I could swear that I just posted a blog update, but here I am posting almost a month after my last entry. I guess it could have something to do with the fact that I was beating myself into the ground until last Thursday or so. Or not.
I finished the heavy mileage weeks in my marathon training schedule without major problems. I finally figured out a system that kept my feet mostly happy (new socks and a lot of bag balm). I ran 20 miles without incident. I did have some stomach issues at about 18.5 miles where I thought I was going to puke on the side of the trail, but I was able to walk it off and finish the run. I have been having a few minor problems with my IT band, but that really isn't anything new and is sort of my own fault since I've been slacking on cross training, my PT exercises, and core work. I'm hoping that the reduced mileage I'm now running along with lots of stretching/IT band work/core work/massage will make my left leg happy and ready to run 26.2 miles. We shall see on May 29th.
In other news, my touring bike came in about a week and half ago. It wasn't supposed to come until this week, so I was pretty surprised to get the call to pick it up. I've ridden it a few times, but I still don't have the fit dialed in. I think it needs a new stem and I KNOW it needs a new saddle. I'm also looking at racks and such. I will definitely post pics when she's up and running!
I've also been cross stitching in the evenings. I'm doing a Little Mermaid pillowcase for my niece for her birthday. Let's just say that it's taking WAY more time to finish that I was thinking it would. I did some x-stitch when I was younger, and I had forgotten how much I like it. I'm thinking of doing some quilt panels (either x-stitch or embroidery) and making a quilt for a winter project.
But, I really don't want to think about winter since spring/summer has finally arrived in Saskatoon!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Taco Bell Training Plan
E and I got home from a 3 day car trip on Friday. We drove to and from the Duluth, MN area so that we could trade his Ford Escort (aka White Stallion) for the Pontiac Vibe (aka Zippy) that he recently bought from his parents. It was a good as a trip with 30 hours of driving in 3 days can be! As is often the case with long car trips, I ate a lot and much of it was not very good for me.
Wednesday: Eat granola. Run 8 miles. Eat bagel and cream cheese. Work. Eat tortellini with pesto sauce for lunch. Eat some dark chocolate with hazelnuts for dessert. Go home early. Pack car. Eat some grapes and a pear. Ride in car for a couple hours. Snack on pistachios and veggies with hummus. Eat Big Mac and fries at McDonalds. Ride in car some more. Eat a granola bar. Sleep.
Thursday: Eat ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast. Have coffee with cream. Ride in car some more. Snack on veggies and hummus and pistachios. Stop in Chippewa National Forest and run 5 miles. Eat a turkey, cheese and veggie wrap. Ride some more. Eat a bunch of Cool Ranch Doritos (this is the start of the downward nutritional spiral). Get to campsite. Set up tent. Ride to truck stop restaurant. Eat a salad w/dressing, a big bunch of mashed potatoes and gravy, and a country fried steak. Sleep on Thermarest that I failed to inflate.
Friday: Eat a granola bar and banana for breakfast. Pack up camp. Ride in car. Snack on Doritos and cheese ball. Stop at McDonalds for lunch. Eat a $1 McChicken, fries, and a latte. Ride some more. Eat Taco Bell Crunchwrap. Drive new car. Eat leftover cheesy bean and rice burrito from Taco Bell. Drive some more. Wimp out 1 hour before home. Sleep.
After getting home late Friday night, I slept in Saturday morning and then ate a normal pre-long run breakfast. I was not feeling confident about running 17 miles after the past couple of weeks of lackluster and painful training. But, I sucked it up and went anyway - and I was pleasantly surprised. I ran the full distance in a fast-for-me time, but more importantly, my body felt good the entire time. I wasn't so beat down at the end that I didn't feel like I could run another step.
I'm pretty sure my over-nourished state really helped me out! Good thing that there is a Taco Bell in Calgary for pre-marathon fueling. (I think I am kidding about eating Taco Bell the day before a big race, but I do love Taco Bell.)
Wednesday: Eat granola. Run 8 miles. Eat bagel and cream cheese. Work. Eat tortellini with pesto sauce for lunch. Eat some dark chocolate with hazelnuts for dessert. Go home early. Pack car. Eat some grapes and a pear. Ride in car for a couple hours. Snack on pistachios and veggies with hummus. Eat Big Mac and fries at McDonalds. Ride in car some more. Eat a granola bar. Sleep.
Thursday: Eat ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast. Have coffee with cream. Ride in car some more. Snack on veggies and hummus and pistachios. Stop in Chippewa National Forest and run 5 miles. Eat a turkey, cheese and veggie wrap. Ride some more. Eat a bunch of Cool Ranch Doritos (this is the start of the downward nutritional spiral). Get to campsite. Set up tent. Ride to truck stop restaurant. Eat a salad w/dressing, a big bunch of mashed potatoes and gravy, and a country fried steak. Sleep on Thermarest that I failed to inflate.
Friday: Eat a granola bar and banana for breakfast. Pack up camp. Ride in car. Snack on Doritos and cheese ball. Stop at McDonalds for lunch. Eat a $1 McChicken, fries, and a latte. Ride some more. Eat Taco Bell Crunchwrap. Drive new car. Eat leftover cheesy bean and rice burrito from Taco Bell. Drive some more. Wimp out 1 hour before home. Sleep.
After getting home late Friday night, I slept in Saturday morning and then ate a normal pre-long run breakfast. I was not feeling confident about running 17 miles after the past couple of weeks of lackluster and painful training. But, I sucked it up and went anyway - and I was pleasantly surprised. I ran the full distance in a fast-for-me time, but more importantly, my body felt good the entire time. I wasn't so beat down at the end that I didn't feel like I could run another step.
I'm pretty sure my over-nourished state really helped me out! Good thing that there is a Taco Bell in Calgary for pre-marathon fueling. (I think I am kidding about eating Taco Bell the day before a big race, but I do love Taco Bell.)
Monday, April 18, 2011
Today Used to be a Good Day
Have you ever had one of those days where you were convinced it couldn't possibly be Monday because things were going so much better than they ever do on a Monday? Today was that day for me.
I was super-productive at work today. I'm only a few more lab days away from having all the data I need for my first manuscript collected. The results are interesting, and I'm actually excited about writing this stuff up! If that wasn't enough to make the day a good one, I found out that I won a scholarship that will cover half of my stipend for next year. While I would probably get paid one way or another without it, this just means that I have the SECURITY of knowing that at least part of my pay can't be spent by the crazy post-doc that likes to run our lab into the hole on a regular basis.
Then I got home and decided to bail on my run. My feet do still hurt, but I probably could have done at least a short run to keep my old lady hips loosened up. I had to bail on a run last week too (legitimately, because I REALLY overdid it on the run last weekend and then proceeded to also overdo it on the bike the following day). Basically, I feel like blowing off my Monday run is becoming a habit that I need to break!
While I was skipping my run, I found out that one of my uncles has to have a triple bypass later this week. I'm really close with my family, and he isn't that old, so it's been tough news to swallow. Today used to be a good day. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
I was super-productive at work today. I'm only a few more lab days away from having all the data I need for my first manuscript collected. The results are interesting, and I'm actually excited about writing this stuff up! If that wasn't enough to make the day a good one, I found out that I won a scholarship that will cover half of my stipend for next year. While I would probably get paid one way or another without it, this just means that I have the SECURITY of knowing that at least part of my pay can't be spent by the crazy post-doc that likes to run our lab into the hole on a regular basis.
Then I got home and decided to bail on my run. My feet do still hurt, but I probably could have done at least a short run to keep my old lady hips loosened up. I had to bail on a run last week too (legitimately, because I REALLY overdid it on the run last weekend and then proceeded to also overdo it on the bike the following day). Basically, I feel like blowing off my Monday run is becoming a habit that I need to break!
While I was skipping my run, I found out that one of my uncles has to have a triple bypass later this week. I'm really close with my family, and he isn't that old, so it's been tough news to swallow. Today used to be a good day. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Training for a marathon kills your productivity
I guess it's time for my monthly blog update. Oy.
We finally got our crap together enough to get our waterproof camera to the photoshop, so I'm hoping to put the finishing touches on a post (including some snorkeling photos!) about our Costa Rica trip soon. Don't hold your breath that it's going to be this week, though, because we'll probably be spending our Easter break driving across country to pick up the car that E bought from his parents.
I finished up my teaching duties for the semester/year this week. I'm pretty excited because that should be it for teaching during my grad program. I'm finally to the point where I can focus ONLY on my own research and hopefully finish this beast up before the end of 2011.
As of today, it's 6 weeks until the Calgary Marathon. My training is still going alright, but I'm having major reservations at the moment about adding mileage and actually going the distance on race day. My long run yesterday was 16 miles, and I honestly don't think my feet and legs can handle another 10.2 miles on top of that! Plus, the training schedule I chose maxes out at a 20 mile long run - leaving the last 10K of the marathon as an unknown come race day. To be honest, my biggest problem at this point is my wimpy feet. I have always been prone to blisters, and I come home with new ones after every long run. The blisters make anything past the half-marathon distance painful and basically not enjoyable. This week, one of my mutated pinky toes blistered on the bottom, which caused my stride to change and led to a BLOOD BLISTER on the ball of my foot. Honestly, for all the problems that my baby toes give me, I would probably just be better off if I could amputate the darn things. Oh the joy of endurance running!
We finally got our crap together enough to get our waterproof camera to the photoshop, so I'm hoping to put the finishing touches on a post (including some snorkeling photos!) about our Costa Rica trip soon. Don't hold your breath that it's going to be this week, though, because we'll probably be spending our Easter break driving across country to pick up the car that E bought from his parents.
I finished up my teaching duties for the semester/year this week. I'm pretty excited because that should be it for teaching during my grad program. I'm finally to the point where I can focus ONLY on my own research and hopefully finish this beast up before the end of 2011.
As of today, it's 6 weeks until the Calgary Marathon. My training is still going alright, but I'm having major reservations at the moment about adding mileage and actually going the distance on race day. My long run yesterday was 16 miles, and I honestly don't think my feet and legs can handle another 10.2 miles on top of that! Plus, the training schedule I chose maxes out at a 20 mile long run - leaving the last 10K of the marathon as an unknown come race day. To be honest, my biggest problem at this point is my wimpy feet. I have always been prone to blisters, and I come home with new ones after every long run. The blisters make anything past the half-marathon distance painful and basically not enjoyable. This week, one of my mutated pinky toes blistered on the bottom, which caused my stride to change and led to a BLOOD BLISTER on the ball of my foot. Honestly, for all the problems that my baby toes give me, I would probably just be better off if I could amputate the darn things. Oh the joy of endurance running!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Still Alive
I'm still alive. Still suffering through the Saskatchewan winter. Keeping up with my marathon training.
Mostly, I haven't blogged in forever because I spent a week in Costa Rica earlier this month. E and I ended up with a pretty nice tax refund courtesy of our tuition credits, so we booked a last-minute trip to an all-inclusive resort on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Costa Rica was nothing less than paradise. Luckily for you blog readers, I kept a journal while I was there so that I can still write about our escapades there in detail later.
For now, I just wanted to make sure the few people that actually read this page know that I intend on updating it sometime!
Mostly, I haven't blogged in forever because I spent a week in Costa Rica earlier this month. E and I ended up with a pretty nice tax refund courtesy of our tuition credits, so we booked a last-minute trip to an all-inclusive resort on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Costa Rica was nothing less than paradise. Luckily for you blog readers, I kept a journal while I was there so that I can still write about our escapades there in detail later.
For now, I just wanted to make sure the few people that actually read this page know that I intend on updating it sometime!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
My newest favorite thing
Vodka tonic. With lime.
I'm not sure why these things are so delicious. I really love them though. I love them so much that I rode my bike for an hour on the trainer today just so that I could drink a couple of vodka tonics tonight. I guess that exercising specifically to drink probably isn't the most healthy way to go about things, but whatever it takes, right?
I'm going to go enjoy my drinks right now.
I'm not sure why these things are so delicious. I really love them though. I love them so much that I rode my bike for an hour on the trainer today just so that I could drink a couple of vodka tonics tonight. I guess that exercising specifically to drink probably isn't the most healthy way to go about things, but whatever it takes, right?
I'm going to go enjoy my drinks right now.
Monday, February 14, 2011
The first of my favorite things
I am not what you would call a girly-girl. I don't do my hair or makeup on a regular basis. For this reason, I have little skill in styling hair or applying makeup.
Enter the first of my favorite things: my CHI straightening iron.
The CHI works magic. My hair is naturally fairly straight, but left to its own devices, it flips at the ends and is prone to fly-aways. In about 2 minutes with the CHI, it lays flat and looks shiny and healthy. The effect is even better if I really get my act together and use the fancy hair products I got with the iron for Christmas.
I probably never would have splurged on a high-end ceramic iron for myself, so I'm thankful that my mom did! Even though I only use it a few times per month, I would definitely replace it were I to break it tomorrow.
Love my CHI.
Enter the first of my favorite things: my CHI straightening iron.
The CHI works magic. My hair is naturally fairly straight, but left to its own devices, it flips at the ends and is prone to fly-aways. In about 2 minutes with the CHI, it lays flat and looks shiny and healthy. The effect is even better if I really get my act together and use the fancy hair products I got with the iron for Christmas.
I probably never would have splurged on a high-end ceramic iron for myself, so I'm thankful that my mom did! Even though I only use it a few times per month, I would definitely replace it were I to break it tomorrow.
Love my CHI.
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