Day 26: Falling Behind

Ug, I feel like a big lump on a log.... This week, due to Christmas (I know - excuses, excuses), has not been a very productive one. Actually I think I am going backwards. Last week I was supposed to run 15 miles, but I only ran 10. I skipped the long Sunday run, which was 5 miles, and instead opted to gorge myself with cookies and pie.

WEEK FOUR MIDWEEK SPECIAL: 4 days down. 3 to go.

Days so far this week: 4
Miles I have to run this week:18
Miles run so far: 0

So I guess that is 6 miles a day for the next three days! Whew! Does skiing count? I went skiing Wednesday. I think that was about 4 miles total. I got a new pedometer for Christmas which tells me how far and how fast I am going so tonight should be an interesting one at the gym. I will finally get to see if the track at the gym is really as big as they say it is (supposedly 11 laps is a mile, but it seems to last for hours!)

Damn those cookies!

Sometimes You Just Can't Win!

So I thought it was bad enough that I had to deal with a huge blizzard on my way home for Christmas, but there was no thought in my mind that it would happen twice. Yes, twice. Yesterday I had a flight back to New Orleans from Reno via...oh yeah, Denver again! Where else? Upon calling United to reroute, I was told my only other option was another flight through Denver (and how exactly does that solve my problem?) or a flight two days later...oh - also through Denver. Hm. Not a lot of promise there, huh? So I had to improvise and take American (they don't even have a movie for a 3 hour flight!) via Dallas instead. One good thing is that it got me back to my hotel in time to watch this week's episode of Men in Trees, which I had not seen before. Oh, the small pleasures in life!

Stranded!

I am still here. Stuck in New Orleans. Not that I don't like this place, but I really had my heart set on going home today, hanging out with my buddy Kara and seeing the roommates at the house. I had a flight out for today at 2 pm. But I don't anymore. This is a classic example of "do as I say, not as I do". I told Lea when she was buying her ticket - DO NOT go through Denver!!! She listened to me. But somehow, when I went to buy my ticket, I was caught up in the greed of finding the shortest flight, the flight that arrived just when someone could pick me up and the flight that allowed me to get some work done in the morning and see my friends in the evening. And guess where that flight connected at? DENVER! I have been banging my head against the wall all morning just thinking about what a hypocrite (and see where it got me!) I am.

Actually, I have not been banging my head against the wall all morning. I have been running around like a mad woman. After sitting on the phone yesterday for hours wading through the monotonous automated voice that is the United "help" line and finally getting put through to an agent only to get the busy signal (about 487 times!), I finally decided that the way to figure this out was to go to the airport. So this morning at 4:45, I went to the airport and stood in the premier line (which is supposedly faster) behind (of course!) a lady with about 400 large bags which all had to be weighed and checked (hello santa!), a relative in a wheelchair and then, lo and behold, about 4 other relatives who cut in line with her at the last minute.

I finally got to the counter only to be told by the lady that there are "abosolutely NO flights today or tomorrow". Tears sprung from my eyes for a second before I swallowed them back and asked her again about getting to San Francisco. "Oh...San Francisco. I thought you meant Denver." WHEW! But still, there were no flights even to San Francisco unless I wanted to wait standby all day. Luckily, after about 20 minutes of searching, she found a flight early tomorrow morning (thank you lady!), and after being ticketed, I turned around and walked out. As I was walking out, a lady in the premier line cheered. I thought that it was pretty weird that she cheered, until I realized I didn't care why she was cheering. I felt like cheering too... I am going home! Come hell or high water or a crazy winter blizzard... I am going home!

Day 15: This is Not a Sunday Stroll Ladies!

Sunday is the day of the long run and we usually do it at Audubon Park, which is nice becuase there is a running trail. The trail is a two mile loop or you can extend it and go up and around to the river and it is about a four mile loop. It is really a beautiful run and it makes me wish that it wasn't winter; it gets so dark so early here now; I have to run inside on the weekdays, but every week we look forward to Sunday for our outside run.

After we run, we go to the grocery store and buy massive quantities of food. Then we go to my house and gorge ourselves silly until we can't move anymore and watch silly movies (last night we subjected Noel to "How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days") with our top button of our pants unbuttoned and our bellies hanging low.

Our gym teacher, Ms. Bissell, used to yell at us in class if we ran too slow. She would say, "Come on ladies; pick up the pace! Swing those arms! Move it, move it! This is not a Sunday stroll ladies!" Yesterday my target number was four. Four miles I had to run. I wasn't sure if I could but thanks to Noel, who runs a very consistent pace, and to Ms. Bissell, whose voice was in my head the whole time, I actually ran five miles instead of four.

WEEK TWO RECAP:

Target Miles: 12
Actual Miles Run: 13
Laps Run at The Gym: 88
Blisters: 2
Ice Creams Eaten to Maintain Energy Levels: 5

Day 4: What was I thinking?

Well I have only been training for half a week and already my knees are killing me! Is this going to get any better, or will it only get worse?

I began training week by buying new running shoes. The ones I have now are not only old and ripped and dirty, but they have been through a lot - trekking in New Zealand, Thailand and the Philippines as well as miles of spinning and a tiny bit of running. Unfortunately, I forgot that new shoes are not as comfortable as the old, smashed, worn in old shoes. So last night as I ran my feet felt like little sausages trapped in their casing.

The second thing I have done (in an attempt to maintain my sanity) is to enlist the help of my friend S, who lives in Seattle. We are going to do "long distance" training together (ie. moral support and someone to nag me if I fall behind) I might have an advantage over him though, as he is running in the snow (oh and did I forget to mention he is a way better runner than me anyway?)

The training calendar says to run at an "easy conversational" pace. Ha! Whatever that means, I am sure I have not mastered that yet. To me that means panting and sweating and red-faced running segueing into walking.

Training progress so far....

WEEK ONE: 4 days complete. 3 to go.

Miles run: 5
Miles walked: 4
Hours in spin class: 2
Degrees in New Orleans today: 28
How old I feel based on knee pain: 78
Dollars spent on tiger balm: 5.67
Tiger Balm applied: half a canister (approx value: 2.83)

Approximate Training Schedule

Half Marathon Training Schedule

The Mardi Gras Marathon is on February 25th 2007, and I have decided to participate by making an attempt to run the half marathon (13.1 miles) that day. I started my training this week and it goes for 12 weeks..... I really do not enjoy running very much but I do enjoy a challenge, so we will see where this one takes me. I figure if I get burned out after week 5 or 6 (the most I have ever run before is 6 miles), I can opt out of the half and go for the 10 K (there are full marathon, half marathon and 10 K options) and I will still get the free t-shirt.

To see my (un?)successful progress and to hear my whining, you can click on the link on the left or go to: http://www.cankyriarun.blogspot.com