Running on crack

Last night I decided to go for a run to see if my knee is progressing. I headed down LWB to Seward Park and mixed it up with a combination of light jogging and walking. Once I got to Seward I started running for real and everything felt pretty good, so I kept going...and going...and going. And it felt great! I soon realized I was going to run my first complete lap of Seward Park in what seemed like an eternity and I got this huge smile on my face. I'm all bouncing along, smiling huge, practically screaming, "I can run!". It was a total Nike commercial or something. I'm sure people were wondering what kind of crack I was on. I even kept running all the way home!

At my Wednesday morning workout Joe told me he plans to sponsor a Boston Marathon team next year and wants me to run. Of course I reminded him of my knee problem and that I hadn't run in a long time and he ignored me. He said I should try running again and well, here I am! I ran the Seattle Half Marathon in 2004 and unfortunately never completed another since I had the IT band problem. I've never had the desire to run 26.2 miles, but I think for the first time I've suddenly become interested!

Elation!

Did I mention that I cruised around Mercer Island last night at 20mph? Woo! I guess the real test will be seeing how I perform at my next race, which should be when the Women's series runs again at PR on the 6th. Then there's the Starbucks road race on the 9th. It seems so far away! There's been a lull in racing lately and I'm anxious to get back out there and see how much my training is helping. There's a handful of road races in July, so I'll get my wish soon.

Joe has been away from Headquarters for morning workouts the past two weeks and I've been working with the assistant trainer. He was back today and boy did I get my butt handed to me. Joe upped my weights and my reps and nearly killed my legs this morning. The workout felt great though! I'm a sucker for punishment...

It's gorgeous out but I think I need a rest night tonight. Maybe I'll try a short run, but I'd like to race Seward tomorrow and my legs are feeling pretty hammered from yesterday's ride and this morning's workout. I know when I get home Marcus will try to convince me otherwise. I must stay strong and say no!

It's about time to get back to work on the house. My mom is visiting in August and I'm realizing we still need to finish the bathroom, the media room flooring, and a bunch of other things. Maybe this weekend we can make some progress. Pictures to follow soon!

Back to work

We had a mellow, relaxing weekend in Spokane. It's always nice to get out of town for a little while. Of course, the entire time we were there I had to hear Marcus say "The weather is great, we should be on the bike." Haha. I've been doing a lot of training so for me it's nice to take a break every once in a while.

There was no Monday workout this week at Headquarters so I feel like it's a vacation! I was eager to hop on the bike and rode to work Monday but was a little bummed to find that my legs weren't exactly cooperative. Last time I took a weekend off I felt great, but not this time. I guess that's what I get for not stretching or spinning out my legs for a few days. They were tight and it felt as if I hadn't used them in a year. At least I faired better on the ride home.

I hopped on the bike today a little relunctantly after my less than stellar ride yesterday but ended up quite surprised with my ride around Mercer Island. For the first time ever I averaged 20mph all on my own for the entire loop! My legs felt amazing! I swear that in just the three weeks I've been at Headquarters I can feel such a difference. It seems that I'm expending the same effort I did a month ago but going 2-3mph faster. Rock on! And to think I almost stayed home to watch the Mavs/Heat game. Hey, at least I caught the last quarter.

I can run! (Well, a little)

Marcus and I headed over to Seward Park Wednesday evening and laughed as we hobbled around pretending to run. Both of us were hurting from our morning leg workout at Headquarters. Once I got warmed up I surprised myself and was actually able to run a full mile! I definitely was slow and not in old form, but it felt great and my knee didn't bother me a bit -- sweet! Maybe this finally marks my return to running!

I woke up Thursday to beautiful weather so decided to ride to work. It only took a block for my legs to give me grief, probably from the prior day's workout and run. The headwind down Rainier didn't help and I struggled badly most of the way to work. Thank goodness the ride home went much better and my legs felt totally recovered. Of course, then I decided to meet some friends at the Ballard Pool in the evening. I haven't swam since December so I thought it would be nice to hop back in the pool.

My legs were NOT working the first few laps and I nearly thought I would drown. I contemplated getting the little leg floatie things to help me out but finally worked it out and was able to swim somewhat smoothly towards the end of the evening. It's been a while and my first few laps were hideous!

Unfortunately I won't be racing at Seward this weekend. I realized it's a combined Women's 2-4 field and after seeing the race at Ballard I know I'm not ready for that yet. Anyway, Marcus and I are heading to Spokane this weekend for his friend's wedding so it'll be nice to get away for a bit, even if it is Spokane.

I love Headquarters

This morning I had a great leg workout at Headquarters -- I love this place! This is week 3 and already I'm seeing changes. I'm actually seeing some more definition in my arms and my legs feel stronger. I've settled into the M/W/F morning routine and it's going well. This week the workouts got harder, not because my weights increased, but because my rest time decreased. I used to get a small amount of rest between sets but now I'm pretty much jumping from one workout to another. By the time I hit the end of the set my muscles are toast! Some exercises that are easier this week got marked for a weight increase next week, so we'll see how that goes.

Right now there's a lull in racing for me as PR is on a bye the next two weeks. I could probably race Seward on Thursdays but I'm a little skiddish there in the rain and I'm not sure the weather will cooperate. I might take this as a nice time to hit the gym, do some good training rides, and rest up for some July racing. This Sunday there's a race at Seward that hopefully I'll do if the weather holds.

Running, crashes and...a haircut.

The weekend update...

Marcus and I went to Tiger on Saturday for some good 'ol fashion trail running. Yes, running! We did the Bus Trail and then Marcus headed for the summit of Tiger 3 while I went down to do the 'Round the Lake trail. Unfortunately my knee isn't quite up to big descents yet so I know better than to try to come down Tiger 3. Right now flats are my thing. I was mostly able to keep up 1-min intervals (1 min run, 1 min walk) for the day but eventually my knee caved. One of these days I'll be back to running shape I hope. Ahhh...I long for those 10-mile days.

Once we got home we hurriedly hopped on the bikes and headed to Ballard to check out the Twilight Criterium. Unfortunately we were too late to watch most of the Zoka guys in the 4/5 race but caught several other races. After watching the Cat 4s get shelled on the first lap of the women's race and last about 8-10 minutes I'm glad I decided to watch rather than race. There were some pretty strong Cat 4 TGH riders that weren't even close to the main pack.

Luckily we missed the major crashes -- I hate seeing those. I was told there were several pretty serious and large crashes. A few Zoka guys had some war wounds and it was corner 3 giving most people trouble. As if the transition to cobblestone wasn't sketchy enough, there was a raised manhole right in the center of the turn for an added bonus.

We left Ballard and rushed home so I could take Marcus to a surprise party in Capital Hill for his birthday. The 'ol man is thirty now -- time for a Porsche 911! We got together with several friends and had a few too many drinks, but it was a grand time.

Needless to say we started Sunday off a little sluggish after running ourselves to death Saturday, staying up late, and having a few too many drinks. By Sunday afternoon we were somewhat recovered and did several hill repeats on Madrona and Leschi. I biked up Madrona three times and much to my surprise it really wasn't that difficult -- sweet! We even threw in a few extra hills for kicks.

The weekend ended with a surprise new haircut. I decided to get a trim on Saturday which resulted in the crappiest haircut known to man. For some reason the stylist thought a mod-version of the mullet would look good on me or something. I didn't realize the extent of the damage until I got home. Those salon mirrors are pure trickery I tell ya. I've been considering chopping off my hair again so let's just say this helped encourage me. I booked an appointment at the 7 Salon downtown on Sunday and the only way the stylist could fix my hair was by removing it. So, instant new style and I dig it! I can't say I'll be visiting my old salon again.

Overall, great weekend!

3rd at PR

The rain held off long enough to have a nice race at PR and enough women showed to run a beginner / Cat 4 split race. We all did a neutral lap down the escape route and then the Cat 4s continued that route while the beginner group stayed on the flats.

Only one other woman besides me, Julie, has been there every week and races with the beginner group. When the race started we were both mixed into the Cat 4 group and when we looked behind us the rest of our field was about a half lap behind. We decided to slow and wait for everyone to catch up, but maybe we should have just dropped the hammer and gone -- oh well.

Once everyone caught up we ended up riding in a single paceline for about 2-3 laps before I started thinking, "Ok, this sucks. Somebody do something!" Julie must have been thinking that too because both her and I attacked at the same time and started having some fun. A few girls went with us and we finally had a race! The beginners tend to be very relunctant to be aggressive and attack.

Most of the night was frustrating in that Julie and I were doing all of the work. Everytime we were in a paceline of about 3-4 riders no one else would pull! They would just sit off the back and let us do everything. At one point a girl got away a bit and we were the only ones willing to work to chase her down. Even Martha said, "That's not nice. They're making you do all the work!"

With about two laps to go Julie and I caught the girl that had been dangling out front and dropped everyone else. This girl was a little difficult to ride behind because she wobbled and didn't ride very steadily, but I was trying my best to be patient and make her do some work for a change. We came around the final corner to the finish and Julie hammered in with the other girl right behind her. As seems to be typical for me, I just couldn't hang and ended up 3rd. Argh! Julie got the win and the only prime of the night. After the race I was very frustrated as again I didn't think I gave it a good enough effort. Every week I work hard the entire race and then get dropped on the last corner to the sprint. I'm very irritated with myself. It seems I am just not a strong rider on the flats, I really need to work on this. Where's my hills?

At least I learned more again tonight. Mostly, I learned that doing all the work sucks! I did learn that Julie and I should have done shorter pulls to keep ourselves fresh. And maybe we shouldn't have waited on the pack in the beginning...maybe we should have just lapped them.

I'm in second place overall in the series right now with 4 races left I think. Unfortunately racing doesn't come back to PR until July so it looks like I'll be doing Seward in the coming weeks. I had considered doing the Ballard Crit tomorrow, but after hearing Gina say that her goal is to hang for 5 minutes I decided I'd be donating my money to race for 5 seconds, so I think I'll show up with a camera and cheer on the Zoka guys instead.

Looking forward to PR

Tuesday evening I joined up with some co-workers and started with a very leisurely ride up Lake Washington Blvd. Marcus joined us and we eventually headed off on our own. Since I rode hard Monday I wasn't feeling quite as chipper, but Marcus challenged me to a hill climb up Madrona and of course I can't say no. I still can't keep up with him, but I'm definitely not lagging as far behind as I used to - sweet! One of these days he'll be in big trouble.

As is usual, Marcus said "Let's do it again!" Lame as it is, my legs were so tight I had to stop halfway up. I realized that a leg workout at Headquarters was in store for the next morning, so that changed my perspective on how hard I should be riding. I did make it to the top twice, but I know how badly I need to start concentrating on my hill-climbing, especially if I want to do the Washington State Hillclimb. Madrona is definitely on the schedule for next week. Four repeats? We'll see...

We went on up through the arboretum and then came back via Interlaken. That's the first time I've done that route and I loved the extra climbing, but all I could think about was my upcoming leg workout at the gym so I kept it pretty mellow. As we were cruising down MLK I started to feel hungry and realized that I hadn't brought a single thing to eat -- very unlike me. A short time after I got very shaky, very sick, and very nauseated. For the first time ever I had to send Marcus to get the car and rescue me. I didn't eat enough before the ride and the hill climbing just caught up to me. At least I know not to do that again.

Thank goodness for Endurox or else I think I would have really been hurting in the gym yesterday. The workout was hard but I survived. My legs feel pretty good today so I'm itching to put in a good effort at PR tonight. Here's hoping the rain holds off...I can't wait to get out there!

Hammer time!

After taking the weekend off from riding I hit the bike yesterday with renewed energy. I got home and hammered up to Gas Works for the Monday night ride. Unfortunately I realized on the way up that I was way too energetic for a recovery ride and only two other girls showed up. It's a little disappointing that more racers don't come out for the ride. I decided to head back home and meet Marcus along the way.

We ended up doing the South Lake loop clock-wise. I surprised myself last night by keeping up with Marcus with little difficulty and even catching him across I-90. At one point he said, "You're kicking my ass." I love it! We stopped over at Exit 7 to check out the hill that Marcus has been talking up. I wasn't quite ready for it and nearly dropped my chain getting into my climbing gear. It only took me about 100 feet to realize there was no way I was climbing to the top. The thing about clipless pedals and hills is that you have to know your limit. If you realize halfway up you don't have the legs you usually have difficulty unclipping in time and end up falling over, so if you go, you're committed. Marcus made it halfway up and then came back down flaunting his superior climbing abilities. Uh-huh.

I started dying coming back down Rainier towards home -- the headwind was challenging. Marcus pulled most of the way and then when we got home he decided we needed to race each other with some hill sprints in front of the house. Three times we raced up the hill and each time I really wasn't that far behind him. One of these days I'll get him. Of course, he still claims he's not going all out, but he's a guy so of course he'll say that.

Flooring is a great thing

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originally uploaded by grepgirl.

Did I mention how exciting it is to almost have the flooring completely installed in the basement? When you spend almost a year walking around on dirty dusty concrete floors the little things really do seem awesome. Marcus and I were almost able to get everything installed on Sunday but we still have a little bit more to finish. We also need to finish the painting, so ignore the sloppy walls.

Weekend chill

This weekend I had a very rare quiet and relaxing weekend. I went for one bike ride for about 7 miles and averaged 10mph. Haha...it was nice. I spent most of the weekend very sore from Friday's workout. I swear I couldn't completely straighten my arms until late Sunday night.

Marcus and I worked on installing flooring most of the weekend and the media room downstairs is nearly done! It's very exciting to actually look downstairs and see something other than nasty dirty dusty concrete - woo! Marcus is stressing out about the flooring though since we didn't do an entirely great job of getting the subfloor even. There's quite a few bumps and low spots and there are two distinct areas where the flooring is flexing quite a bit. Oh well, I guess that's what you get when you do it yourself, but I think it looks fabulous! I'll post some pictures tonight.

I think I'll head over to Gas Works tonight and do the NWWC Monday night ride. I did two of these back in April or May but haven't been out since due to a lot of conflicts. They were fun and it's nice to get out and ride with some girls.

Keeping busy

I headed down to Pacific Raceways last night for the Thursday night Women's series and very nearly didn't make it. There was a horrible accident on SR 18 which made it a bitch to get to the track. I left Renton at 5:30 and barely made it there by 7:00. There were only five of us including Gina, but after spending the time to get there we decided to race anyway. By 7:30 a few more showed up and I think we had about 8-9 riders total.

The track was wet but luckily the rain held off until we were finished. Since we had a small group we all raced together and the Cat 4s pushed the pace a little more than what the beginner group is used to, but we all handled it fine. For once I hung with the pack the entire 35 minutes but I was working pretty hard just to stay on the back. When it came down to the final lap I died on the sprint and I think I was almost last across the line. Oh well. I'm still uncertain about timing. I was catching the two girls ahead of me but just ran out of room. I feel like I should have pushed harder and started sooner and I could have finished two spots higher. Why can't I really dig? In the last race I started earlier but then didn't have the endurance to last and died at the end. I guess it's a fine line and one of these days I'll figure out just how hard and how long I can sprint.

I was pleasantly surprised that my legs didn't seem affected from yesterday's workout. Gina told me to beware what I'm doing in the gym, but my trainer thinks otherwise. I'm not competitive, so at this point ANYTHING I can do to build strength and fitness is a good thing for me. I headed to my second training session at Headquarters this morning and worked out my arms this time.

I started with a treadmill warm up and then Joe's assistant trainer told me, "Ok, you're ready for 300 ab reps...go." I laughed and said, "No really...what should I start with?" Then he said he was serious. I have to alternate between several ab exercises and get 300 reps on my abs every time I'm there. Surprisingly, it goes quickly if I can keep count. I'm going to definitely feel this tomorrow.

After that I did three circuits of exercises for my biceps and triceps, a few of which were really difficult. The assistant trainer helped me with several of the workouts. You know it's bad when you have to do 15 reps and at 5 you're already faltering. Oh yeah, and then you have to do another set.

My arms have felt like they're floating all day. Marcus is going this weekend for a fitness assessment from Joe. Haha...now when he gets his butt kicked he'll know what I went through last weekend.