Charles, how I missed you!

Went for a short run at the Charles today. I did the Museum of Science to Longfellow loop, it was just a little over 2.5 miles. It took me 26 min and 50 sec, which is my usual pace.  The run felt good, but now I notice that my tendon is a little sore again, even though I iced it twice.  But it's not really sore, just "hello, I'm a tendon and don't you forget it!" sore.

It's pretty much winter, though no snow yet and today was pretty warm (around 30 ish). I wore my new Patagonia ninja hoodie for the run, with the Athleta winter tights and the gloves with the snot wipers and I was just perfect.  After running I went to the pet store because it was right there. I've been thinking that my cat Tiger might like to be an indoor/outdoor cat, so I bought a cat leash to see.  So there I was, all sweaty in my ninja wear, buying a cat leash. Awesome.

Anyhow, it was a beautiful night out! Calm and peaceful, bright new moon, the Charles is a little icy, and the City looked great. Perfect for a run.  It felt nice to be out there, not too painful for most of the run!

Forgot to Blog!

Yesterday I did a short run at the gym, it was freezing out and I wanted to get some running in, so I decided that the gym was the way to go. I did 21 min on the treadmill, still slow, 5.5 mph for most of the run, for a total of about 2.3 miles. I was breathing pretty hard, I'm not gonna lie! In fact, I had it up at 5.7 for part of the run and that was killing me, so I had to move it down.  At least I could run, even if it was slower.  My tendon is still there, so I'm trying to increase time slowly, and to keep icing and doing the exercise that my MD showed me. It's a work in progress.

So, I didn't run this week, though I was going to on Thursday.  I got home from climbing on Wed night (much improved night from the previous climbing night, and I flashed this climb that I just couldn't do when I went with the Meetup). Anyhow, I was making lunch for the next day and my mom called me saying "I think I'm having a heart attack, and I just don't think that I can take care of my cat any more. I think that you should come get her and take her to live with you." I was really alarmed because #1 - the heart attack and #2 - she called me and not one of my sisters.  So, I talked her into calling 911 and I wound up going to visit her in Schenectady (hence no running.)  Turns out it was gastritis, she's fine. Bad break up/stress/geriatric drama at the synagog and I don't think she's ever been dumped in her life. Anyhow, I talked her into keeping the cat for now (it's the ex's cat and my sister thinks she's worried he will get it back if something happens to her. Drama!) Frankly, I'm not to psyched about being a middle aged woman living alone in 500 square feet with 3 cats. It puts me in a category.

Outdoor run

It's been so cold out, I didn't want to do anything!  Today it was finally nicer outside, it's like 24 degrees out, but sunny so it feels better.  Also, once again I've been shopping, and I bought this hoodie from Patagonia that's super warm and makes me look like a ninja! So, I got to wear that for the first time, which was cool.

The tendon is still tight and every now and then feels a little like "don't push your luck, woman." So, I only ran 2 miles.  It wasn't bad!  I did a somewhat flatter route, from here to Ball Square and back.  I was a little puffy on the slightly hilly parts, but it wasn't bad.  I had a major iPod malfunction, so I'm not sure exactly how long it took because I stopped to fuss with my iPod but didn't stop my watch.  Total distance was 1.97 miles, total time was 21 minutes and 47 seconds, but I bet I was fiddling for almost a minute.  Which actually puts me at my regular pace, even though it felt way slower.

I'm planning a trip to Peru for late summer, hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and then going Iquitos (the largest city in the world that you can't drive to) and from there up the Amazon river 5 hours to a tributary to stay at a jungle lodge for a week.  I'm so psyched about it!  It's gonna cost a fortune, though, so no more Athleta/Patagonia clothes for me for a while!

Running again!

I decided that today was the day to test out the tendon!  Actually, yesterday was the test day - I was at the climbing gym for yoga and ran on the treadmill there.  I had forgotten how crappy their treadmill is, it really sucks, it's squeaky and rattly and I always think it will fall apart.  But, it's so cold and windy out, I decided to go for it.  So yesterday I ran for 7 minutes and went .66 mile and things weren't too painful, just the squeaking and a little tendon tightness. So I decided to test it a little more today with a slightly longer treadmill run.

I went to the gym and did 20 minutes on the treadmill at 5 mph, so very slow.  I wanted to make sure to ease back into things.  So, my right IT band is kind of like "WTF, I thought we stopped with this crap?!??" and my tendon is a little tight, but I think it's OK. In total I went 1.75 miles, so not a long run at all. But, I think it was a success!  I'm going to see how things feel tomorrow.

It's supposed to be cold out all week, maybe warming up Friday. So, maybe I'll try for a Friday run, or Sunday would be the next time it's supposed to be reasonable out.  Yay!

Half the Stadium!

Happy New Year Readers! (Kit)  My tendon is finally starting to feel better.  I've been icing twice daily and doing stretches.  It now feels weaker but not sore.  I'm going to keep doing the stretches/icing for another couple weeks, and then gradually start running again.  Starting with like one mile.  So I don't hurt it again.  What a pain!  In the mean time I've been walking and hiking.  No elliptical (because it's been nice out and that's just boring).

For New Year's yesterday I went for a drink with a friend at 6 and then went to yoga from 10-12.  It's an awesome way to bring in the new year, I walked a mile to class, two hours of yoga, ending with an om circle at midnight, and then walked back home.  No hangover, no desperate party attempts, no hanging out with a bunch of people I don't know playing beer pong.  Very zen.

Today to start my year out right I decided to try to do half Harvard Stadium + one step.  I got there and the usual gate that I go in was locked, and I thought that I would be locked out!  I walked around the stadium, and finally climbed a fence.  Of course on the way out I discovered that there was another gate opened, and if I had walked another 15 feet I would have gotten to it.  But whatever, I felt hardcore.

I decided to start at the halfway point, so I went to row 19 and went up 16 steps of the 31.  Then I want down to 18, 17, 16, etc.  Again I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to complete the goal I set, especially around row 13 ish.  But then I was like "I can't start my new year by quitting!" and so I kept going.  I had to take a couple minutes at the base of a few of the rows, but whatever.  By the end my legs really felt like spaghetti, and I was so ready to be done.  The nice thing about Stadiums is that they do only take about 30 seconds a row.  I can do anything for 30 seconds.  I mean, it's just 30 secs.

Next time I'm going to try for the full 19. :)

16

IDK what it is with me and December, but once again I had a mega migraine/sinus infection and so haven't been exercising enough.  I finally went to the doctor about my sinuses, and while I was there she looked at my ankle.  She said it was my achilles tendon, which was my first theory, and that I should rest and put ice on it, and she showed me a stretch.  And said wait another couple of weeks to start running again.  So, I will just be doing stadiums and the elliptical until next year.  Blah.  I hope that when I go back to running I can still do it - this has been my longest break from it so far!

The doctor did give me an antibiotic for the sinuses, so I'm feeling a lot better!  (She actually didn't look at all convinced that it was bacterial, so maybe it's just the placebo affect, but I'm cool with that.)  So, today I headed off to Harvard.

They have some giant silver bubble structure inflated on the field in the stadium, which was weird.  And there was this chick there who was sprinting up the steps and bouncing down them.  Crazy!  She was with this guy who was dragging himself up a few of the rows, but mostly just watching.  And there was a couple who was walking the steps, but pretty fast = way faster than me.

I did manage to get to 16, which is 496 giant steps!  At the end of 16 my legs were like spaghetti, and the left eye was a tiny bit spotty.  There are 37 sections in total, I was thinking of setting my next goal as the half way point, but 18.5 might be pushing it.  On the other hand, I've just been sitting on the couch for the last couple weeks, so maybe if I exercised during the week a little....

15!

It is easier to do running and stadiums in the same weekend (easier than to run twice, that is), they're different muscle groups.  Anyhow, today I went to yoga and climbing at Brooklyn Boulders.  After I was trying to decide if I should go to Harvard Stadium; I was a little tired, but there's a Nor'Easter coming, and there's no way I'm dedicated enough to "run" steps in that weather.  So, I decided to haul my butt over there.

It was freezing out!  Happily I remembered I had seen my running gloves, the ones with the special fabric for wiping the snot off my nose, in the trunk of my car.  Which was a good thing because my nose was running and, I'm not gonna lie, I used the special snot fabric.  I went back to section 1 this time, with the goal of getting in 15.  Around section 4 I was nervous that I wasn't going to get to even section 8.  But I kept with it.  At section 7 I was thinking I might be done at 8, which I could live with since I had done yoga and climbing, but I pushed it a little further.

Then I was watching someone else, and I started to think about their technique, and mine.  I was doing the steps as if I was going up steps, but they aren't normal steps, they're like 2 feet high and 2 feet deep, which requires not normal walking.  So, I modified what I was doing to be a little more like in yoga, when you go from down dog, lift your knee up, and only after your knee is up swing your foot forward to lunge. It's a lot more core and gluts, instead of just thigh.  Turns out that makes a HUGE difference!  With that modification I was able to get up the first 20 or so steps of each row without too much difficulty, leaving the last 11 steps of each row for me to drag my sorry body up in declining form.  Way better.  And, I bet way better overall exercise.  At 13 I was thinking I could stop at 1/3 of the way up the next row, and just have it be the same as last time.  But then of course I couldn't do that, I was like, "I can finish this row!"  And once I had finished, I figured it was just 62 steps to my goal, and I wasn't seeing spots or anything, so I might as well do it.  And I did!

Goal for next time = 16 (double the first time.)