Tag: Running

Run stats and updates

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Impressive

There’s a girl I see jogging most mornings on my way into work, and it is now obvious that she’s pregnant. I’m a terrible judge of things like this, but I would guess she’s around 6 months along. She’s really thin, so maybe she’s showing early, though, and could be earlier in her pregnancy. Or maybe she’s how I was, not showing until pretty late, and is even farther along. I have no idea. All women show and carry their pregnancies differently, so for the sake of this post let’s just say she’s 6ish months pregnant.

Now why did I entitle this one “Impressive”, you may be wondering? Well here’s the thing. Assuming this girl (girl? woman? i never know which to use. is there an age cut-off where you no longer call a girl a girl, but a woman? is it offensive to a younger female to call her a woman if she prefers girl? lady? whatever, i’ll stick with girl for now. she appears to be maybe my age, so we’ll say 30ish. lots of “ish”es here today) is near the end of her second trimester, if not even into her third, to me jogging every morning is certainly impressive.

When I got pregnant with D I was fully planning on continuing my usual workout routine as far into my pregnancy as possible. And this included jogging. For although I was by no means an avid runner at the time, I did try to jog whenever possible (weather permitting, duh), because I really do think it is one of the best ways to stay in shape. Well things happened, plans changed, and my exercise took a back seat to simply being pregnant. And I mean a way back seat. Like if we were in a stretch limo, exercise would have been all the way in that far back area, past the bar and tvs, so far back it could barely hear the conversation.

For some reason, however, I got it into my head to try jogging again during the spring that I was pregnant. The weather had started getting nice again, and I felt like I needed to do something. Why that something took the form of a jog after months of doing basically zero exercise, let alone running, I have no idea. I tend to get these “great ideas” in my head from time to time that really end up being just plain dumb and painful. Yet I rarely learn my lesson and keep trying them.

Well this, indeed, was a dumb one. I was about 4-5 months pregnant at the time and not really showing, but I could definitely feel D and all the pressure she was putting on my internal organs in there. Especially my bladder. I shit you not – I took 3 steps of that jog and felt like I was instantly going to wet my pants. Oh what the hell?? I thought. And of course I was jogging in a park near my office, having decided to workout after work that day instead of heading out from home. Splendid. So not only was I going to pee my pants, but I was going to have to go back into my office building with soiled draws (you know, ghetto for drawers, pants, trousers. not the verb like something an artist does. duh). You must be kidding me. Thinking it may have just been a fluke and my body simply needed to get used to jogging with extra weight, I tried again. Same result – a few steps and the feeling of impending and uncontrollable urination was back. Ok, that’s enough, I’ll walk the rest of the route here, thankyouverymuch. It at least counts as some exercise, and I won’t have to go back into my office sporting soggy bottom.

So that’s why I say this girl jogging each morning while this much pregnant is impressive. I tried it once, for about 10 seconds, and failed miserably. Obviously many, many women run while they’re pregnant, and a lot of them run the entire time with ease. I, however, was not one of them. Maybe next time I’ll try a little harder to be able to run farther into my pregnancy. Or maybe I’ll just skip it again and find an alternative, saying it’s all in the name of keeping my undies dry.

 

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It’s been HOW long?

You guys, why didn’t anyone tell me I hadn’t run in over a month?? Last night I wasn’t in the mood to wait until 7:00 for my Monday night group training session at the gym, and since it was what may have been our last nice day of the season I decided to take advantage and go for a run. I am now beginning to seriously think I have lost my mind.

First of all, on my drive home from work the thermometer I always pass read 61. Perfect. Yeah, not so much. By the time I got home, changed, and headed out to hit the pavement, the sun was beginning to sink behind the horizon and basically my whole route was in shade. Funny how quickly the temperature drops this time of year when the sun fades, isn’t it? My entire run felt like it was in the middle of winter – that cold air feeling in the back of your throat (which always makes my mouth fill up with excess spit. fantastic), frozen fingers, and toes that started tingling with a tiny bit of numbness. Am I just wimpy? Possibly. But you know I hate running in cold weather. Remember my no running outdoors unless it’s above 50 degrees rule? I think it may now be coming into play permanently for the remainder of the year.

But aaaaanyway… I got out there, I did it, and it always feels good to have done. Hopefully I still got a decent workout in, and hopefully my legs won’t be so sore these next couple days that getting onto and off of the toilet is painful. Have you ever worked out that hard? Where it hurts to sit on the toilet? Come on, I know I’m not the only one here. It’s kind of one of those good hurts, because you know you really pushed your muscles to get that sore, but then you’re like wait a minute, I can’t use the freakin’ toilet without wincing! Maybe that was a little much. Ah well.

Ok back to the point. Here are the stats:  I ran 2.86 miles in 25:02, for an 8:45 pace. That’s honestly faster than I was expecting to see, because it did not feel like a good run at all. And my last run before this was on September 22. Yowza! I was doing so well, too, with running once or twice almost every week. In my defense, however, I have been doing my Jillian DVD twice a week for going on 4 weeks now, so I think that is a sufficient alternative. Just getting ripped and all, you know me.

 

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Dead man walking

Steel yourself for a heavy one here… Capital punishment is a highly debated and debatable subject, the likes of which I usually prefer to steer clear. But with the 2 executions earlier this week, it’s been on my mind. Specifically, do I agree with the death penalty or not?

And the more I think about it, the more my honest answer becomes “I don’t know.” See here’s the sitch: Say someone murdered one of my loved ones. Would I want them dead? Absolutely. Yes, I know how horrible that sounds, to say I would want another human dead, but I’m being brutally honest here. If someone killed R or D or any one of my family members, I might even want to go kill them myself. Screw waiting around for a death sentence.

However… (there’s always a however, isn’t there?)

Say it was one of my loved ones who did the murdering (or whatever other heinous crime would have to be committed to warrant the death penalty). Would I want them dead? Absolutely not. I would much rather have them sentenced to life in prison so I could at least go see them and call them and write to them and just know that they were still alive. Is that fair? Would they rather spend the rest of their days confined to a cell knowing there’s probably no hope whatsoever of ever seeing the free world again than be put to death? I can’t say for sure, but I’m selfish and assuming the answer would be yes. If it were me I would definitely prefer a remainder of a lifetime of imprisonment over dying, so I’m just going to simplify things and say someone I love would too.

So what’s my answer? See, herein lies my dilemma. In one circumstance I’m for it, and in another I’m adamantly against it. And I’ve tried to put the shoe on the other foot in my first scenario, where someone I love has been murdered, and see how the accused’s family would not want him/her to die just as I wouldn’t one of my own to die in my second scenario, but the seething black hole of loss in which I imagine I would be suffering usually takes over and makes my decision for me. They must die! God, that’s an awful thought to have even hypothetically. It kind of makes me ashamed knowing I’ve thought it at all. And I definitely don’t want to be teaching D that an-eye-for-an-eye is the rule by which to live, perpetuating violence and all, but really, if someone killed part of my family I would unequivocally want revenge. I’m sorry, I would. Call it a character flaw, call me barbaric and savage, call me a beast, but when I picture something that horrific happening in my life, I just can’t see it as a wound that would ever heal. Do I forgive easily? Unfortunately, no. Maybe that’s something I need to work on (actually i’m sure that’s something i need to work on, but that’s beside the point here). Maybe if this unbearable scenario did play out in my life someday (and dear god i hope it never does) I would be able to find the strength to not want to enact revenge and rip the accused’s head off with my bare hands as his/her death sentence. But I really just don’t know.

Then when you bring all the exogenous factors into a death penalty case, the decision can become even more complicated. Take the 2 executions this week, for instance. Troy Davis – a black man accused of killing an off-duty police officer in Georgia over 20 years ago; a case that lacked physical evidence linking him to the crime; eye witnesses recanting their claims that Davis was the perpetrator; a confession by another man; Davis’s own offer to submit to a lie detector test to prove his innocence; an enormous outpouring of support for Davis and outrage at this seeming miscarriage of justice that there was no stay of execution. And then there was Lawrence Brewer – 1 of 3 white men found guilty of the dragging death of a black man 13 years ago in Texas; they chained the man to the back of a pickup and dragged him by the ankles until he was decapitated when he hit a culvert; the crime was intended to promote Brewer’s white supremacist organization; odd, but there wasn’t much public outcry for this one; did you even hear about it?

I’d like to think that the gumption with which I stand behind my resolution that I would absolutely 100% never want the death penalty enacted against someone I love is stronger than my desire to have it enacted against one who would take someone I love from me, so therefore means I’m against capital punishment, but does that count? Or am I allowed to say “I don’t know”? Can the answer to such a weighty question be “well, it depends”?

What say you?

Continue reading “Dead man walking”

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Mommy fitness

So instead of working on getting all the pictures together that I owe you, I’ve been checking out a lot of new blogs lately. Sorry. (i swear, you will have wedding pics soon!)

But this morning I found another great one. Check out Robin’s post today over on PureNaturalMom. It’s awesome! This is exactly what I needed after D was born – a simple, broken-down way to make me realize I could still fit exercise into my post-baby world, no matter how daunting that seemed (or how little i really wanted to do it).

Yes, I now am able to get a couple runs in a week (and by a couple i mean 1-2. i’m not being outrageous here), plus usually a weekly workout with my trainer and another day of maybe a walk or bike ride, but dudes, D is now almost 14 months old (holy what!? what’d you just say? how’d that happen??). I’ve had time to ease back into the exercise world and try to maintain a routine again. Those first couple months, though, hoo boy. Working up a sweat was definitely not high on the priority list anymore. Unless you count the sweats I broke walking up and down the basement stairs doing countless loads of laundry. Which, actually, do count! So there you go.

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but going for walks with D those first couple months turned out to be essential in getting back some cardiovascular endurance. I couldn’t tell at the time, since my first walk post-delivery was maybe 1 mile total and about did me in, but looking back they were immensely helpful. And before baby I viewed walking as kind of fake-exercise. Yeah, it put me in my place right quick.

So for all you new moms and moms-to-be who have been used to being gym rats, don’t sweat it now. Literally. You’ll get your groove back, all in due time. Enjoy your time with a new baby without worrying about burning your usual calories (and if you’re breastfeeding, you shouldn’t be counting calories anyway!). And if you really need to sneak in some exercise, use that new little bundle – he/she will be getting heavier by the day and building your biceps for you!

 

p.s. run stats – last night i ran 3.84 miles in 33:52, for an 8:53 pace. not bad. this was a longer run that i hadn’t done yet this season, so i was happy to finish without walking.

 

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I’ll admit it again, I’m addicted

To Starbucks, that is. I always hated Starbucks for its big name, invasive presence, high price, corporate crap branding, but dudes, if I haven’t had a complete change of heart.

I was standing in the little Starbucks near my office this morning, waiting for my usual iced venti nonfat light-ice chai latte, and I realized that I just love the place. There’s something comforting about the warm coffee house feeling in there. It’s like each one is a little community in its own right, inviting and welcoming to all. You have the newspapers for perusal, corner tables and couches to snuggle into for reading or computing, larger seating areas to meet and chat with friends… It just feels good being in there. And even though I hate the taste of coffee, I do love the smell of it.

As much as I’ve been sucked into the Starbucks mega-opoly (a new word i just created, feel free to use it ), I do like to try to take my patronage to local coffee houses and test out their chais when possible. And I have done this often near my office – there’s a little coffee house about a block away from where I work that I used to frequent much more often than the Starbucks. However, they have raised their prices to almost match Starbucks’ now, and the quality of their drinks really isn’t all that great either. I used to think they were far superior, but they’ve changed some of their ingredients, which, coupled with the increased pricing, really doesn’t pull me in as much over Starbucks as it used to. So to the famous green lady logo I usually head now.

Now I’m not one with a daily Starbucks habit; I can’t afford that. But rarely a week passes where I don’t pop in at least once or twice on my way into work. And it’s not all that uncommon to find me stopping by the one near our house if I’m out and about on a weekend either. I’ve mentioned before that I started walking up to the Starbucks in our neighborhood with D after she was born last summer for a little exercise, and that is where I got hooked on these chais. Before then I would have it as a Friday morning treat at the office with a group of girls, but never otherwise. But now I seem to get my morning caffeine hankerings pretty regularly.

Ah well, I guess there are much worse things that I could be addicted to. Am I right? Thought so.

 

p.s. run stats for the week… so i ran tuesday and thursday nights this week, and i really need to go more than just a day in between runs when i haven’t run for a while. last week i didn’t get any in with the wedding travel and all, so hitting the pavement this week felt a little rough. my times were pretty good though, so i was happy. tuesday i ran 3.23 miles in 28:32, for an 8:49 pace. last night i ran 3.24 miles in 28:19, for an 8:44 pace. i was especially pleased with last night’s run, because i pushed d in our bike trailer that converts to a jogging stroller for the first time, and holy shit was that hard! i had no idea how taxing pushing something while running would be, but i was completely out of breath after 2 blocks, and still had the whole 5k route left to go (i did the same route as the 5k i ran in our neighborhood back in may). i thought for sure i wasn’t going to be able to finish, but surprisingly i made the whole thing. and i was less than a minute and a half off my time from the actual race earlier this spring, which blew me away.

 

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Are you ready for some football?

First of all, who’s sufficiently stuck to their seats? It was 83 on the temperature gauge this morning on our way up to 92 today, with about 400% humidity, and my hair is ready to curl off my head. Blech. I was hoping we were past these days for the summer, but apparently I was mistaken. Fortunately it’s only supposed to last today, so that’s not too bad. Poor air conditioning did have to come back on, though.

But to my real point… It’s one of my favorite times of year again, people – college football season!! That and college basketball, specifically UW-Madison Badgers football and basketball, are simply wonderful. I enjoy them so much more than pro. NFL I like, but NBA? Are you kidding me? No thank you very much.

The Badgers played their season opener at home in Camp Randall last night against UNLV, and blasted ’em 51-17. Go Badgers!!

Here’s a stroll down memory lane from some of our past Badger football game appearances:

This usually happens before/after a Badger game - at the Great Dane, Oct. 16, 2010
It was billed as the last "Glory Daze" for our friends
We beat #1 OSU!! I would've LOVED to have been down on that field
Yep, we taught 'em how to Bucky. And you know this!
Oct. 31, 2009 vs. Purdue
Purdue can kiss R's butt (we won 😉 )
Our brick outside Camp Randall
Nov. 15, 2008 vs. Minnesota - I got to go out on the field with past letter winners. Very awesome
Oct. 25, 2008 vs. Illinois - Badger Fun Day, view from a suite, amazing
Nov. 10, 2007 vs. Michigan
Oct. 28, 2006 vs. Illinois
Oct. 22, 2005 vs. Purdue
Sept. 25, 2004 vs. Penn St.
Oct. 18, 2003 vs. Purdue - look how young everyone looks!

Have a great long weekend – Happy Labor Day!

 

p.s. and again, run stats for the week: tuesday i ran 1.86 miles in 15:21 for an 8:15 pace, and last night i ran 2.11 miles in 17:46 for an 8:24 pace. short but sweet was the theme this week, so hopefully i can get a longer one in this weekend sometime.

 

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Waxing nostalgic

I found this beautiful post the other day on BlogHer Moms and it almost brought me to tears. Not because I can relate to lemead’s summer camp experiences on Cape Cod, but because I, too, look back on my childhood summers with such aching fondness. The long days of play, hearing the cicadas and crickets on hot summer nights (i hate bugs, but that sound always takes me back), the hours my sisters and I would spend making up languages and forts and engaging in general make believe, the utter lack of responsibility save putting away toys at day’s end, and an overall age of blissful innocence that only children know.

My sisters and I never went to summer camp, but we did have Canada. And I wouldn’t swap those 2 for anything. When we were younger there were years when we were able to spend a good couple weeks up on the island, and it was pure heaven for us. For during those long stays we usually overlapped with my mom’s entire family, spending days and nights on end with our grandparents and all of our aunts, uncles, and cousins, some of whom we never saw except up there. We held countless diving contests off the dock, swam in and across the lake (but not through the seaweed, ew!), made treasure maps and turned the island into our own coded little world, read stacks of old comic books, set up tents and “camped” in various spots on the island, had water fights, made up songs, played endless games of cards and Scrabble and bingo, listened to old-time records every night at cocktail hour (one of my favorite traditions that still lives on), roasted bags of marshmallows and popped nightly bowls of popcorn, awoke each morning to the smell of bacon and a fire in the wood-burning stove in the kitchen, and fell asleep in the loft each night listening to the grown ups reminiscing about when they were our age and always trying to sneak peeks through the blankets over the railing hoping we wouldn’t get caught and forced back into bed. They were the best days of our lives, and the countdowns to the next summer’s trip usually began on the way home. I still get butterflies of excitement the night before each trip to Little Pine Isle.

Canada has always been a family place for us, though, unlike a summer camp full of outside friends. Not that others aren’t welcome, by any means. And some groups of family do take friends when they go, when there’s room enough without too many other family members already there at the same time. I think this is kind of what made it special for us, too. We bonded so strongly with our family when we were up there and loved spending that time with them. What could be more fun for kids than playing with their aunts and uncles who always gave in and let them get away with stuff that their parents never would? Granted, as we’ve all gotten older (and bigger) it is kind of nice when the island isn’t crammed full of people anymore, but as kids it was wonderful.

Much like lemead’s summer camp, our island is littered with these boundless memories and happy ghosts from our pasts. And now I am thrilled to be able to take D there and let her create her own lifetime of memories as well. She only has 1 cousin right now, but I know they’ll be joined by many more and will probably explore every nook and cranny and play every island game imaginable, just as we did. Now we will be the adults in the living room reminiscing each night while they try to put off sleep as long as possible up in the loft. And I hope she falls as deeply in love with the place as we have and makes boatloads of memories there with her own children and their children someday, too.

Me & my sisters in Canada ages ago
Crushing cans in Canada while rockin' a bikini. Awesome

 

p.s. totally unrelated, but i wanted to get my run stats from this week down. tuesday i ran 3.57 miles in 31:41 for a 8:51 pace, and last night i ran 2.86 miles in 24:04 for a 8:25 pace. my time from last night is only 4 seconds off my fastest time ever for that particular route, so i was pleased. both runs felt pretty awful, but i was very happy i got more than 1 in this week.