My Long Run

It was BEAUTIFUL outside today, so after dropping Nigel at the groomer, I returned home and hit the running trail in my subdivision for my weekly long run (which is still quite short, but I'm getting there). The trail (and road) are shaped like a figure eight, with a large, hilly loop at the top in my neighborhood, and shorter, flatter loop at the bottom.

Starting out from the top of my driveway, it's pretty flat for the first half mile or so.

 A few undulations and then the first hill.  Coach Jenny Hatfield says one way to think of hills is as your best friends, for the teaching moments they offer - and speed work.

So here's my first bestie when I go east out of the driveway:

Then I run my first trip through the center of the figure eight, which has besties two and three.

Yep, those are my tracks.

Turning north from the center of the figure eight, I have a lovely downhill stretch, where I feel like I'm flying.  Then, alas, I have to come back uphill in order to get back to the house - go figure.

Here's a gradual bestie, and there's another right behind it.

Hi, Henry & Sherry!

Then back through this middle stretch again,

before turning west for the gradual ascent back to my street.

Near the five mile mark, I can see this last little uphill in the distance,

Look closely - it's there by that last hillock on the right (where you might see a llama or two)

and I know my house is just past that last crest.  Joyfully, I arrive back at my driveway, yay!

I still felt like I had some gas at the end of the run, which made me feel good, because  in a short six weeks, my long run will be twice this distance!

And here's a gratuitous shot of Nigel, after his grooming and Dutch Bros. treat, wondering why in the world I keep pulling over and taking pictures (I'm not gonna slow down on my actual run to take pictures!):

Stretching with Nigel and Molly

Everyone knows how important it is to stretch after exercise.  What some folks  may not know, however, is that it is equally important to shut the door to keep the dogs out before hitting the floor for some hamstring stretches, to-wit:

The combined dog breath was so bad I think I passed out for a while.

We love babysitting Molly, but I will definitely be shutting the door next time!

Hey, two days in a row!

Today was a strength-training day, so off to the Redmond Parks and Rec center for the Power Cut class, which is awesome and totally kicks my butt.

I have started parking a mile away and running to the class along the canal trail, which regrettably looks like this in the winter months:

Imagine how awesome it will be in the spring and summer - I know it becomes a raging torrent, just like the nearby rivers.

Here's the view going the other direction, in case you were wondering.

Anyhoo, I start running and that little negative voice in my head starts whining about the cold and how tired my legs are from yesterday's timed run, and of course the runner in my head said, "Just do it, for Bob's sake" and so I did.

Good thing too, because I only give myself just enough time to be ten minutes early, and for this class that's almost not enough time to get set up.  We were so full up today we ran out of steps and the instructor was using some kind of bin lid.

Sixty-five minutes later, the instructor asked me how I did, and I informed her that I would be walking back to my car today, instead of running.  Ow.

I had a great lunch with one girlfriend,  delivered some eggs to the neighbors, walked three miles in the afternoon with another girlfriend, and accepted a ride home from a third at the three mile point because my legs were just worn out.

Here I am in my wonderful Buff, just before Sue picked me up, ha!

According to MyFitnessPal, I burned about 500 calories for other than life support today.  I think that's a new record, so Sue and I are going to have some wine later.

Do any of you use MyFitnessPal to track your calories/workouts?
What's your workout record in a single day?
Anyone else have a Buff?  Those things can be made into just about anything!

Half-Marathon Training, Day One

Today was the first "run" day in my half-marathon training program (and by "my" I mean the one I downloaded from the internet).  It's been many weeks since I logged any kind of distance (and by that I mean more than 2 miles at a time), and today called for a timed run of 35 minutes at moderate pace.

Knowing I was going to be doing this, I had to forego my usual Cardio Combo class, which means I got to sleep in (bonus!), but I was having a hard time getting off the couch from my post-breakfast nap time (I learned about these from my stepson - awesome).  I did a little grocery shopping, stopped by Dutch Brothers,

Nigel tried to jump from the car into to Dutch Bros kiosk, because the barista had the
nerve to make my Americano before getting him a treat.

and generally put the running off until I just did it.  On the way out from the house, the neighbor's llamas were out and about, and curious.

I stopped long enough to snap a picture (despite having many pics of these particular llamas), and realized I had just added time to my pace.  Now I'm thinking like a runner, ha!  I made it to the 35 minute mark (which happened just before I reached my 5K marker on the trail), and was happy to do it.

Day one done!  Tomorrow is a cross-training/strength training day, so I'll head over to the Redmond Parks and Rec center for my Power Cut Plus class.  That class is a great workout, but I've gained five pounds since I started going four weeks ago.  My clothes still fit comfortably so I tell myself I'm just adding muscle.

I've never run a half-marathon before, and I've been reading up on it like the type-A anal-retentive I am.  For example, the consensus seems to be that I'll need to alternate water and a sports drink every fifteen minutes, and fuel with some blend of carbs and sodium every half hour.  This, in turn, sent me into Bend's Footzone, to check out the supply of nasty gels and chews.

I decided to try out these

in the pink lemonade flavor, and also the fruit smoothie (punch) flavor.  Yummy, but geez Louise, they have 10 calories EACH.  NOW I'm not thinking like a runner, but as someone who recently lost 50 pounds!  Supposedly I'l need to eat about TEN of these an hour.  And since I run like a tortoise, that would be about twenty for a half marathon!

Funny side note:  the boxes of this brand had Lance Armstrong on the outside.  I mentioned to Craig, the nice guy helping me out, that this probably wouldn't boost sales.  Craig agreed, informing me the new boxes had someone else on the outside.   I told Craig I was running in my first half marathon, and nice guy that he is, he gave me some advice on the training plan I downloaded.  Such nice people at the Footzone, I think I'll get my next pair of shoes from them.

So now it's just a matter of getting physically prepared, and preparing mentally for my longest distance to date.  You can check out my course and race information here.  And if I survive, I'll be sure to write about the experience!

 

Why I Undeleted My Blog

Some of my faithful readers (okay, just two of you) noticed that I deleted my blog.  This very one.  I had recently posted about a little shelter rescue (Zeb - sniff) we adopted, but that didn't work out (he never stopped attacking Ted whenever he came near me), and I deleted the blog post about him.

Then I got to thinking.  How dumb was it to post about him so soon, when there was a very real possibility the adoption wouldn't work out?  We had adopted a second Basenji years ago, and that REALLY didn't work out!  So one would think I'd hold off a little.  Wait and see.  Maybe this blogging wasn't such a good idea, and by the way, it was starting to be a little like that four letter word I can no longer bear :  WORK.

So I deleted the entire blog.  Bang - one button push and it was gone!  What a relief!

Except I missed it.  I missed being able to go back and look at how I've progressed, how my relationships have grown, and basically just the fun things I've done and shared.  Even a puppy adoption that didn't work out would be worth looking back at now and then (too bad I can't figure out how to bring that post back).

Lately I've subscribed to a really well-written blog, The Hungry Runner Girl.  Now, I probably have nothing in common with this lady except running (and she runs waaaaaay more and longer than I presently do), and although most of her posts seem to include food (hence the "Hungry" part), I really enjoy reading it.  I don't even know this person, and I'm getting a charge (and not a little inspiration) reading about her daily life.

I'm thinking even if the only person I inspire is myself, so be it.  It's kind of like a journal, isn't it?  I used to keep a journal, from 1974 to about 1983, when I married, and only sporadically thereafter.  Those volumes I burned after having a near-death experience, when I considered how juvenile some of the contents were (I was, after all, a juvenile most of that time) and how difficult it would be for anyone to understand it if I weren't around to edit/explain/justify.  I've never regretted that little fireplace session for a single moment.

But I regretted this blog deletion.  That's why I'm back.  And if I don't get around to updating it often "enough," too bad; I'm not getting paid by the word (or at all).

So stand back and brace yourselves for more thrills a minute, like what I'm going to submit to this year's county fair.  Or the results of my first half marathon run.  Or maybe someday a dog adoption that took.