Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Happy Birthday Mr. Pi


I can't believe Mr. Pi is now 16. He wanted a rock n roll cake, I ran out of time, so I ended up buying a cake at Stop & Shop but I did decorate it. All it took were some guitar swizzle sticks for the sides, some Little Debbie Cosmic brownies for the stage, drum kit and amps and lots and lots of Teddy Grahams for the musicians and audience. There were bears crowd surfing, laying out for sun, stage diving - you name it.

It was a truly inspired cake. :D

It was a busy day - running here there and everywhere figuratively and literally. I really didn't want to run yesterday. The treadmill is just really depressing no matter how spiffy it may be. But I made myself run the 5k loop program on the treadmill and pushed myself through the mileage. I want to run outside again but the weather is just too funky these days.

I did run the distance, so I'm giving myself a lot of pats on the back. I feel a bit sore. I also think I figured out why I stopped wearing the white socks I used to wear running as I now have a small, but annoying, blister on the bottom of my foot on the pad just below the big toe. I'll probably go and run a couple of miles on the treadmill today as well because sometimes you just have to suck it up and run.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

I forgot about the hills

Today I took advantage of the January thaw and went for a 4 mile run up Heartbreak Hill. Having spent the past few weeks on a treadmill, I realized I forgot about how hard it can be to run up hills... but even then, it was a good run.

One of the advantages of a treadmill is you can be a little lazy. If you start to run out of gas, you have the motor and the belt moving at a constant pace and it can pull you along. When you're on the road, that doesn't happen. You're on your own power the whole way.

But the thing I like about running on the road, there's a lot to distract me. The treadmill is the same scenery and it's not long before I'm checking my watch and waiting for the numbers to count down. On the road I get lost in sights, sounds, smells and colors. I love looking at my watch and realizing I just ran 2 minutes longer than I thought and want to keep going.

It was a good run. It was enough to keep me going for a while until we start getting real thaws.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Oooo! New Treadmills!

Today I headed into the gym to run, in spite of the January thaw, since Mr. Bear is nervous that I'll hurt myself outside. When I got there I was surprised to see 2 and a half rows of new treadmills.

They are sleek, brushed aluminum beauties with a built in fan, instant read HR monitors, 1 button 5k course setting - truly a thing of beauty. I pushed the 5k loop button and pushed the speed to where I wanted and I was off. The fan kicked on by itself at a certain point (even with it, I was a sweaty mess at the end but I was loving that it was there) and the whole thing was a smooth, enjoyable experience. How cool is that?

They also got a tone of new cross trainers in that look like that thing I see advertised on TV where you can combine an elliptical motion with a stair climbing and treadmill.

I'm glad I pushed myself to go in because I really didn't want to run today. Having a new toy was just a reward for doing what I was supposed to do, and I'll take it.

Friday, January 04, 2008

Land of New

New day, new week, new month, new year - it's all part of the land of new.

Basically it's been a rough fall due to injuries, life and everything else that often gets in the way. But I'm planning on running the 10k race at the Hyannis Marathon (there's a 26.2, 13.1 and 10k race) in 7 weeks and this was week 1 of a 10k training plan.

I'm looking at the Cherry Blossom 10 miler the first weekend of April and figure on the Ras Na Heirann on St. Pat's weekend and the Doyle's 5 miler in the spring. I'm keeping my eyes open for the Harpoon 5 mile registration because I really enjoyed that run.

So far this week I've logged 8.5 miles on the treadmill - not bad for a first week back. I realized I really enjoy intervals of walking/running and have gone from 5 walking/3 running a couple of weeks ago to 4/4. I did up my paces to 3.5 mph walking/11 min mile pace running (5.5 mph). I know I'm starting to feel comfortable at this pace as I went long past the 4 minutes I usually run and after a couple of minutes of walking I'm antsy to start running again. When I get to the 3 min walking/5 min running mark, I'll probably stay there until I'm comfortable enough to push the pace again.

In the meantime, happy new year all.