Weeeeeeee! I have been working my butt off to meet a deadline at my big girl job, and I just finished! I always feel so relieved when I finish my “work work” projects. Now I can go on vacation next week with no stress of leaving work behind.

[insert sigh of relief]

I’ve been “running” according to schedule lately (with a few shifts and shimmies of the schedule here and there), and up until last week, I was mainly running on my treadmill…because really…when given the option of sweating outside in the sweltering heat or parking my treadmill in front of Real Houseswives of OC, I choose trash TV. My asthma was also really acting up, so running inside helped that.

In any case, I started wogging outside again last week, primarily doing Galloway 5:1′s or 3:1′s. Since I live in an area that is sort of 1/2 suburbia, 1/2 city, if I want to run more than 3 miles (or if I don’t want to be consistently bored by the same route), I’m stuck running on sidewalks a good portion of the time.

On one of my runs last week, I started to notice my shins were killing me. I was stopping like every mile to stretch and rub and gripe to myself about my shins. I wouldn’t call it full blown shin splints, but I was definitely on my way there. After my run, I put on my compression socks [still love!] and a bag of frozen Brussels sprouts, and everything was fine the next day.

At the beginning of this week, I had a major case of calf tightness, to the point that I was foam rolling my man calves at work [not recommended unless you're looking to date a coworker...lesson learned]. I headed out on last nights run fully planning on having a body meltdown around mile 3 or 4 because of how crazy tight my legs were.

I did about the first 2 miles of my run on an asphalt path that leads to one of the lakes nearby, then I switched to sidewalks for about 1 mile and ran to another lake, then I ran 3/4 of a mile on the asphalt path around the second lake.When I turned around to come home, I ran the same way home, but this time I ran on the street instead of on the sidewalks. This was safe because the road was relatively untraveled.

Here’s what happened (in this exact order): running bliss, splinty-shin terror, running bliss.

The splinty-shin terror only occurred while I was running on sidewalks. I tried to find some sort of scientific reason for this [because I'm super nerdy], but I can only find a lot of other people complaining about it–no smart scientists.

Does anyone else have this problem? Any smart people in the house who can verify that this isn’t just in my head?

Announcements

1) If you’ve been wanting to buy a TRX Suspension Trainer, but you’ve been waiting for a sale, now is your chance! From now until July 5th, you can get $20 off any TRX Suspension Trainer (does not include Rip Trainer) with the coupon code TRX1776. Also, everyone gets free shipping during the whole month of July (no coupon code required).

2) Did you see my new House Becomes Home blog? While we wait for the seller’s response on whether or not they’re going to do any of the home repairs, I’m coming up with all types of fantastic ideas on how I can quickly and cheaply spruce up our new house. I’m already thinking about painting our kitchen cabinets, and painting the Formica countertops!

——–

Exciting stuff!!

Not sure if I’ll be back before this weekend (we’re driving overnight on Saturday to spend the week with my family in Central NY), but I have The Boilermaker 15K on Sunday, followed by a relaxing week with the fam.

So, if I don’t talk to ya before then, have a great 4th of July!

A few weeks ago, it occurred to me that I had again signed up for The Boilermaker 15K. I’m not sure why this surprised me, considering that this particular race was the impetus for starting this whole blog in the first place back in 2008. When I signed up for my first Boilermaker, I decided that it would be the one race that I would do each and every year–whether I had to run, walk, or crawl it. It’s definitely my favorite race of all time (I can say that now, because I haven’t yet ran in Scotland)!

Considering all of my recent physical and mental drama, I hadn’t really been running much since the Myrtle Beach 1/2 marathon in February.

Maybe I hadn’t been running at all since February.

My Sista even laughed at me and my lackadaisical attitude about the whole scene. Then she questioned if we came from the same parents. I think we did.

So, I needed a plan.

I decided to follow the same plan as I did the first time I ran The Boilermaker in 2009. It’s a plan that My Sista gave me (because she’s the runner in the family), and it’s a modified version of the Hal Higdon 15K plan. The plan was modified so that we could continue on with training for The Baltimore Marathon after The Boilermaker.

I’d be lying if I said that looking back on the training plan isn’t making me a little nostalgic about running The Baltimore Marathon [in which the term "running" is used very loosely, of course]. As much as I dreaded about 94% of my training, I still look back at the whole experience very fondly. It even makes me laugh now when I think about all of the hours that I spent agonizing in the blazing sun, wogging down the side of the highway, on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Remember this image of how my training actually went down in 2009?

[p.s...In hindsight, I love that the name of this image contains the name "wonkersized".]

Good times.

So, this time around the goal has been to avoid injury. Seems like a simple, attainable goal, right? Let’s hope so.

I started training on May 30. According to My Sista, I was a little late, but I figured that since I knew I was planning to walk or run/walk the race, I’d have no problem jumping in and starting out with my first “long” at 3 miles. I knew that the most common problem that would come up with this training plan would be laziness. Lack of desire to sweat. ME. I am the problem!

But I’m also the solution.

I can’t escape my training plan.

I have a copy of it on the desktop of my computer at work, and a printed copy taped to a wall that I pass 43 times each day at home. There is no escaping “The Plan”. I’ve come to enjoy crossing the days off as I complete my workouts–it makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something. I’ve sort of always had a very lackadaisical attitude when it came to following a set training plan. I was afraid that it would cause me to become obsessed. It turns out that it doesn’t. It just makes me follow the plan (which will hopefully help me avoid injury)!

So far, I’m a little more than 1/2 way through week 3, and I’ve missed one run and one cross train. Not bad, I’ll take it. In missing those 2 workouts, I have come to realize that I’m great at rationalizing the reasons why I should skip. For the first cross training session I missed, I was visiting my family in NY, and I brought my resistance bands with me so that I could do a quick session on Saturday. Then I told myself that it would be “ok” if I missed it. So I did. Fail.

I actually missed the run last Friday because I took both Monday AND Tuesday as rest days. I did that because I just didn’t “FEEL” like running on Tuesday. By the time that Friday arrived, I also didn’t “FEEL” like running either. Lame.

Lesson learned. This week, I didn’t skip any runs, and I’m feeling good (although I do have a strange bursitis-y twinge in my left knee that I’m doctoring). Last night, I also didn’t “FEEL” like running, but I did it anyway. It helps that I can drag my treadmill out and park it directly in front of the TV while I watch Real Housewives of OC. Reality TV makes me run.

How do you make sure that you get your workouts in?

What are the excuses you typically use when you skip a workout?

It literally just occurred to me today that I have a race next month. I’ve had so much going on with houses and family-starting [because using the term 'baby making' in this sense seemed really wrong] that I forgot one minor detail:

I need to TRAIN if I want to RACE.

Right.

Minor detail.

So, the official Boilermaker 15K training plan starts today. It’s about a week late, considering the fact that I have only been walking for the past few weeks, but it’ll all work out. I’ll walk or walk/run it if I have to. The important part is that I’m moving and I ultimately finish, right?!

In any case, here’s the plan:

In other news, literally the day after I wrote a full post explaining the long, short sale saga of our soon-to-be new home, something magical happened. I woke up on Friday morning as usual, [checking my email as soon as my eyeballs open], and there was a standard automated email from my real estate agent with all of the new and updated listings. I generally open the email and skim the listings, but don’t pay much attention. After all, we had a house already!

Then, I saw this house.

And I decided to do more than skim.

It turns out that this house had everything we wanted: 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, plenty of back yard for our dogs, a lovely deck, and it was in one of our favorite neighborhoods. It was in the neighborhood that My Gazelle and I had driven through on many occasions, talking about “…someday, maybe be can live here!” We never thought that day would come, though, since properties in this neighborhood were well above our modest budget.

Short sale!

Needs TLC!

I called my real estate agent when I got to the office, and by 11:30, I was at the property scoping it out. It definitely needed TLC, and the previous owners were definitely hard on the house, but I felt like I was “home” when I went inside [despite the duct-taped fireplace, textured wall paint, and filthy carpets]. We immediately put an offer on it.

We’re under contract now…just playing the waiting game again with the bank.

Patience is not my forte, as I’ve mentioned several times in the past.

Hopefully I can distract myself with my training plan for the next few weeks while we patiently wait!

So what is everyone training for right now?!

I am so impressed with everyone’s comments yesterday on my post about hating Weight Watchers.  I have come to the conclusion that I’m going to hang it up with WW and keep it movin’.  I’ve already decided what direction I’ll take going forward, but I’ll save that for another post.

Frankly, I have more exciting things to talk about.

Mountains.

[source]

Waterfalls.

[source]

Beautiful cities flanked with castles.

[source]

Castles.

[source]

Did I mention castles?

[source]

As little girls, My Sista and I would listen to my father’s hilarious stories about all of the trouble he got into while he was a US Marine stationed in Scotland.  The stories usually involved boozing, drunk driving, busted cars/teeth/appendages, and almost always ended with a funny punch line.  That’s just how my Dad tells stories…

Monotone…do as I say, not as I do…monotone…monotone…GUT-BUSTINGLY FUNNY!!!!

I’ve come to love his stories, and the fact that he loved his stay in Scotland was never lost on My Sista and I.  Since we were little, we’ve wanted to make a trip to the United Kingdom to visit Scotland.  Not only due to my Dad’s funny stories, but also because we know that our heritage on my Dad’s side is from Scotland.

Unfortunately, this isn’t one of those trips that you can just take without proper planning.  After many, many years of talking about it, we’ve finally planned a trip to Scotland!

We’ll be traveling in a large group with a bunch of family and friends, which makes this trip literally my dream come true.  To make this trip even more memorable, we’ll be kicking off our arrival in Scotland with a run!  A few people (My Sista, My Gazelle, Mike and Rob) will be doing the Baxter’s Loch Ness Marathon (yes, My Gazelle is running a MARATHON!).  Me and Wifey will be doing the Baxter’s River Ness 10K (sadly, they don’t have a 1/2 marathon event).

I seriously cannot even explain to you how excited I am about this trip.  No.words.

The thought of running a race in Scotland just gives me cold chills.  I have literally been reduced to tears on several occasions over this trip.  Such as when I booked the airfare.

I kid.

We’ll be spending 6 days in Scotland (Inverness & Edinburgh), then some of us will be flying to Dublin for 2 nights, so that I can hopefully become acquainted with another of my many guilty pleasures.

[source]

Because really…don’t people just walk around the streets of Dublin Riverdancing?  In my head they do.

Although the details of the trip are a little sketchy still, I’ll keep you guys posted as they unfold!

Have any of you been to Scotland??

What is your dream vacation??

Tomorrow, we will eat cupcakes.

Today, however, we need to talk about sweating.

It’s all about balance, right?

A very interesting thing happened a few weeks ago after I declared war on running and told it to eff off.  I started getting better at it again.  The reason I started to get better is because I branched out.  I started lifting weights again (my 1st love), and I also went back to one of my favorite activities ever: cycling.

We call it “cycling” at my gym because we can’t call it “spin” because “spin” is copy-written.  I learned that this week.  Crazy, right?

Back in the day, I made it a habit to attend a cycling class every Tuesday at 6PM.  I loved cycling dearly, much like I love riding Blue Betty outside when it’s a little warmer out.  Cycling gave me the opportunity to have a moment with myself and “my bike”, and let me challenge myself just as much as I wanted to be challenged.

I hadn’t been to cycling since September 7th.  Due to an unfortunate chain of events, I remember that date very well.  I don’t know if I was afraid to go back to that class because of everything that happened after the last time I went, or if I was just generally avoiding all physical activity [probably the latter], but I did get back to my favorite class a few weeks ago, and I’m happy that I did.

I was also happy to see that my favorite instructor was still there on Tuesday evenings.

Candace Grasso is a badass PowerBar sponsored athlete and an amazing cycling instructor.  It feels really corny to say, but I always feel “new” when I leave her class.  She has a way of making her classes inspirational and fun, while still being a really killer workout.

During Tuesday’s class, Candace talked about the mind being the most difficult thing to conquer during an endurance event.  She said that when endurance athletes get to the most difficult parts of their event–the point when they feel like they can’t go any longer–they don’t freak out and have an asthma attack.  They relax.  They find a place in their mind where they can chill out and just “be”.  From there, she began telling us to relax our bodies; shoulders, legs, chest, tongue.  Yes, she even told us to relax our tongues at one point.

I thought she was crazy until I did it.

I haven’t stopped thinking about this little “lesson” since Tuesday.  After class, I started Googling, and I found an article on Active.com about relaxing your mind and body during physical activity.  I was intrigued, so I put it into action yesterday during one of my 3x weekly runs.  I wanted to run for 35 minutes using Galloway 5:1′s, as I have been since the Myrtle Beach 1/2 Marathon.

The goal for last night’s run was to do 5:1′s, but see if I was able to relax my way into a slightly faster pace.

The first thing I did was hit the “pipe”

This little thing does wonders for my breathing, so rather than wait for asthma to ruin my run, I’ve been preventing it with a couple of hits before I start sweating.

Then, I started my first interval.  The first 2 intervals are always pretty easy–I generally take them at a pace about 1-2 minutes slower than my normal running pace just so that I don’t start off too fast and burn out before my run is over.  When I got to the 3rd interval, things started to get a little ‘breathy’, but I just focused on the horizon, relaxed my tongue [yes, I even did this part], relaxed my shoulders, relaxed my mind, relaxed my legs even, and I just kept telling myself to “settle into it”.

“You can do anything for 5 minutes”

“You’re relaxed”

“This is a piece of [cup]cake”

“You got this”

What I noticed is that I was much much more chill about the whole thing.  It turned out that I felt like I could actually run faster.  If you’re a runner, you know what I’m talking about–that point during some runs when you realize that you feel great enough to go a little faster than anticipated.

So, at that point, I started playing a little mental trick on myself.  I’d start off my running interval at, say 5.5.  At the 2:30 mark, I’d turn it up to 5.7 until the end of the 5-minute interval, then walk for 1 minute.  When I began the next 5-minute interval, I’d start at 5.7 and run that for 2:30, then turn up the speed to 5.9 to finish the last 1/2 of the interval.  On the next interval, I’d start at 5.9 and increase to 6.1.  Before I knew it, I was running faster than I’ve run in months.  Since I was actively trying to keep myself relaxed, the progression didn’t do much to my body or breathing, but it did a lot for my pace.

So, it seems like relaxing helped me a whole bunch on last night’s run.

This is the detail from my last 3 months of treadmill Galloway runs (outdoor runs are excluded, due to hills and such).  Last night, my pace was 11:04, and I was comfortable.  The closest that I have come to that pace in the past few months was around an 11:30 pace.    In addition to being more relaxed, I would also attribute the increase in pace to my continued commitment to cross-training and lifting weights, since my body seems to like that as well.

Every time I get completely fed up with it and tell it to go take a hike, I end up realizing that my lack of skill in running is primarily due to my own laziness.  Not only do I need to RELAX, but I also need to cross-train my body.

Since I’m not a natural runner, I just have to try a little harder to get my body to cooperate.  This doesn’t mean that I’m going to run any more marathons in the future, but it does mean that I will try my best to keep a well-rounded training program.

I’m not kicking running to the curb because it turns out that I really do enjoy it when I’m doing it “right”.

So…tell me…are you able to relax your mind and body when you run/bike/swim/sweat?  If so, how did you train yourself to do this?

Did you see my post about the Cupcake Marathon Spring 2011?  Believe it or not, that was not just a shameless plug for Sugared Bakery–I was plugging this virtual run because EVERYONE can do it!  I’m not joking–I’ll even be doing it.

Here’s the deal…this is not your standard race.  The race begins on March 14th, and ends on March 26th.  If you choose to run the “marathon” distance, all you have to do is run 26.2 miles during the 13 days between March 14-March 26.  You don’t have to complete the distance all at once, and you don’t even have to run, so it’s possible for anyone to do this virtual race.

The best part is that by completing the miles that you sign up for, you will have the chance to win a whole slew of prizes, including Sugared Bakery cupcakes.  Cupcakes are a great reason to run!

If you’re up for the challenge, just go over to the CookTrainEatRace website and sign up for your desired distance.

See you tomorrow for CUPCAKE FRIDAY!

This week’s “Cupcake Thursday” feature has turned into “Cupcake Friday”. Why?

Well, because on Wednesday night, when I would normally have been baking cupcakes, I was instead at a restaurant eating delicious BBQ shrimp and drinking chardonnay. I’m sure you can understand why I had to postpone.

As I sit here and write this, I cannot escape the smell of peanut butter. The ‘cupcake table’ at work is located about 10 feet from my office. It’s kind of a form of torture.

Then, every time I need to talk to anyone, I have to walk by this…

And then I want to squeeze the cute little peanut butter and jelly sammich on top.

[p.s...yes, I know it's technically a "sandwich", but I'm from upstate NY, and we call them sammiches.  Because who wants to eat anything with the world "sand" in it anyway?]

I’ll try not to bore you guys with all of the gruesome details of Sugared Bakery (ahem…and also try to write more about sweating in the meantime), so if you’re interested in the happenings with my bakery, add Sugared Bakery’s RSS feed to your reader!  I’ve also started a group on Facebook for Sugared Bakery, and we have a WHOPPING 23 PEOPLE who like it so far!

Hey…anything is progress, right?

Also, I’m holding the first ever Sugared Bakery giveaway!  You can enter to win your very own “I Got Sugared” t- shirt.  It’s a cute shirt, it even has cupcakes on the back of it.  So, entering is simple–just head over to the Sugared Bakery website for details.  You only have until Monday, so get on it!

In other non-cupcake-related news, did you know that I have a 1/2 marathon next weekend?  My IT Band is not so happy about this fact, but I’m going to get through it one way or another.  There’s just no way that I’m canceling a trip to Myrtle Beach at this juncture, especially considering the fact that it’s 13 degrees today in good old Merryland.

Brrr.

So, I’m just going to get to the finish line any way that I need to.  Apparently the course for the Bi-Lo 1/2 marathon is flat, and the course follows the ocean, so is relatively scenic.  If nothing else, it’ll be a fun little weekend away with friends and My Gazelle.  I’m not sweating it.

[ha...get it....sweat-ing it?   hmmm...yeah...]

For the past 5 years of my life, I’ve seriously tried to be a runner.  I’ve trained my ass off, even waking up before daylight so that I could get my miles in before the sun started blazing down on me.  This is a major sign of devotion, considering how much I love sleep.

I’ve cried on the side of major highways, called my loved ones for rides, suffered through IT band friction syndrome, bursitis, and I even agonized my way through a marathon in a fairly injured state.  My body has lived in a varied state of dysfunction for roughly the past 3 years.

Last night, I ran/walked a measly 2.5 miles, and I’ve now apparently pulled “something” contained within that massive conglomeration of muscles, tendons, and wonky space behind my knee.  I thought that the solution to all of my running problems was switching to a walk/run/walk program, but in addition to janking my knee last night, I also janked my Gymboss.

I think it was a sign.  My knee and my Gymboss went to hell, both during the same run.

So…

Guess what, running?

No, like seriously.

You’re just like an abusive boyfriend.

I have this crazy, psychotic love for you, despite the fact that I know in my mind that you’re just no good for me.  I devote my time and attention to you, and I think that everything is going along swimmingly, and then BAM! , you turn around and bitch slap me for no good reason.

Then I cry and pout and stew, and you apologize.  You tell me that you’ll change, it’ll all be OK in the end.  You’re ‘different’ this time.  So I take you back.

Then, a week later, you beat my ass again.

And so, to this, I say “ENOUGH“, because “everyone has a limit”.  And nobody puts Baby in the corner.  And such.

I just can’t do this to myself anymore.  I have to own the fact that it’s just not working out for me.  Running isn’t my thing.  It never was, and as I continue trying to run month after month and race after race, I’m getting injured quicker and quicker.

I’m going to do my best to complete the 3 races that I have on schedule for 2011 (February, March & April), and then I’m going to have to move on to something that better suits my body.  I’ve said it before (remember 2010–the year of the triathlon?), but this time I mean it.

[p.s...can I take out a restraining order on myself in order to properly enforce this decision?]

Unfortunately, this opens up a whole new set of challenges.

I’m probably going to have to rename the blog.  ‘Bicycler’s Life’, ‘Weightlifter’s Life, or Wii Gamer’s Life just don’t roll off the tongue as easily.  All I know for sure is that “Jogger’s Life” will be a bit of a misnomer after April.

I’m going to have to start believing the fact that I’m not going to instantly gain 50 pounds if I stop running.  On the flip side, I’m also going to have to commit to participating in other activities that I enjoy (eating cupcakes is not a sport).  Otherwise, I actually might just gain 50 pounds.

I’m also going to have to really own the fact that there will be no more running in my life.  I’m going to also have to stop convincing myself that “this” time that I start running again is somehow going to be “different”.

It’s never different.  Stalk me as you may, running, but I know that you’re no good for me, and I don’t have to take it anymore.

[source]

J. Lo said so.

Sometimes, it’s nice to just spend the weekend lounging around.

Puttering around the house.

Playing your new Donkey Kong Country Returns game until your thumbs have blisters.

[not that I know anything about that.]

Other times, it’s best to wake up bright and early on Saturday morning, put on an outfit that inspires you to sweat, and head out to your local Lululemon store for an hour of Kettle Bell instruction from the one and only Robert McConnell of Peak Performance Fitness.

This is the same Robert who has, in the past, acted as 1) my personal trainer, 2) my running coach, 3) my knee rehabber, 4) my personal oracle, and 5) my best friend.  He just happens to be the best trainer in the universe, and I’m not just saying that because I’m biased.

I must admit that I’ve never been to Lululemon before.  I’ve read about the brand on other people’s blogs in the past, but honestly I felt my gag reflex kick in each time I read the word “Lululemon” on these blogs.  The brand seemed overpriced, snobby, and just plain out of my league.  I probably would have never entered the store had it not been for Robert planning a Kettle Bell class there.

That said, the store was amazing.  I’m going to be able to suppress my gag reflex now when I read about Lululemon on other blogs.  After spending a grueling hour doing Kettlebell Swings, Kettlebell Deadlifts, and learning the first 3 steps of the Turkish Get-up, I spent the following 45 minutes drooling over all of the clothes.  Although I didn’t buy any, I was really impressed by the selection of pants that Lululemon offers.  I did leave the store with the Brisk Running Hat and matching gloves.  I’ll have a review of those coming soon.

I failed to take pictures during my time at Lululemon because not only was the entire class being professionally videotaped, but I was far too busy sweating, while ensuring that I didn’t drop a 20 pound weight on my Vibram-5-Fingers-clad-foot.

Ouch.

After spending an hour kettlebell-ing, the Peak Performance crew headed over to the Active Wear Department at Nordstrom’s in the Columbia Mall for a 4-hour fitness demo.  I did a little demo-ing and a lot of photographing.  The object of the demo was to encourage shoppers to not neglect their health and fitness throughout the holiday season.

Even the Nordstrom’s staff jumped in to participate.

And proceeded to challenge each other to a little Bosu pushup contest.

Then, the boys did some synchronized PowerWheel Pike-Pushups, and really drew a crowd.

Then, I got brave (and was heavily coaxed), and tried out my newly-acquired skills in the Turkish Get-Up.

When I looked at this pic, I was instantly aware that the camera angle/fit of my Under Armour pants makes me look like a schman with  a rather impressive package.  [patting myself on back]

[look at the kettlebell...the kettlebell is your friend.]

I was going to post the photo of me doing the next step in the Turkish Get-Up, but my husband took the picture from a very **interesting** angle, and some things, my blends, are just not blog worthy.  Like my schman package.

And, you’d rather see Rob do it anyway.

Here’s the husband, modeling his new Lululemon Letterman pants!

Headstand!

And, the most entertaining part of the day…really, is there anything more amusing than seeing a man do a split?  How about seeing a man do a split on 2 upside down Bosu Balance Trainers?

We had a ton of fun at the demo, and the department’s sales were so high that we earned ourselves another spot there in January!  Next time, we’ll have freebies for the shoppers as well as a more planned schedule of exercises and such, so it should be even better.  It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Yesterday, I capped off my sweat-fest of a weekend with a 5 mile Galloway style run outdoors.  My legs were killing me from the kettlebell class, but I couldn’t skip out on my long run.  Those 2 half marathons (and the 10 mile in April) that I signed up for aren’t going to wait for my legs to feel better!

Today, I have a 30-minute recovery run scheduled…and a new best friend.

Don’t forget you can still enter my Gymboss giveaway until Wednesday!

A few weeks ago, in one of my crazy confessions, I admitted to you that I was becoming a chronic slacker.  There were several revelations within that post, but the most important (in my opinion) was the admission that I was putting my fitness goals on the back burner and bunking any supposed 2011 race calendar, in the hopes that I “might be pregnant” in the spring.

My favorite time to race is in the spring.

And by “race”, I mean “keep up with the moms pushing double strollers”.

I was pretty much declining all of my friends’ invitations to complete races with them because I had developed this irrational fear (after my failed pregnancy) that failed pregnancies are a side effect of working out.  Let me explain…

[if you possess more testosterone than estrogen, this part will bore you.  Just scroll down to the pictures and continue.]

During the short amount of time that I was pregnant, I was working out.  Of course I was trying to keep things under the threshold of where I would normally push myself, but I was holding up my normal workout schedule.  I found out I was pregnant on Friday, September 3.  On Saturday, My Gazelle and I did our normal TRX bootcamp workout.  I ran on Monday, did weight training on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday I went to my regularly-scheduled spin class.

I honestly wanted life to be “business as usual”, zygote or no zygote.

I was feeling a little goofy on Wednesday.  I can’t really explain what “goofy” means, but I just felt tired and kind of out of breath all day.  I attributed it to my early pregnancy, and I just kept it movin.  Before spin class, I was stretching out.  I felt something weird like a butterfly in my stomach.  I described it to My Gazelle as a little “Bloooop!” in my belly.

I proceeded to do my normal spin class, at a much lower intensity than I would normally do.

The following day, I started having symptoms of miscarriage (which turned out to actually be an ectopic pregnancy).

In my brain, I blamed the whole terrible situation on my “business as usual” workout schedule.  Rationally, I know that it’s insane and that plenty of women work out through their entire pregnancy.  I did a 15K race in 2008, and a woman who was 7 months pregnant beat me by like 15 minutes.  I ran that very same race with my bestie who was 6 months pregnant with her son at the time.

Exercising while pregnant is healthy.  Research indicates that it makes for healthier Moms and babies, and it makes the process of delivery easier a lot of the time.

Coupled with my fear of getting injured (after everything I dealt with in 2009), I ended up being literally afraid to run or work out.

I had to get over this irrational fear.  I had to start running again.  I love running.  I had to start living my life the way that I did before.  I had to start signing up for races.

As I also mentioned previously, I don’t want to be injured in 2011 as I was during most of 2009 while I was training for 1/2 marathons and my (only) marathon.  Extreme distances tend to not agree with my body.  They cause me ITB Friction Syndrome, Bursitis, nervous breakdowns, crying episodes (you can read a full recap here). Long distances work for some people, but not so much for me.

When my rational brain kicked in and decided that my legs needed to get busy, that same rational brain decided to adopt a much more kinder, gentler approach to training in 2011.  If I’m focusing again on running, as I did during 2009 (2010 was the year of the triathlon!), I needed a better way to get it done.

I bought Jeff Galloway’s book.

About Jeff:

“Jeff’s quest for the injury-free marathon training program led him to develop group training programs in 1978, and to author Runner’s World articles which have been used by hundreds of thousands of runners of all abilities. His training schedules have inspired the second wave of marathoners who follow the Galloway RUN-WALK-RUN™, low mileage, three-day, suggestions to an over 98% success rate.”

[you can read more about him on his website if you're interested]

The basic premise behind the training is that by doing a low mileage training program (2 short runs, 1 longer run) per week, coupled with a RUN-WALK-RUN schedule during the runs, you minimize the damaging effects that long distance running does on your body.

I’m all over it, people.

I love the idea that I can still do longer races, but not get jacked up because of it.

With the Galloway method, you figure out your race pace and then train according to the guidelines in the plan.  Personally, I’m planning on having fairly slow race times this year, and my training pace right now is around 12:00 miles.  Truthfully, that’s not a lot slower than the standard 11:00-11:30 miles I was running before.  I’ll trade off that slight loss on pace so that I don’t get injured.

I’m doing 3:1 intervals.  RUN 3 MINUTES: WALK 1 MINUTE: RUN 3 MINUTES…REPEAT until the time or distance goal is accomplished.  My pace is slower (and I have to continue reminding myself that the goal for 2011 is to just finish these races), but as a result, my body feels surprisingly great after I’m finished running.

I love it.

Something else that I also love is the Gymboss.

The wonderful Jake from Gymboss contacted me shortly after I announced that I was going to be doing the Galloway method, and asked me if I would like to have a Gymboss interval timer to help with my training.

I LOVE THE GYMBOSS.

I’ve used it now for about 3 weeks, and I can’t tell you how great it is specifically for the purpose of running intervals.  Since I’m running outside sometimes (with proper reflection of course), I am not able to see my Garmin because it’s too dark outside.  Before I had the Gymboss, I would have to wait until I was directly under a street light to check my Garmin time, and 90% of the time, I had missed my interval cue.

The Gymboss has several different settings, and can be set to vibrate or audibly chime when your interval cue has arrived.  The vibration is great for when I’m at the gym and don’t want to disrupt everyone (or for when I’m using my iPod during the run), and I use the chime when I’m outside.  The Gymboss is small, lightweight, and clips snugly onto your shirt or waistband.  I actually clip mine right on my iPod armband in order to centralize most of my gadgets.

This little green doo dad has made my life a ton easier, and I’m looking forward to spending many (many) training miles with it!

Many uninjured miles.

As I previously mentioned, Jake is wonderful.  He has offered to give one of my readers their very own Gymboss.  He might even let you pick the color, but you’d probably have to ask nicely.

The Rules:

Go to the Gymboss website, and leave a comment telling me what color Gymboss you’d pick.

One entry per person.

Contest closes at 12PM on Wednesday, December 22nd.

Good luck!

Disclosure: Actions you take from the links within this blog post may yield commissions for joggerslife.com. See Jogger’s Life’s disclosure statement for more details.

It’s race weekend…AGAIN!

Didn’t I just have a race like 4 minutes ago?

Yeah. I thought so.

I’m mildly nervous about running The Boilermaker 15K on Sunday because I only had the opportunity to do ONE long run after my triathlon. I’ve come to a conclusion about me, races and running: I am not forward-thinking enough to focus on more than one race at a time. If the necessary training period for two events happens to cross, I get all jacked up.

The longest run that I’ve done since March (the Disney Princess 1/2) is the 6 miles that I just ran on Tuesday. So, I have complete faith in myself that I’ll finish, but I make no guaranties about whether I’ll need a wheelchair to do so.

Since that run on Tuesday, my knees have been feeling like their old selves in the evenings (swelled, tight, uncomfortable).  This makes me nervous, but I’ve been relying on ice to relieve the discomfort.  Today they seem fine.

I think I’ll be OK.

I hope.

*****

In other news (and what is REALLY on my mind), I’m moving! Aren’t you so excited? Me too!

It’s not a major move in terms of location or reason for moving, but to me it’s UBER exciting. Back in January 2007, I bought my very own 2 bedroom condo in a location that I love. It’s a 10 minute walk to a beautiful lake, 3 minutes to a bagel shop, and excuse me, but I can WALK to the MALL. Yes. Oh yes.

The other draw for me is the fact that the entire city is connected by paved paths.  It is possible to get to virtually anywhere within the city just by following paths and sidewalks.  I love the fact that I can always safely run and walk without having to worry about cars.

Before I moved into the condo, I completely renovated it with new stainless steel appliances, marble floors, crown molding, built-in bookshelves, surround sound. Seriously, this was like “pimp my crib” (well…the single, poor-person-on-a-budget version anyway). I really loved my condo, and I was proud and happy to have a place that I could call my own.

Then, in March, at the most unexpected time ever, I met the love of my life.

After a little over a year had passed, we knew that we needed to make a change.  Armed with the knowledge that My Gazelle and I would “someday” get married, and also the fact that we had collective credit card debt to the tune of $30,000, we decided to combine our lives into one of our condos. As it were, my condo was more marketable and would fetch more rent than his, so we have lived in his 1 bedroom condo for the past 2 years. My condo stayed leased out as a fully-furnished corporate rental, and I have had 3 tenants in the past 2 years.

**Sidebar: corporate rental is THE way to go if you can furnish the joint yourself. From my experience, the tenants have been solid, reliable, and mature.

I had to rent a storage unit for 2 years in order to contain all of the wonderful things that I wasn’t able to bring to My Gazelle’s condo.  They just wouldn’t fit within our 675 square feet.  My book and cookbook collection, scrapbooking supplies, beautiful decorations and framed art.  These are all things that I’ve missed for the past 2 years, but I knew that they were just things, and I would eventually be reunited with them.  In addition to missing my things (and probably more-so), I’ve missed having a space of my own to be creative.

At noon today, I’m meeting my soon-to-be former tenants so that we can do their move out inspection.

At 12:16, I’m going to begin moving in my art, scrapbooking supplies and cookbook collection.

Well, not really…but if I didn’t already have a prior engagement, you can trust that I would.

Oh, marble floors that are never clean enough!  I love you, but I hate you.

Oh, kitchen without enough counter space!  I have missed you so much…and we’ll get you some more counter space soon enough.

Oh, sunroom!  You look completely different now, with no crazy internal sliding door and new blinds!  I can’t wait to sit in you and relax.

As an added bonus, I also had all of the windows and that huge sliding door on the sunroom replaced in late February.  I am very anxious to move back in so that I can enjoy the space as it should be enjoyed.  I feel like I never really had a chance to enjoy and appreciate what I had because I was all up in “New Loveville”.  This time, I will have at least 3 years to devote to making this place our own (thankfully with no more credit card debt).  It’s funny how things come full circle.

And I will have a craft area.  Even if I have to share it with My Gazelle’s workout equipment.  It’s OK.  I”ll make that sacrifice for love.

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