Is this what they mean by "Active Lifestyle"???

Thanksgiving Weekend 2009. Since my normal family routine was blown apart for this Thanksgiving, I kept myself busy in other ways. First there was the Turkey Chase 10k documented previously.
Friday - I spent in my office, bored out of my mind, but not wanting to waste a day of leave since I was not going shopping any where!
Saturday - I hiked with the Capital Hiking Club. It was a gorgeous late November day. We did a 9 mile loop, inside the beltway. We started at Roosevelt Island along the Potomac in Virginia, crossed the Key Bridge into Georgetown, then went up the tow path along the C&O Canal, then crossed the Chain Bridge back over the Potomac and back into Virginia to head back to parking taking the Potomac Heritage Trail. It was nice and a few rock scrambles to keep your brain entertained. I had an excellent nap on the couch later in the day! I love a good afternoon nap!

Sunday - I did a 30 mile bike ride with a few people from hiking club. Gina (my bike) was very happy to be out on the road! Again, another stellar late November Day. People were outside every where! We started in Bethesda, MD and meandered through several old neighborhoods, along the Capital Crescent Trail, through Sligo Creek, and through Rock Creek Park. In several of these areas the roads are closed to motorized traffic on the weekends. It was a wonderful ride, a few good hills in for good measure. We finished up with lunch at an Irish pub. Lunch and a couple beers! YUM!!

Whew! Sunday night I visited with an old friend I haven't seen in a while. When I got home, I mustered my last bit of energy to take Sampson for his walk and then I was off to bed! I think that was pretty good for a weekend known for notorious over eating! Today, I made into a rest day. Tuesday it will be back to the run and work out schedule.

Turkey Chase 10k 2009 Race Report

It was a misty, cool morning for the Turkey Chase 10k. Along with the 10k, there is also a 2 mile fun run/walk and little kids event. There were dancing Turkeys and I got my picture taken with one post-race. There were people dressed as Turkeys running/walking the 10k. There was a little boy running with his Dad. I think he was 6 or 7. It was his first 10k! Awesome! And there was a this really old man running with his daughters or granddaughters ( I didn't ask). It was awesome too see. He was all hunched over from age, but he was still going!

This was my longest run of all of 2009, so I am pretty happy with myself and my time. I finished in 1:13:42 for an average of 11:52 mile. Not the speediest of people, but I really haven't been out there training for this either. This will however give me a good base for my continued half marathon training. I was the 4052nd finisher and there are many women in my age group that are much faster than me as I was 238 out of 256....but that all doesn't matter. What matters is that my ass was out there running period! I only walked at the water stops and when I had to take a layer off. For this race I wore my new Iniji compression socks. They worked wonders because my calves and shins are feeling pretty good today. My quads and hammies are a little on the sore side. I also wore my new purple jacket made by Craft. I bought it in the hopes that it will work for running and cycling during these colder months. I will test it out on the bike soon!

I hope all had a Happy Turkey Day and didn't eat too much. Enjoy your weekends!

Fingers, toes and girly stuff

I have only had 1 run since the 5 k race. And it was only 2 miles. YIKES! I signed up for the 10k Turkey Chase on Thanksgiving day morning. I am just going to run slow and steady and walk if I need to, I know its a race, but...... I will get a run in tomorrow morning. As a friend of mine, who is also a running coach, said, you will be able to run the 10k, it just may not feel very good later! ha ha SO TRUE! I think I may need an ice bath aftewards before I go over to my brother's for Thanksgiving dinner.

I had a headaches off and on all weekend. Mostly they killed in the morning and then when they finally had faded, my day had too many other things going on to get in a run. UGH... I even had to cancel a bike ride yesterday due to headache and schedule issues. My child keeps me busy with her activities ... driving all over the county I am.

Plus side of my weekend, I got a pedicure AND manicure. A lovely navy blue on the toes and a red on my short fingernails. Normally I am just a pedicure girl. I stay fairly consistent on the toes, especially in the Summer. August was the last time I went in for a pedicure. My toes needed some serious pampering. You can still see evidence of blisters on toes in the photo. Because I was killing time while my daughter was in 3 hours of rehearsal, I decided to go for the manicure. I hardly ever get a manicure. It was a really girly weekend overall because I also attend a makeup event at Ulta put on by Smashbox. I got my makeup done and then my daughter had hers done... and of course then we spent money on some Smashbox products and got some free products. So girly... and I am not all that girly that often... I do love to play with the make up though...

King of Road 5k Report

After several days of yucky weather from the remnants of Ida that became a Nor'Easter, Sunday dawned absolutely lovely. There was a bit of fog earlier on, but by race time the sun was out, the skies were clear and I was going to have to get rid of the vest I was wearing or I would be burning up on my run! By race start I was wishing I had on short sleeves! Ahhh the mid-Atlantic area in the Fall, very changeable.
I haven't run just a 5k alone since May of 2008 (Police Week 5k May 2008 time 32:24 - 10:25/mile). The rest of 2008 was longer runs or I was on my bike. All my 2009 running has been with triathlons. So according to the web postings My gun time was 33:22, my net time was 32:59, with a 10:37/mile pace. NOW according to my Garmin I had a 10:26/pace. Either way I am happy with it. Now can I train myself to run this pace for 13.1 miles???? For these shorter runs I would really like to get down to a 10 min mile pace, but in the end it really doesn't matter. I am having fun! I felt pretty good the whole run. Although, my lovely tendonitis was talking to me after about 2.5 miles. PLEASE STOP BEING A PAIN! Next up the Turkey Chase 10k on Thanksgiving morning. This one has some hills. I need to add some into my training between now and then.

The rest of my Sunday was running errands, house chores, shuttling daughter to class... etc...
I need another weekend. I wasn't ready for this one to be over.

So far so good

Another run on the books on Tuesday. I ran 3 miles. Poky slow, but it was three miles. I have decided that I need a new Garmin. I have an ancient model - it is huge! I would like to incorporate the garmin and the heart rate monitor, thus reducing the amount of crap I have to wear on my wrists. Lately, I've been leaving the heart rate monitor at home. Any suggestions out there?? I don't need it to integrate with my bike. I have and like my bike computer.

This morning I did my strength work out at the gym. A noon today I will go to a Yoga class at my work's fitness center and since I am a bit slow on any work tasks I may even stay for the core conditioning class. While I don't have work at my desk, I can work on my total being.... :)
I am joining the Maintain for the Holidays challenge at the work fitness center. You can stay the same weight, lose weight, but you cannot gain more than 2 lbs. It starts Nov 18 and goes until right after the New Year. I am pretty good on maintaining... I really would like to lose. But all in all I just really want to remain and be HEALTHY!

So I am on a Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday run cycle, with Sunday's being the long run day. Mon, Wed, Fri - strength training and then I hope to have Alternate Thursday nights a bike ride and then a longish bike ride on Saturdays. On the Thursdays that I will ride at night (bike shop ride), I will run in the morning. On the Thursday nights I don't ride I will run in the evening with the Fleet Feet night run. In case you are wondering (probably not but I will mind dump it anyway), the alternating Thursday's correspond with the child schedule with her Dad. Thus if he has her I don't have to drive all the way down to Bethesda to pick her up from rehearsal, thus I don't do the bike ride... Although, this production she is in ends with performances in December. So I guess I will figure out what I will do with the schedule then.. I will probably still alternate as I like to socialize at the Fleet Feet run as well as at the bike shop.

On a personal note, the papers were filed yesterday. Nearly three years since it all went down, we are finally getting to the legal finality. It is TIME!

A little bike and a litte more run

So I ended up at a Happy Hour on Friday night. I didn't drink that much, but then I slept like crap Friday night and subsequently woke up feeling crappy. I did not ride on Saturday, although it was a nice day to be outside. I did finish up some stuff I needed to do at home, so still productive.
Sunday! I woke up and felt like a ride. So I geared up for the weather. It was sunny, but in the 40's. That can be quite chilly once you are on a bike. I have an ancient Bell Weather hooded, long sleeve pullover that is awesome for this weather. Nice to have that head toasty in the helmet! I wore a bike jersey over that. I had my leg sleeve thingys with my shorts and then full gloves. My hands were still cold which I didn't like. My butt was chilled, but where my leg sleeves were I was comfortable. Perhaps a thicker bike short or tight is needed???? I rode for about a 40 minutes or so. I was failing on fuel. While I filled a water bottle, I forgot to put it on the bike before I left the house and I didn't eat enough before nor did I have any CarbBoom or sportbeans with me. DUMB! Thus once I made it back home, I was done. I had orginally wanted to do another loop. NEXT WEEKEND!
After making some awesome chocolate chip pancakes for me and my daughter, we did some house activities and caught up on our dvr'd shows from last week. At 4 pm I dropped her at her 2 hour class and then I went for a run. I only did 2.5 miles, but since I haven't been running outside much (or doing much of anything lately) I am slowly ramping up my miles. I did 2 on Friday, 2.5 on Sunday, and I have 3 scheduled for Tuesday morning. My ancient Garmin finally picked up signal a mile into my run, so at least I know it is working. So my run plan is Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am hoping to get up to doing 5 miles on each Tuesday and Thursday and then using Sundays for my long run to start ramping up the miles for the Mardi Gras half. In the coming weeks, I will ramp it up too, so that perhaps I won't have to walk for the Turkey Trot 10k. My shins stay happy when I don't run two days in a row and when I slowly ramp up the mileage. On the tendinitis front, it is still tender, but not in constant pain as it has been. Running has changed anything either... GOOD!
Today I am thankful that I am getting myself back out running! Quite the mood enhancer!

PHOTOS! and Trying to break through the blaaahhsss

Sunday, our new kitten. In our mourning of our old man cat Shadow we found a new baby to love. She is cute and fiesty.

Willow, the princess. She likes the cubby with wine bottles and secretly enjoys playing with the kitten.

Me at the start of Capital Hiking Club hike on Halloween. We went south along the Appalachian Trail in Maryland. It was tricky with wet leaves covering wet rocks! We still had fun and a gorgeous day.

This is Sampson. He is 10.5 years old. Very old for a Great Dane. He likes to sleep in the sun.

As my friend Jeanne at Not Born to Run suggested on my facebook page - FORCE yourself to go out for a run, you will feel better. So yes, this morning, after I took my dear doggy friend, Sampson, out for his stroll, I went for a run. It was only 2 miles, but it was a run! It felt good. It was a slight down hill for the first mile and then I turned around and had the slight up hill for the second mile back home. I didn't wear my heart rate monitor nor my garmin, but I had mapped the run thus knowing the distance. I didn't care about the time since it was just to get out there and move!

I truly love Shannon's suggestion for a Turkey trot run or a Jingle Bell jog....very good things to add in to the calendar to keep motivated and as a part of my training plan for the Rock and Roll Mardi Gras half marathon in New Orleans coming up in February. So today I will look for those events and get my ass out there!

Saturday morning I will go ride my bike, OranGina, in the cold morning air. Hey you cyclists out there....are the shoe/foot booties really worth it? I haven't experienced my feet getting cold on the bike yet. I do need to find a good outer layer for riding. The last jacket I found that I liked was waaaaaaaaaaayyyyy expensive.

Enjoy your weekend! I am determined to break out of the blahs..... it is a no blah zone here!

Edited to add: See events I signed up for this morning! A 5k on the 15th and a 10k on the 26th. I hope I will be ready for a 10k by then!

Enough with the ennui!

en·nui [ on w ]
noun
Definition:

boredom from lack of interest: weariness and dissatisfaction with life that results from a loss of interest or sense of excitement
[Mid-18th century. < French< Latin in odio (est) "(it is) hateful"]

This is my total mode at the moment! I hate it! I not sure what to do to break from it. I just can't seem to get jazzed about anything. Work is dead, dull and boring at the moment, my personal life has nothing happening in it, I can't seem to get back on the training stick (although I know that makes me feel better).

BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Good luck to my bloggy friends that are participating in B2B this weekend! I am certain you will rock! I can't wait to read race reports and live vicariously since I can't seem to get out my current state of mind.