So of course, when I headed out the door this morning, my attitude was less than cheerful. Stayed that way, until I came upon this:

A full block of running past a wall formed by big clusters of wisteria... Problem, solved.

It's time for a haircut. Really, REALLY time.

My hair is past the halfway point between shoulder & waist again. Ponytails are no longer adequate to control tangles & helmet hair. And you don't want to know what kind of a birdsnest I wake up to each morning, though my daughter finds it quite entertaining. I'm back to twisting hair up with a pencil while working, and braiding for exercise and sleep.


Though one might also suspect I've been watching old episodes of Little House on the Prairie while folding laundry, which I have most definitely not been doing. Well... not today, at least.

And now, if you'll excuse me, it's time to ride. Stumbling on Happiness is the audiobook on tap today. Started it over summer vacation, but found little time to listen while surrounded by little people.

Since a tweet changed my outlook last week, should I say I had a good tweek? (a.k.a. Big Darn Week, part two)

It was a no good, terrible, horrible, very bad day or two to start the week last week. Super busy. Trying to put together offer on house. Spacey children who kept leaving lunches at home in the morning, and homework at school in the afternoon. A puppy in a combination of growth spurt & teething phase, leading to regressive behavior.

My heart wasn't really into any exercise that wasn't two-wheeled, and even that was only because of the escape into audiobooks & podcasts I enjoy on rides. My running continued to stink, as it has since getting back to hot & humid Atlanta from vacation, in June.

I was following my normal early morning routine (lunch packing / breakfast rush, stretching, coffee, blog reading, weather checking), when I thought I don't really want to do any of this stuff today. Then I saw an early morning (for her, since she's in TX) tweet from MizFitOnline. It was something about taking on the day with open arms.

It struck a chord with me. What the heck did I really have to complain about? Nothing on my list of grievances was beyond the level of minor annoyance. So, I scrapped all the plans which weren't possible to work out, opened up, and took on the day.

Strapped leashes to my pups for the morning upper body workout - I mean walk. Laughed my butt off at the ability of my lovable little idiot to tangle everybody up in the leash, and at the look on the face my sweetheart of a Peter T. Dog. I would swear he rolls his eyes at Clifford, and that the head tilt & lolling tongue is his own brand of laughter.

Dropped off the forgotten lunch at the elementary school, and took my lunch down to Riverside Park for a ride. Realized my helmet was hanging from the roadster back at the house, so went to a less heavily traveled road, with bicycle lanes for my ride. 10 miles or so, listening to the Adam Smith episode of The Thomas Jefferson Hour (fantastic episode, btw - almost enough to make me start a 3rd attempt to make it through The Wealth of Nations)

Hopped off the bike, changed shoes, and headed down the trail by the Chattahoochee River. Before I'd lost sight of the parking lot, the heavens opened, and I was completely drenched. Ugh. So much for that.

But, wait. That's the kind of thinking that put me into a funk in the first place. Mopped off my face, and started into the woods. Everything was lush and green, and the rain quickly dropped the temperature and cleared away the general pea soup humidity we'd been having for days.

It was the best time I've had running in months. Jumping over rocks and roots. Ducking under branches. Splashing through the runoff streams the trails had turned into. It. Was. So. Much. FUN!


While leaping over a particularly deep & mucky puddle, I was reminded of MizFit's recent posts about being your own superhero... and I definitely felt like one. Pulled out the iPhone, risking water logging, snapped a few pix and moved Mighty Little Man to the top of the playlist.

I'm not sure what my superpowers are yet, but do know that kid chaos and weather are not going to be my downfall. (The photo is of my super soaked feet, as light blue speed silk singlet & white sports bra are better suited for dry, sunny day superhero activities.)

That one tweet was just the nudge I needed. With the improvement in attitude came a big improvement in my workouts. Running is fun again.

Constant Cravings

For the past few days, I've been craving greek yogurt (honey), nutty granola and dark chocolate chips.
Breakfast, lunch (except for one day of thai curry), and dessert. Heck, I'd be eating the same combo for supper too, if not for the rest of the family.

Then, this morning, I'm feeling a bit out of sorts, so opt for a slow lope with the dogs, instead of a tempo run. When I get back home, pour my coffee and put together my yogurt/granola/dark chocolate combo, I sit down at the computer to this at MizFit:

MIZ. What do you eat when you have your period and crave sweets. Lots of sweets. I cant do treat days through my whole cycle. HELP!

Ahhh, that’s me (and many of us) to the proverbial T.

I used to think it was all in my head but, the older I get, the more I realize it isnt. My body truly craves sugar during that time of the month.

Interesting timing, no?

And then, part two of the post:

Miz, I’ve heard you talk about active rest and I wondered if you could define this for me. As a former overexerciser I tend to use the term active rest to pretend to myself I am taking a day off (doctor’s orders) when I am probably still doing too much. Suggestions appreciated. Thanks!

I loved this email because active rest is a concept which took me a while to wrap my training-brain around as well.

I tend toward the other end of the spectrum from our emailer and, when I was following a set program/training for competition, wanted my days of active rest to be more the latter word than the former.

By definition active rest is when we do lightlight activity (walking, slow swimming etc) in order to spark the RECOVERY process and not in an effort to calorie burn or tax our bodies in any fashion.

What?! How did MizFit and her readers get into my head this morning?

In all seriousness though, there's great information in the post and comments about the connections between particular cravings and missing essential nutrients they signal, along with discussion of active rest and recovery exercises.

Allergy Woes

Spring allergies are here. We were okay for the first couple weeks, but the sneezing has escalated over the last several days. The yellow coat of dust on cars became noticeable over the weekend. There's a box of tissues in every room, sometimes two. I line the children up for Alavert before breakfast.

Everyone's tired, and easily winded. We have matching purple circles under our eyes. B1 had to break out the inhaler for his asthma. Story time is limited to 10-15 minutes, regardless of where we are in the chapter, due to scratchy throat.

Best news of the week is the weather. There may be some heavy storms, which is not great, but the rain is so very welcome. I selfishly don't even care about the benefit of four consecutive days of rainy weather on the long-term regional drought. Four days of rain means four days of pollen being washed away. Four days closer to the end of extremely high pollen counts.

Four days of rain also means B1 and I have a chance to catch our breath before the ING Half Marathon on Sunday. I'll be running the half - though running might be more walk/run after the week of upper respiratory ick. B1 will be finishing his half. His middle school participated in ING Run for Something Better, and the kids get to finish up their batch of shorter runs with the final 1.1 mile on the half/marathon course. I'm quite proud of B1. He got rather excited about the running, and I'm pretty sure he's over 20 miles for the last several weeks. Hopefully, this excitement will continue into the future.

Since there's not a lot of running for a couple of days, what with the not being able to breathe and all, I'm playing indoors. Trying out a bit of upper body work with the yoga and core. Using a 15 lb kettlebell. So far, I like it. It's rather fun to swing it around, especially if picturing the cartoon "strongman" in my head while doing so. Only thing I'm not so happy about is when the weight slams into or rests on my wrists during a few of the exercises. My hands may be large, almost to the point of being man hands, but I have itty-bitty wrists that are like toothpicks in comparison.

Rest Day & Bike Maintenance

Ran a long-ish 9.5 miles on Tuesday, and another 4 miles Wednesday. Today should be a rest day.

Except, it's a really beautiful day, 73 and sunny. Perfect for a short ride to Trader Joes. Which I can't do.

Patty (commuter/hybrid) needs a new pair of shoes. I noticed a little bit of cracking around the tread on the back tire last time I hooked up the foot pump. I took a closer look today, while getting ready to clean chain & gears, and there's cracking in the rubber of both tires, in the tread and fine cracks most of the way around the rim.

I'm not sure how long tires are supposed to last, but 2-1/2 years of riding (somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 miles) is how long these tires made it. Don't know how much is regular wear & tear, and how much is exposure to the elements during storage. The bike isn't completely protected on the carport. No rain, but it does get greater swings of temperature and humidity than it would in a garage.

I'll try the replacement over the weekend, while finishing Patty's spring cleaning. Stuck one of the wheels into the truck, and will pick up new tires tomorrow at the Silver Comet Depot. Should pack the road bike, too. It'd be a shame if I didn't go for a quick 20 mile spin while I'm out there.

If getting the new tires popped into the rim, or reattaching the brakes after putting the wheels back on proves to be beyond me, I'll drop her off at the bike shop early next week... and take the opportunity for another SCT ride.

And for dealing with the frustration of a rest day? The dog needs a run. About three miles ought to do it.

Perfect day!

The week that started out with snow and cold, is ending with this:

It was a little chilly during yesterday morning's ride to Trader Joe's, but today was so nice, I decided to do all my errands on bike. Picked up my number for tomorrows Chattahoochee Road Runner 10k, then kept pedaling right down the road to Whole Foods, where I proceeded to completely blow my grocery budget for the week on dried fruit, nuts and seeds. (Will be making Nutty Granola later this evening.)

I'm bubbling over about the arrival of Spring. (please, please, PLEASE, let the nice weather stick around for a while) Yesterday, I saw three spandex clad cyclists, out for a ride. Today, I saw another commuter! He was riding around in street clothes, like me. We waved.

More later. Right now, I'm off to the kids' school. We're reading the last chapter of Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief in my son's 4th grade class, and continuing Neil Gaiman's Coraline in DD's class. I'll be bringing the kids home with me, so have to drive the truck... darn. If there were sidewalks, we'd be using them instead.

Anticipating the "Ouch!"

Yesterday, when I said hot yoga was good, but not as exhausting as a 2 hour bike ride in August? I take that back. I went to a Power Yoga class today, and I can already tell it will be tough to roll out of bed into the cold tomorrow morning. Up dog, downward dog, planks, and a bunch of positions I couldn't begin to pronounce. I haven't done so many pushups at one time since 6th grade. (Broken arms, followed by 4 years of marching band meant no gym class after that.) The muscles of my upper body and core will be screaming, if the whimpering I'm hearing from them now are any gauge.

Putting away a stack of towels on the top shelf of the linen closet, my triceps trembled. From lifting bath towels over my head.

I think it's time to consult the trainers at the Y for an upper body / weight regimen. The running and cycling have given me lovely legs - it's a shame to keep them paired to these arms.

Half Training, 1/12-1/18

Monday 1/12:
Hot yoga, 90 min

Tuesday (w/dog):
Easy/Trail Run, 4.03 mi, 42:39

Wednesday:
Unplanned Rest Day (School Stuff)

Thursday:
Easy Run, 3.12 mi, 28:31
Hot yoga, 90 min
Bike Commute, 2.5 mi

Friday:
Hot yoga, 90 min

Saturday:
*Long Run, 4.25 mi, 45 min

Sunday:
Rest Day (Birthday Party w/kidlets)

*Long run on Saturday was planned as a 6 miler. My toes were going numb 30 minutes in, so I looped back home. Am wearing thicker socks for the below 30 degree runs.

The temps are still rather low this week, so I'm not pushing myself too hard on the mileage. I have the hang of layering and am now keeping my toes warm in the right socks on cold days. It's breathing in the cold air which gets me. The inside of my nose and my throat feels as though on fire once I get the heart rate up. Shooting for more running days, but shorter runs, which should help me get used to the cold... just in time for Spring, which won't be long, here in Georgia.

I started a 10 day pass with Atlanta Hot Yoga last Monday. I'm taking as many classes as possible, to get a feel for how crowded different class times are, and to experience the different styles of the instructors. After the 10 days are up, I'm going to work two classes in each week, either on stretch/strength days, or for crosstraining. I can't begin to explain how heavenly it is to hang out in the 90-95 degree room. It's not quite as exhausting as a two hour cross country ride on the bicycle in August, but it's doing good things for my chilled limbs and Winter Blahs.

Officially In-Training

With the kids back in school. I spent last week adjusting back to a "normal" schedule. Ran four times, a total of about 14 miles for the week. Hadn't quite decided what to do with my late winter / early spring, so I spent a bit of time thinking about it while I was getting back up to daily official exercise. (Lugging laundry, ironing, cooking, cleaning, etc. - exhausting, but not officially exercise.)

While putting my Saturday run into my Runners World training log, I noticed the calendar. I'm 11-12 weeks out from the ING Atlanta Half Marathon. Just enough time to start an intermediate improve-your-time program. I don't see why I can't tackle the "run a half marathon faster than 2008" goal right now.

There are a couple of 10k races between now and March 29th, so I stand a good chance of checking the P.R. for that distance off the list, too. Any 5k races over the next few months will likely be with my kids, so it's their fun that counts. (Times count too, but in an neener-neener I run faster than you, you stinky boy/ snotty girl way, common to siblings everywhere.)

I'm reading up on Hal Higdon's Intermediate Half Plan (12 week), as well as the Long Program - Half Marathon Training (10 week) at Runner's World. I'll probably end up with a mash up of the two, but here's what I have come up with for this week:

Monday - Stretch/Strength
Tuesday - 4 mile, easy
Wednesday - XT / Rest
Thursday - 3 mile, hill
Friday - Stretch / Strength
Saturday - 6 mile, long
Sunday - 3 mile, easy

Playing in traffic

I haven't officially exercised since Christmas. I've hiked, walked, played tag and field hockey, done kid yoga, and bowled while the kids have been home from school, but nothing official. I went for my first run of 2009 today, and it was wonderful!

It was misting heavily, with temps in the low 60s. I had on my favorite nike skirt and salt crusted hat. I was outside, cruising along at grown up speed, happy to be keeping my eyes on actual cars and dodging puddles, rather than keeping an eye out for orange juice puddles and dodging matchbox cars in the house.

3.2 miles @ 8:56/mile

It was a great start to the year!

Ouch!

Had a very active weekend. Three mile hill run Friday. 32-mile Silver Comet Ride Saturday. Trader Joes bicycle trip and swimming on Sunday. Felt great, and had my plan for alternating run/bike days all week this week.

Monday morning. Groin pull. Ugh.

I'd like to say it happened in some super cool, sporting accident. Trail running in a sudden downpour & slipping while leaping over a stream. Or wiping out on my bike while setting a new personal speed record. Even an incident involving blushing and snickering silence would make for a better story than what really happened.

Heavy basket of wet towels + Darting cat = OUCH! I turned too quickly on one foot, while standing on a spot of orange juice splashed by a child. (I don't want to know which one.)

Oh well. Gives me a chance to start on the next round of closet clearing. And to work on arms and shoulders while pulling myself through the water at the pool.

Running Bunnies...

...I mean Buddies. 51:55 was our time at the Atlanta Susan G Koman Race for the Cure on Saturday. Not great, but also not bad, considering the 5k course was packed to the point where staying together while walking was a challenge, let alone finding enough space to run together for more than a minute at a time. We walked most of the course.

My oldest (B1) was away for the weekend, so he missed the thrill of traveling through Midtown with mom & siblings in bunny ears. B2 had a great time, but was happy to give the shirt to his sister, who is more than happy to have two oversized shirts with pink ribbons.

All in all, a great start to Mother's Day weekend.

Two-wheeled Timesaver

I've been riding my hybrid (commuter) bike to and from Trader Joe's for smaller grocery trips for about a year now. The route I take is 2.5 miles, round trip. I have a basket mounted to the front post/handlebars which holds a TJ's shopping bag (reusable) snugly on the the ride home. It takes about 35 mins, including the shopping. When I'm on my road bike, groceries in backpack, about 30 mins.

I didn't think I could make a car trip much faster, so I've been testing. Using the slightly longer route I take in the car, I've been timing the last few trips. I limited myself to the one shopping bag of goods when in the truck, just so I didn't throw the time off by spending more time perusing the aisles of goodies. As of today's trip, I have three to five trips of each transport, so here's the round-up:

3 miles, 1 bag (or backpack) of groceries.
Hybrid: 33-37 mins.*
Road: 30-35 mins.
Truck: 35-42 mins.*
*Longest trip times were Saturdays, when traffic was great, but store/parking lot was packed.

That's right. Taking the truck is slower than bike. It's not the time on the road, since the car is faster than my pedaling. I don't do anything crazy at intersections, either. I wait at the red lights, just like everyone else.

The time saved is the time I do NOT spend engaged in the parking lot shuffle. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods both have the typical congestion you'd find at any strip mall. Especially around lunch. On the bike, straight down the aisle, hop off at the sidewalk, walk the bike over to the cart return and chain. Takes a minute or two.
Same thing when I'm on the way home.

I'm really glad to know this. No more excuses about not having time to exercise.

Wait. I just took away my last excuse.

Adjusting the Schedule

In order to make my rest days coincide with my christmas travel days, I changed the schedule today. It should have been my Long Run day, but I switched to an Easy 4.5 miles. Tomorrow will be cycling (in a brisk 45 degrees), then the Long Run will be Monday. That gives me Tuesday off, an easy run on Wednesday, and Thursday off for traveling.

The training logs at Runners World have made keeping up with this sooooo much easier. I'll be looking over the Kaiser half/marathon training plans, to see where I can put my own goals. (Thanks to Steph at Back In Skinny Jeans for the links to their schedules.)

This week, 3 runs, 12 miles. I'll add tomorrow's 15-20 miles on the bike to that, and call it an official "Not Bad".
I'm planning a similar total for next week, maybe bumping to 15 miles, and will wait until the kids are back in school to really start piling on the miles.

Super thankful for the folks who put together the workout music segments at fitmusic. They really help me keep going on the runs. For cycling, I keep my brain busy with audiobooks from Audible or the podcast version of FreeTalkLive's radio show.

Morning Runs

With the kids out of school for the holidays, my schedule has turned upside down. My early mornings and late evenings are usually full of sandwich making, homework checking and uniform prep, and I can be flexible during the school day to fit in exercise. For the next couple of weeks, I'll be rolling out of bed and out the door each day at 6:45. Kids aren't up yet, so it's the only time of day I'm not "on duty".

This morning was the first. The dog spotted my shoes, and practically knocked me over on the way to his leash. Five minute walk, followed by 7 min run, 2 min walk intervals. Stayed in the neighborhood, so had the opportunity to do a couple of big hills.

Total was three miles, avg. 11:13/mile. didn't feel like too much to handle, so will try to go a little farther and/or faster tomorrow morning.

Snoozing vs. Snacking

I'm tired. Sleepy. Groggy. And Snacky. Okay, so snacky isn't a word, but I am snacky.

The kids finished up their homework, helped with dinner prep, ate all their vegetables, so I got to be the fun mom last night & declare a movie evening, something we usually don't do during the week. We've been recording Tin Man on SciFi, and were itching to get started watching the first part. A 6:30 request for anything other than cartoons or ice cream in my house is a pleasant surprise. I said "sure".

The "re-imagining" of The Wizard of Oz takes getting used to, but I like this darker version. It's funny and magical, and different, in a good way. It doesn't replace the original movie by any stretch - and it's not trying to. It's like the daydreaming you did at the age of 10 after finishing a really good book or movie. It's extra.

Finished up and got everybody to bed by 9, which isn't too late. Then it was time for my evening work to begin. Laundry, kitchen cleanup, breadmaking, lunch prep for the next day, ironing.... finished up around 12:30-1:00.
Yuck. Usually I get started on all this while the kids are playing a game, finishing homework, torturing each other with staring contests, etc. But I was as wrapped up in the movie as they were, and didn't do any of that until later.

Getting up this morning was hard. Making breakfast and packing lunchboxes were tough. Having hot herbal tea, instead of brewing coffee, was darn near impossible. The map changes I'm working on are swimming on the page and screen, and I'm fighting sugar cravings. Researchers say... a lot of things, but in this case... that how much sleep we get has direct ties to weight. From the Daily Mail:

People who slept four hours or less per night were 73 per cent more likely to be obese than those who slept between seven and nine hours a night. And those who got five hours sleep a night were still 50per cent more likely to be obese.

Glucose tolerance, hormonal changes, metabolic changes, combined with an exhausted body being harder to force off the sofa for exercise? Sounds like my day. According to the article, a 15 min. nap will do more good than a cappuccino, but I'm not a napper. Can't sleep when the sun is up unless I'm really sick. Exercise is going to have to do the trick. No cycling today. Have to purchase cycling gloves before I ride in the mornings. Thought I was going to lose my fingers last ride. I'll be strapping on the trainers and heading out for a walk/run. Maybe my route will pass Starbucks.

House Cleaning As Exercise?

End of a very busy week, and I was so looking forward to hitting the trail for a few hours today. Didn't make it. Like I said, it was a busy week, so that means I'm a touch behind on laundry, dusting, shopping, and just about everything else. Had two large maps, and a few smaller projects, in production at the same time, instead of the normal workload. Got everything off to the printer yesterday though, and my weekend is... not quite mine, but at least it's my family's?

Rather than getting in a snit about it though, I'm diving in. Massive grocery shopping trip, as the pantry and fridge were both stripped by all the extra people next week. Scrubbed the kitchen, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, the works. Amazing how much activity this is, when it's all in one day. I'm taking a short break while waiting for the third load of linens to finish drying. Blogging and menu planning as a break? Sigh... I'm such a mom.

The kids are working furiously, bagging up leaves in the yard. Well, maybe furious is the wrong word. For every leaf that makes it into a bag, there's another getting shoved down a sibling's shirt. In a few minutes, my oldest son will remember the amount of payment is dependent upon the number of finished bags, and they'll be back at real work.

As for why I'm menu planning AFTER the grocery trip, it's more of re-planning. A few of the items were unavailable, so I'm adjusting the plan for meals I'll be cooking tomorrow for later this week. The produce section had been picked clean of all the desirable peppers, tomatoes and lemons, and the broccoli bin was empty. Cauliflower has to be fixed a certain way to make it past one particularly picky eater, so I'm figuring out how much extra cheese sauce I need to make tonight. I can add salsa to it tomorrow to go with grilled chicken & chips, and save some for Monday with the cauliflower. Yea, me!

I've pulled most of the items that are leaving my closet this weekend and set aside for drop off. I'll start taking stock (and photos) of the pieces I'm keeping next week. Building up a virtual wardrobe, I guess.

Now, back to work.

Scheduled to the 9's

Book fair week. Ugh. As much as I love all the books, and seeing the rugrats perusing the stacks at the Scholastic Book Fair each year, I really miss sleep. In order to find time to be at both schools, work gets pushed back to evenings for a few days this week.

Have picked up a few items for myself, um ahem, that is to say, the kids.
The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman
-Comes with a movie poster, which the DD & B2 are fighting over
The Artemis Fowl Files, by Eoin Colfer
-Contains short stories about Mulch. How can one miss out on gassy dwarf stories?
Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney
-Looks like a lot of fun, will read when B2 finishes.
Beowulf, by Gareth Hinds - Graphic Novel
-Yeah, this one is just for me. The kids can read it, but it's mine.
A 36 yr old with an occasional comic book jones, ack.
And, finally, The City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau.
-I'm really looking forward to reading this outloud for bedtime over the next week or two.
It looks to be one that should strike the fancy of a 6 yr. old, her brothers, 8 and 13,
and their dear old mom. (I'll have to keep my fingers crossed on the 13 yr old appeal.
He's in the "that's boring little kid stuff" phase.

Anyways, didn't have time for putting in any miles today, but tomorrow I'll hit the track. I needed the recovery day after this past weekend. Solid hour of jogging on Friday, a 1 hour group ride on Saturday (with hills), another hour of running on Sunday. It was all I could do to make 25 loops of the track on Monday.

Now, time to catch up on some Ron Paul reading, and then get back to mapping.